John Hughes: Writer, Director, and Producer |
 Aug 10 2009, 04:03 PM
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Director of Farcical Aquatic Ceremonies  Posts: 9,187 Joined: 2:55pm January 28, 2005 Location: Classified, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it.   |
Director, writer, and producer John Hughes died last Thursday. There has been a lot of ink, both literal and virtual, dedicated to remembering him and his movies over the past few days.
Best known for his teen flicks, Hughes' movies provided the backdrop and soundtrack to many of us growing up in the 80s. Hughes seemed to understand his audience and create characters that people could identify with. His films include Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Buellers Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Home Alone, and Uncle Buck. Hughes, sometimes called the "Godfather of the Brat Pack," helped launch the careers of Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, John Cusack, Anthony Michael Hall, Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer, James Spader, and Ally Sheedy, to name a few. I was in Hughes' target audience during the peak of his career. I remember his films influencing music and fashion, such as it was in my school, though I never rocked a bucket hat and blazer a la Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink. Looking back as an adult, his films have a distinctive style and look that, IMO, is easy to recognize. And, below the humor, the stories are sometimes sentimental with the theme often being an outsider trying to fit in, such as the late John Candy's character in Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. Actor Jon Cryer has said that Hughes "had a real need to believe in teenage icons and create teenage iconography - that's what he was doing with Breakfast Club." Do you agree with Cryer? Was Hughes creating a teenage iconography for a generation? Or was he only making silly teen comedies? Did you grow up on these films? If so, which is your favorite and why? Did his films and their soundtracks influence you or people around you? 
This post has been edited by Pleione: Aug 10 2009, 04:18 PM |
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Aug 11 2009, 10:50 AM
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Leaky's Official Donut Maker and Mosquito Man Posts: 11,514 Joined: 10:51am August 25, 2005 Location: Playing kal-toh with Professor Snape  |
I didnt grow up with these movies (some of them may have been released then but, I didnt see them)but, I do love many of them and, they are iconic and memorable. Most everyone knows of the Home Alone movies, many people know about Planes, Trains and Automobiles, even if they havent actually seen the movies. They're so huge that their reputation precedes them
 I couldnt vote because, it's not multiple choice and I dont think that I can pick only one favorite movie. As a John Candy fan, I would have to say my favorites include Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, Uncle Buck and The Great Outdoors, all of which I have on DVD because I love them so much. I have seen the Home Alone movies and I think they're good but, in my opinion not in the same league as Planes, Trains & Automobiles which I have seen multiple times but I still bust a rib laughing so hard every time I watch it. Maybe its appeal (and with Uncle Buck, too) is like Pleione said about the outsider desperately trying to fit in and wanting to be liked. Although the movie is hilarious, when you step back for a moment you can see it's also telling a very real story, one that is serious and sad. It's done very cleverly because you go through the whole movie laughing so much and then right at the very end there's a totally emotional moment that makes you tear up and rethink the entire movie.--------------------   I'm 1 of the 99.99% W.L.Y.J.  When I sleep I dream, and when I dream I can rise above the walls Remember Cameron Duncan Thanks Jeff! |
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Aug 11 2009, 11:30 AM
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Sundae-Nut-Chopper at Florean Fortescue's  Posts: 914 Joined: 6:35pm April 4, 2008 Location: Great White North |
Uncle Buck is my favourite of the movies. The end scene with John Candy waving bye to his niece always chokes me up. Candy's early death was so sad. I just watched all of the Breakfast Club this past weekend and thought it really showed teens as they are. Their preoccupation with themselves from insecurity was well illustrated.
-------------------- '- yet sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often,'.....Albus Dumbledore |
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Aug 11 2009, 01:55 PM
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Director of Farcical Aquatic Ceremonies Posts: 9,187 Joined: 2:55pm January 28, 2005 Location: Classified, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it. |
Moose, I am/was a huge John Candy fan. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is one of my favorite films. It still cracks me up to see Candy whip off his socks on the airplane or drive down the road while doing the "Mess Around".
I can't pick a favorite, either, mainly because I love the movies with Candy so much. Ferris Bueller is at the top of my list, too, though. Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink are probably my least favorite of the bunch.  |
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Aug 11 2009, 07:37 PM
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Diagon Alley Entrepreneur Posts: 4,321 Joined: 2:49am June 9, 2005 Location: Somewhere too mysterious to mention... |
John Hughes was a real mark of the '80s. I'm a '90s child, but with cousins who grew up that decade I was exposed to a lot of John Hughes. They are quintessential teenage films, IMO, something that me and a lot of my friends have seen and feel like is a mark of being a teenager. Sure, some of the scenes and so forth are a little cliche nowadays (but they were back then), but watching films like Ferris Bueller and The Breakfast Club never fail to engross me completely, and make me chuckle.
