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In honor of bad TV dubbing everywhere: "Flunk you!"

Great piece Dave. Such an enigmatic guy and I think still underrated. He got so much attention for Breakfast & Ferris but I think 16 and Planes stand the test of time better than those two.

A real shock.

Today, the only screw that fell out is my heart.

I was just reading a story in "Geek" about a group of documentary filmmakers that set out to do a kind of "My Date With Drew" with John Hughes. No idea how that film turned out, but it was a nice look back on the monumental influences Hughes has had on Hollywood.

As much as I like the films that really made his name, "Some Kind of Wonderful" has always been a sentimental favorite. A very simple concept executed extremely well - a good script to just read.

Everyone has a favorite Beatles' song and everyone (of a certain age) has a favorite John Hughes movie. Mine is Ferris, that glorious tribute to the dream day we all had while in school (and still have no while in the office).

But I will never, ever forget the first time I saw The Breakfast Club. It hit really, really hard. But in a beautiful way. I was like Andrew growing up and for the first time, I had seen a film that said it was okay to be me. It gets better as I get older because I try to avoid falling into the trap of what Alison said: "When you grow up, your heart dies."

He has defintely created many great memories of my childhood and for that, I'll always thank him.

RIP

So sad to hear this news. A filmmaker who I used to always dream of seeing a comback vehicle from.

Not to be...

Also one of the best observers of culture (teen and adult) that film has seen.

A real shame and a loss.

God bless, you sir.

Hughes' influence was huge, and I have great respect for him as a filmmaker. However, as I mentioned in another thread, I never liked any of his films, which is especially annoying for someone who grew up in the '80s and had to hear all the time from my classmates how much they loved his crap films.

There's one thing I would like to thank him for: bringing massive popularity to "Don't You Forget About Me" one of the seminal '80s hit songs that always makes me wistful and nostalgic.

Oh, and another thing to thank Mr. Hughes for is Career Opportunities, which was an appallingly bad film, but it introduced me to Jennifer Connolly and her amazing rack, which I will always be grateful for.

Re: Wrecktum

No love even for the ones he just wrote? I mean, "The Great Outdoors" couldn't be further from "Breakfast Club." Love that silly-ass movie. Same with "Mr. Mom."

Never saw the Great Outdoors because it, frankly, looked stupid. I did not like Mr. Mom.

Basically, there was something about his whitebread, confused suburbanite asthetic that always rubbed me the wrong way, even when I was a teenager. I didn't care for his humor, nor did I like his representation of '80s adolescence, which I found alien to my reality.

I did think Vacation was pretty good, but mostly because I liked the Lindsey Buckingham song.

Hughes really nailed a certain prism of American life, during a specific time in America's culture. He repeats many themes and ideas (ad execs, musical montage, 4th wall). But some of the talent introduced a long the way says a lot.

I go back and forths on my favs. It was Sixteen Candles because I always felt light-hearted funny Hughes was better than the other (Breakfast Club), though I've seen Ferris Bueller the most times.

My wife's favorite is Trains, Plains and Automobiles. I once heard her talk on the phone to her Dad while he was on a trip. He said he was traveling by himself, and my wife said, "Oh man, that's sad. You're Steve Martin without his John Candy." :)

I can still remember Ebert ripping The Great Outdoors a new one over how sloppy it was. I believe he was referencing the scene where the bear shows up and you can see the Bear Trainer stick on the ground leading it towards the camera.

I spent my teenage years in the 80's and saw practically everything he was associated with.

As I wrote on my blog: I remember a conversation I had with Hughes back in 1988 during the New York junket for his under-rated She's Having a Baby. After some gentle prodding, he admitted that, yes, the movie was partly autobiographical -- in spirit, if not in fact -- and that, sure, he was kinda-sorta using Kevin Bacon as his on-screen alter ego, just as Francois Truffaut used Jean-Pierre Leaud to represent himself in the Antoine Doinel movies (especially Stolen Kisses abd Bed and Board). Which makes me wonder about untaken roads and might-have-beens. Hughes direted only two other movies after Baby. But if Baby had been a hit, would he have continued directing movies in that vein? Would he have continued directing, period?

This just fucking sucks. There are no amount of huzzahs that can honor this man. He's simply a legend, that went away before his time in his career and in life. It just sucks.

"I can still remember Ebert ripping The Great Outdoors a new one over how sloppy it was. I believe he was referencing the scene where the bear shows up and you can see the Bear Trainer stick on the ground leading it towards the camera"

Ooh! I remember seeing that episode of Siskel and Ebert! It was one of the reasons I didn't want to see the movie! I always felt sorry for poor Bart the bear and the way they shaved his head just for a stupid movie.

Why wouldn't you want to see the Great Outdoors?

that being said. Ebert loves Planes, Trains and Automobiles. and put in his book. The Great Moves Part II.

"Why wouldn't you want to see the Great Outdoors?"

Because it looked stupid.

Holy shit. I have NEVER been this broken up over the death of someone I didn't know.

I still remember one Sunday morning where I watched Breakfast Club with my brother and sister on cable. I was probably only 8 or 9, and I remember it had an effect on me then. I've probably seen it 10 times within the last 6 or 7 years and I can honestly say that, although I know it's not the best movie ever made by a long shot, it's certainly my favourite.

Somehow, though, I never managed to catch up to Weird Science. If I can find it, I'll watch it tonight.

BTW, Dave, I seem to remember that he did a rewrite of Drillbit Taylor under a pseudonym, which was certainly less than 8 years ago.

