Macaulay Culkin

Child psychologists are reportedly disturbed by the fact that Macaulay Culkin (''Home Alone'') plays a boy who dies in ''My Girl,'' a new film that opens here today.Their objections may be legitimate, but you might wonder if they have actually seen the film.It is a weeper. It is sad, but it is also very funny, very touching, very real. Yes, it's about death. Yes, the principal character, an 11-year-old girl, lives in a funeral home (her father is the owner), but the subject matter is handled with great tact.

New releases of video cassettes; reviews by New York Times critics:"Home Alone." 1990. Fox. $24.98. Laser disk $29.98. 1 hour, 50 minutes. Closed captioned. PG.A suburban family accidentally leaves the youngest of its five children behind when it flies off on vacation -- and into movie history."Home Alone" has taken in about $280 million at the box office, one of the highest sums ever. Eight-year-old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) copes with his isolation in a big house besieged by two stupid but gritty second-story men (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern)

Laura Bacon would eat caramel, Tootsie Rolls and gum . . . with her retainer in. She'd turn her living room into an obstacle course for her 10-speed, store snowballs in her freezer and never, ever show up for school.Oh, to be young and left alone. Imagine the fun, the danger, the mess.Moviegoers no longer have to rely on their imaginations, not since John Hughes released "Home Alone," a comedy about 8-year-old Kevin McCallister who is accidentally left at home during a family vacation.This wide-eyed wonder boy (played by Macaulay Culkin)

LOS ANGELES -- The star of the movie is a mere lad of 9, and the story line has been criticized as implausible and excessively sentimental.But "Home Alone" has overcome those obstacles and others, becoming the first blockbuster hit of the holiday film season and making its young leading man an instant favorite of American children and a potential millionaire.Playing Kevin McCallister, who is accidentally left behind when his parents, four siblings and many assorted relatives leave for Paris from their home in suburban Chicago on a Christmas vacation, young Macaulay Culkin lives out a universal childhood fantasy.

''Home Alone'' is initially irritating, but once the movie gets under way it atones for the opening portion with continuous laughs.Do you like the Three Stooges? Do you like the Tom and Jerry cartoons? If you do, you'll certainly enjoy the new film, once those initial scenes are spent.John Hughes wrote and produced. He's the man who wrote ''Pretty in Pink'' and ''The Breakfast Club.'' A few years ago, he got away from the ''Brat Pack'' films and began doing things like ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

'Home Alone'Starring Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci.Directed by Chris Columbus.Released by 20th Century Fox.Rated PG. Imagine Alfalfa starring in a Disney remake of that classic of psychotic territoriality, Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent "Straw Dogs," and you've got a fair approximation of "Home Alone."In Peckinpah's bleak vision of the human condition, a mild liberal wimp hiding from reality on a Cornish farm finally freaked when some British rednecks tried to break into his house: Using everything from a bear trap to a shotgun to boiling water, he waged total war and snuffed them all.In this version, a cute tyke played by Macaulay Culkin is accidentally left home over Christmas vacation, when the house is assailed by two less-than-brilliant thieves.