I couldn't choose a favourite; it's probably between the two I've mentioned. -------------------- Signature in development... thanks to Procrastinators United! It should come tomorrow...
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Aug 11 2009, 08:13 PM
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Flesh-Eating-Slug Catcher Posts: 195 Joined: 11:46pm June 12, 2009 |
I had a hard time choosing...but picked Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...not because of Hughes but because of Steve Martin and John Candy. Steve's freak out at the rental car office is perfect and now that I'm older, I can sooooo identify with that and appreciate it even more (I didn't post it because there are a lot of f-bombs in it). And I think, aside from Uncle Buck (oh, the scene with the principal is priceless!) and Only the Lonely, it was one of John Candy's best performances.
Other choices: Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, both outstanding movies. I memorized both as a preteen/teen. What I loved most about Hughes is how he wrote female teenagers. He really got us. He understood teenaged girls the way a woman understands teenage girls...it was kind of weird actually. The biggest standout for me was Watts from Some Kind of Wonderful. One of the best scenes My favorite scene that I can't find on YouTube (her conversation with Ray, a dippy guy that has a crush on her): Ray: See, a lot of guys I know think that you're... confused. But I know it's just an act. Wanna know how I know? Watts: Enlighten me. Ray: Because you radiate this sexual vibe and I know that if you wanted, you could be a girl [snaps fingers] like that. Watts: Ray, this is 1987. Did you know a girl can be whatever she wants to be? Ray: I know. My mom's a plumber. Watts: That explains a lot about you, Ray. ... Ray: So you gotta hang around for an hour? Watts: If I feel like it. Ray: You know how much damage we could do to each other in an hour? Watts: It's kind of a revolting thought, actually. Ray: Really? What's revolting mean? Watts: Oh, God. Get your hands off me, man. Ray: Does that mean you wanna come over? By the way, a correction for your poll...Hughes wrote Some Kind of Wonderful, but Howard Deutch directed it... -------------------- |
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Aug 12 2009, 11:52 AM
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Grand Pooh-Bah of the Poking Sticks Emporium Posts: 7,181 Joined: 3:53pm January 4, 2008 Location: Fine-tuning her Spambot Magnet  |
Great topic, Pleione
 I had difficulty choosing in the poll, simply because I have more than one favorite  My all time favorite is Ferris Bueller's Day off (and I still quote that movie to this day lol), but I also like the Home Alone Movies, and Uncle Buck. John Candy was really wonderful in that movie!I'll admit here and now that I do love Sixteen Candles; how could you not fall in love with Jake? I also agree with John Cryer's assessment, in that Hughes created movies that were iconic for an entire generation (myself included), not to mention for generations beyond mine. SeveraSphyrna, I really like how you said that Hughes understood females, and more specifically, teenage females. He didn't portray them as weak, and simply misunderstood; the females he portrayed were strong, but they just had to find their way in the world, which is very similar to what teens in my generation were going through; not to mention that continues to this day
This post has been edited by lirene: Aug 12 2009, 11:53 AM --------------------  |
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Aug 13 2009, 06:23 PM
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Diagon Alley Entrepreneur Posts: 4,321 Joined: 2:49am June 9, 2005 Location: Somewhere too mysterious to mention... |
QUOTE(lirene @ Aug 13 2009, 04:52 AM)  SeveraSphyrna, I really like how you said that Hughes understood females, and more specifically, teenage females. He didn't portray them as weak, and simply misunderstood; the females he portrayed were strong, but they just had to find their way in the world, which is very similar to what teens in my generation were going through; not to mention that continues to this day Absolutely! Teenagers today watch it and can sympathise with the female characters, even if sometimes it's a little cheesier than the stuff that's around. My little sister recently saw Pretty In Pink and liked the way she could understand the characters. -------------------- Signature in development... thanks to Procrastinators United! It should come tomorrow...
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Aug 16 2009, 06:03 AM
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Smart Cookie  Posts: 3,344 Joined: 1:26am September 30, 2006 Location: Somewhere in time and space |
Well, I have only seen Pretty In Pink and Home Alone (though I didn't know it was by the same guy until I read this poll
 ). As a little kid, Home Alone was one of the absolute favourites with me. I saw Pretty In Pink just recently and I liked it a lot. I really could relate to Andie - I was a lot like her as a teenager, even including crazy dressing style. It's a really cool movie.
-------------------- Images from yumeiro, so_severus, iwant_sprinkles @LJ.
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Aug 21 2009, 01:30 PM
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Being Eaten by the Pea Soup Posts: 23 Joined: 10:14pm April 23, 2009 Location: Middle of Awesomeville! |
Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Home Alone, Ferris Bueller, Sixteen Candles (I <3 Jake Ryan!), Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. I love them all! Mostly the teen movies.
-------------------- Some boys take a beautiful girl And hide her away from the rest of the world I want to be the one to walk in the sun Oh girls they wanna have fun Oh girls just wanna have |
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