This is NOT the sort of news I go to OMG! Yahoo for:
"Director John Hughes, who helmed such legendary 80s films as 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' died of a heart attack on Thursday, his rep confirmed to Access Hollywood. The director was 59."
This news made me very sad, as I was and am a big John Hughes fan. I loved his movies with the same uncomplicated love teenage girls everywhere harbored for Ferris Bueller (look at him in that cute nerdy chic sweater vest!) when that movie came out. Come on, he gave us one of the best lip-synched movie scenes ever:
And he gave high schoolers everywhere the gift of thinking that skipping a day every now and then was a right, not a privilege.
And, let's not forget, even in his not as hugely popular movies, he showed a genius for combining music, dialogue, and the beauty of Mary Stuart Masterson:
A moment of silence, please.
*I said legend, and I mean legend.
I'm not a big movie watcher, but the parade scene is one of the most joyous pieces of art and to to know that Hughes recognized that we all have the ability to get together for one song is amazing.
Posted by: Venta | 07 August 2009 at 09:38 AM
Venta,
No kidding. "Joyous" is the perfect word. And how great were the Beatles? The genius present in this one scene is humbling to watch, really. My favorite touch is the little kid holding his hands over his ears as everyone screams. Perfect. Props to Matthew Broderick for giving it his all, too.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 07 August 2009 at 11:25 AM
Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the first movie I ever saw without an adult along. And I love love love Some Kind of Wonderful. And--yes, legend.
Posted by: laura | 07 August 2009 at 12:36 PM
I love Duckie Dale best. Nothing cooler than the Duck Man.
Posted by: Pinky | 07 August 2009 at 03:11 PM
Duckie! Oh gosh, a lip synching scene that rivals the one in Ferris Bueller! Try a little tenderness, indeed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNGIg8f-0Wc
It makes me so sad to think this is where Jon Cryer started, and "Two and a Half Men" is where he had to go to make some money. You deserved better, Jon.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 07 August 2009 at 03:21 PM
A legend indeed. 16 Candles...at the dance, Spandeau Ballet playing - priceless.
Posted by: Bookie | 10 August 2009 at 03:43 PM
Bookie,
I agree, and have requested Sixteen Candles from the library. As a bonus I seem to remember it includes a very young John Cusack. And let's hear it again for John Hughes--I think he's even better than Cameron Crowe at assembling awesome soundtracks. (And Sixteen Candles was no exception.)
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 10 August 2009 at 09:48 PM
Thanks to all. I don't feel so bad for crying when I heard on the radio that Hughes had died. Not so much for Hughes (59, and a successful career aren't so bad a life) but for another piece of my past slipped away.
Posted by: Robert Brown | 11 August 2009 at 03:15 PM
Well, Bert, I think we were all crying a little bit for both JH and ourselves. No shame in that. I'm off to pick up "Weird Science" from the library and watch it in his honor, as that's one of the few John Hughes flicks I haven't seen.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 11 August 2009 at 06:25 PM
It's pretty funny, as I recall. The sexual tension between the hot model chyck and Anthony Michael Hall is palpable. Probably stronger than in most romantic comedies.
Does that make what's her name a cougar, or AMH playing young for his age? In any event, it's delicious. The bra headgear is all people remember, but there's so much more.
Having said that, it's not as good a movie as "Real Genius." That is one flippin' awesome nerd movie.
Posted by: Robert Brown | 12 August 2009 at 10:42 AM