Friday, August 7, 2009

R.I.P. John Hughes


As a child of the 1980s, there was not many pop culture items more memorable than John Hughes movies. Mr. Hughes died yesterday of a heart attack at the age of 59.

He directed, produced and wrote for some of the classics of the time. My favorite movie he directed was The Breakfast Club. It was funny, serious and filled with some of the most quotable lines in my life ("this is what happens when you spill paint in the garage"). My second favorite is Weird Science. Chet is hilarious in that movie ("do you realize it's snowing in my room") and ... as every young man wondered ... I was just waiting for the technology to make my own woman.

I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off just as everyone else does. I like Sixteen Candles, but it doesn't "pump my nads". I actually really liked She's Having a Baby. My wife loves Uncle Buck.

But when you go over his work, it just amazes me the amount of classic comedies that Hughes had a hand in. Mr. Mom, National Lampoon's Vacation (one of my top movies of all time), European Vacation and Christmas Vacation, Pretty In Pink, Planes Trains & Automoblies, the Home Alone series, Career Opportunities (when I was in love with Jennifer Connelly) and Beethoven. Maybe they weren't all the greatest movies of that time, but it sure brings back a ton of great memories.

So maybe tonight I'll put The Breakfast Club in the DVD player and go back in time a bit.

No comments: