Best John Hughes 80's Flick

[Fman99]

I left off "She's Having a Baby," if you're mad about that then punch yourself in the neck please.

[nymr83]

Bueller is my winner as its the only one I can watch again. Breakfast Club was fine the first time around but its not something i'd watch over.

[Valadius]

Breakfast Club, IMHO. I just see it as having a leg up on Bueller.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Buehler completely sucks ass. That was proven in the World Series of 80s Movies.

[Fman99]

I voted for "Sixteen Candles," but wouldn't have any qualm with someone who voted for "Breakfast Club" or "Weird Science."

If you can't fit Anthony Michael Hall in your movie, and it's 1985, then it's shit.

OE: I loved Planes Trains and Automobiles also.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Guest

[seawolf17]

Ferris is my vote, but I could have easily gone with PTA, because it's fucking awesome, or Sixteen Candles, because I married Molly Ringwald.

[Edgy MD]

Bueller is stringing together set pieces.

Anytime plot contrivances are somehow laid upon each other to place our hero(s) unprepared before a demanding audience and he or she or they manage to sing/dance/strut the runway well enough to win their wild approval of said skeptical audience, you take large steps toward losing me.

Sorry, Ferris. All these are deeply flawed, but 16 Candles rings truest. Always has, for me.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Pass.

None of them really floated my boat.

[Frayed Knot]

Never saw UB, PT&A, or WS
and count me among those never enthralled with Ferris

So it's down to a two-way contest where Sixteen Candles outpoints Breakfast Club by a unanimous decision.
If offered I would have put 'Pretty in Pink' in between.

[nymr83]

I never even heard of Uncle Buck before this poll.

[TransMonk]

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is really an underrated movie. There are parts that are hilarious.

All of these movies, save Uncle Buck, are OK in my book and I would probably stop on any of them, save Uncle Buck, if I were flipping on a Saturday afternoon.

For voting purposes, I went with Breakfast Club.

Also, to add to Edgy's Bueller comment: I get lost before that when somehow they manage to get a Cubs game in on that day off.

[Edgy MD]

I've got to bring particular disregard down on Ferris for every film/tv show that plays Yell-o's "Oh, Yeah..." when the protagonist spots a hot chick or a cool car. Enough.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Guest

[Valadius]

It's such a ridiculously stupid song.

[TransMonk]

Even with the Yell-O song, John Hughes films were rich with golden nuggets of great music.

[metirish]

I voted Breakfast Club but I feel short changed.

We need a more inclusive poll for all his work , director/producer/writer.

I could then vote for Some Kind of Wonderful

[Edgy MD]

That would be a long-assed list.

The one directoral effort not listed here: Curly Sue (1991).

Edited August 7, 2009 by Guest

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: That would be a long-assed list.

maybe three separate polls?

overkill?

sorry , forget it. I just looked at his work and there is a lot of trash in there , especially after he stopped directing.

[Valadius]

I say we have a World Series of John Hughes Movies.

[Vic Sage]

I looked for my JOHN HUGHES FILMOGRAPHY in the archives, but i think it went down with the last forum's collapse. so here it is (from my personal archives), with some annotations:
-------------------------------

JOHN HUGHES: SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

This Chicago-area native became hugely successful as the primary auteur of teen angst comedies of the 80s and family comedies of the 90s.

A child of the 60s, Hughes' films often have a theme running through them about the "haves" and the "have nots"... conflicts and romances between those on different sides of the tracks. sometimes its just upper-middle class suburban snobbery vs working class crassness. He finds humor and pathos in the romantic and class conflicts of his teen protagonists. There is also a distinct thread of "empowered youth defeating moronic adults" in most of his films. His films also deal with the dysfunctional family, and how they overcome their problems with love. Which was certainly at odds with his more youth-oriented films. Ultimately, in his career, the gooey sentimentality won out over the angst and he became a hack.

He began as a staff writer for National Lampoon, seguing into screenwriting on the Lampoon's feature productions. Despite the success of his screenplays for VACATION and the subsequent MR. MOM, it was the overlooked NATE & HAYES, his unsuccessful attempt to recusitate the pirate genre, which was probably my favorite work of this period (ON EDIT: with apologies to Edgy)

Writer:
National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982) - sucked
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) - ok, big hit
Nate and Hayes (1983) - interesting flop (though critics and Edgy hated it)
Mr. Mom (1983) - ok, big hit

VACATION and MR. MOM gave him the leverage to direct. He then directed 8 films in the next 7 years. While the first 5 were good to excellent, the last 3 sucked, and he finally gave up directing for good (for OUR good, actually).

Writer/director:
Sixteen Candles (1984) - launches his directorial career and his own sub-genre... the "teen angst 80s comedy".

Writer/director/producer:
The Breakfast Club (1985) - The brat pack is born. Dated, but still worthwhile. And if you were of a certain age, this movie touched you.
Weird Science (1985) - stupid, but almost amusing.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Hughes creates a teen icon that still persists. Bueller? Bueller?
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) - His best grown up comedy, John Candy breaks your heart.
She's Having a Baby (1988) - young marrieds; not good
Uncle Buck (1989) - Candy almost saves it, but not quite.
Curly Sue (1991) - unredeemed treacle.

During his directing period, he produced some of his screenplays while others held the directorial reins, thereby continuing his Lampoon films, and his "chicago-teen angst comedies with heart" movies.

Apparently realizing it was easier to make money hiring other people to direct his scripts, he became an even more successful writer/producer, with crap like HOME ALONE. Again, his most interesting film of the period was a John Candy flop ONLY THE LONELY, which was a touching romantic comedy with John Candy (Hughes neither wrote nor directed it. He produced it, with Chris Columbus the writer/director).

Writer/producer:
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) - if you liked the other one, you'll like this one
Pretty in Pink (1986) - another solid addition to the Hughes oevre
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) - as was this, but Mary Stuart Masterson is no Molly Ringwald (despite Edgy's bizarre fixation)
The Great Outdoors (1988) - amusing Candy vehicle, but not great
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) - yet another vacation; he should've had his passport revoked at this point.
Home Alone (1990) - HUGE movie, some entertainment value.
Career Opportunities (1991) - bad, but Jennifer Connelly... Oh, yeah....
Only the Lonely (1991) (producer only) - a flop, but the best of this period, likely due to a lack of Hughes' direct involvement.

After the failure of a good film like ONLY THE LONELY and the incredible success of crap like HOME ALONE, Hughes continued down the road of utter hack, ultimately becoming a Disney hitman, churning out one abomination after another. He even used the pseudonym of "Edmond Dantes" on some scripts, revealing (either consciously or unconsciously) the depths of his imprisonment within his own cynicism.

Writer/producer:
Dutch (1991) - crap
Home Alone 2 (1992) - more crap
Beethoven (1992) (writer only, as Edmond Dantes) - family crap
Dennis the Menace (1993) - BIG crap
Baby's Day Out (1994) - crappier crap
Miracle on 34th Street (1994) - appallingly insulting crap
101 Dalmatians (1996) - Disneyfied crap
Flubber (1997) - more Disneyfied crap
Home Alone 3 (1997) - yikes! Crapalanche!
Reach the Rock (1998) - interesting flop, coming full circle to end the "chicago teen angst comedies" he'd created*
Just Visiting (2001) (writer only) - ohmygod. so craptastic
Maid in Manhattan (2002) (story only, as Edmond Dantes) - kill him now. [on edit: i guess they finally did]
Drillbit Taylor (2008) (story only, as Edmond Dantes)

*REACH THE ROCK was a "dramedy" in his old "chicago-teen angst comedy" mode but an utter failure. He has not produced a film since, writing a few unsuccessful scripts, getting credit for the characters on BEETHOVENS 2-5, and collecting residuals. It is kind of sad to see this formerly interesting filmmaker, who wrote about class consciousness during the Reaganomic 80s, become a cynical hack with absolutely nothing to say for the past 15 years (on edit: 18 years).

The "John Hughes" teen comedy sub-genre:
Sixteen Candles (1984)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Weird Science (1985) .
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
She's Having a Baby (1988) .
Career Opportunities (1991)
Reach the Rock (1998)

Top 10:
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Home Alone (1990)
Only the Lonely (1991)

Edited August 7, 2009 by Guest

[metirish]

I was wondering when you were going to put your filmography up.

[Vic Sage]

i couldn't find it, so i had to reconstruct it.

[Farmer Ted]

Sixteen Candles. DUH! Farmer Ted? Hello...

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Poll results are a travesty.

[Edgy MD]

I would re-submit the poll. The old polls give you one vote, final and forever. The new polls allow people to switch, which I'm sure they would after frequent and vicious beatings.

[ashie62]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Poll results are a travesty.

Polls are just a summation of opinions, don't sweat it.

[Fman99]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Poll results are a travesty.

Seriously. Fuck Ferris right in his Cubs-loving ass.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Apropos of nothing, we rented UNCLE BUCK with the hope it was the kinda movie Lunchpail & us could enjoy at the same time and of course none of us did. What a complete p.o.s.

In related news, our guy (7) likes movies but has seen just about all the cgi/Disney/Pixar type flicks already and we're struggling to find good/funny "real movies" we can watch together. Your suggestions welcome.

PS The poll results here still suck.

[Vic Sage]

saw ONLY THE LONELY again on cable last night. Not a great film, but a sweet one, and an effective romantic comedy, more poignant than funny. Maybe the only film directed by Chris Columbus i ever liked (he wrote GREMLINS, but didn't direct it). Whatever happened to Ally Sheedy? She was a big star through the 80's, but this was probably her last decent role (except for HIGH ART in `98). She was never a great actress, but she had a kind of quirky appeal. I've seen worse actresses with better careers.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I remember a big deal about her starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch off-Broadway in the 1990s, but haven't heard much since. Looking at her Wikipedia page, it looks like she's still active in a lot of movies and tv shows, but nothing high-profile.

[Edgy MD]

Ally's teaching my nephew at LaGuardia.