Lucy Deakins (I believe that's the name of the actress who played Buck's A&W squeeze) still makes it worth your time to watch that movie till this day.

Gone too young, RIP.

His movies weren't my cup of tea because the Brat Pack I found very annoying since I was a kid and I didn;t think real kids behaved like that (and hoped they didn't).

National Lampoon movies I liked alot better- and Many aspects of Xmas vacation were brilliant and my whole family still watches that Every Xmas since we grew up on it and my Pop loves it. It has to do with wiring the house with lights.

Home Alone is still a favorite for little kids everywhere, not just the generation that grew up on it.

I never really did care for his films, for the various reasons listed above, but still, 59 is way too young to go and I'm saddened nonetheless. (Not as much as with Schulberg, though. Yikes! Is there a third screenwriter about to leave us?)

Beyond making some great movies of my youth (Breakfast Club is my favorite and I also agree that Baby is very underrated), he was the first person I followed as a filmmaker and led me to pay attention to people behind the camera as well as in front of it. A lot of what I love about movies started with John Hughes.

You know, I think Some Kind of Wonderful is underrated, too - it was on HBO like every morning, while I was in high school and there is just some crackling writing in that thing. Not completely realistic, but watching it, you almost wish teenagers could really be that self-aware.

However, I have to say one thing Hughes was guilty of was casting too on the nose for his high school villians - I mean, wow, Craig Scheffer in that one and James Spader in Pretty in Pink, they looked too old and intimidating for college!

But man, the guy was prolific for a while - I can honestly say that next to Spielberg, there was no bigger directing/producing brand in the '80's and early '90's than Hughest. You can throw out Simpson/Bruckheimer, Guber/Peters, or Jaffe/Lansing, but they really didn't compare. Only other one who came close was Joel Silver, but I don't think people flocked to Silver Films because his was name was on them like Hughes.

Now that I think about it, though, did Hughes really have any all-out blockbusters besides the Home Along films? Probably not, but you can probably find about half a dozen films from '84 that grossed twice as much Breakfast Club, but did not retain that level of influence.

One other cool thing about the guy was that he never seemed pigeon-holed by ratings - I mean, wow, Planes was a family comedy released around Thanksgiving that was rated R! Some one mentioned it earlier, but it was always a kick to watch Breakfast Club so heavily dubbed on broadcast television.

And one final cool thing about the guy is that his movies were always short and sweet - he could load them up with dozens of characters and situations and still get it near 90 minutes. Even for the more personal ones like She's Having a Baby and Some Kind of Wonderful. I like Apatow as much as the next guy (and you know the comparisons are going to be in full force, this news cycle), but he could have learned a few things from Hughes.

Never really liked his movies, but Planes is pretty much perfect in every way.

I owe this man a giant debt of gratitude. Loved this man, loved his movies - The Breakfast Club is on of my five favourites of all time, actually and there was a time when I first discovered it in my youth on late night TV I bought a copy on VHS and watched it over and over - and this is actually a death has made me a bit sad.

I remember when it first came out, I thought "Christmas Vacation" just simply PALED in comparison to the first two and kind of wrote it off.

Now, I watch it every year at Christmas the way my parents watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and the George C. Scott "Christmas Carol" and quote the living shit out of it ("Shitter was full," "SQUIRREL!!!" and the immortal monologue that ends w/ "Hallelujah, holy shit - where's the Tylenol?!?").

What a truly memorable-for-probably-all-the-wrong-reasons movie.

Totally bumming. I was a fan of Hughes from his crueler National Lampoon days, but he was easily one of the most infuential comedy directors ever. He had a distinct visual/editing style and had excellent taste in pop music, the best of the 80's.

Just read Dave's RIP again and Ebert's as well as Cristy Lemire's and now I am watching the Breakfast Club and crying. Really, I am stunned at how this is affecting me. I am sitting here filled with nostalgia of my teen years and thinking of all the times both good and bad and how Hughes films spoke so much to me even moreso the older I got.

A few years ago in a dollar bin I picked up a copy of Reach the Rock, the film which was a pseudo-sequel to TBC where the Bender-like character has to deal with the fact that the Claire-like character has left high school and him and has went on to a better life. It did not get much press and as best I can tell is not even on DVD. But it shows a hint at a darker Hughes and what he may have done had he persued more films.

Damn...this death really sucks.

Nice tribute, Dave.

My favorite is Planes, Trains, but I've seen The Breakfast Club more times (over and over again on cable and VHS as a kid).

Here's the trailer for that doc where the filmmakers stalk...err...try to find Hughes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWCt-z__Kck

A little overboard on the Movie City News coverage, I think.

Were there this many articles when Ingmar Bergman died? You know, because he was actually still MAKING films.

Or Sydney Pollack? Or Anthony Minghella?

I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and enjoyed a decent number of Hughes' films. But I'm not exactly mourning a major cinematic loss right now.

I'd disagree. Pretty much any appreciation of quality or quirk that was online when Bergman, Pollack and Minghella died were linked as well as any number of news articles about Bergman's estate, papers and legacy. On Thursday, more writers rushed to respond to Hughes' passing than those three talented men got in the first few hours afterwards; since it was unexpected, I guess. As well as for all the reasons each of the linked writers have identified.

Laz-
it's impossible to quantify just how much a filmmaker means to a person, but I'd venture that for the 30-45 year olds, Hughes was a huge part of our lives. I spent summers with the guys films and they are always around as great comfort viewing on TV. About a month ago I was flipping through channels and Ferris Bueller was on and before I knew it, I had watched the whole thing. Still great and always manages to hearken back to an easier time in my life.

Hughes spoke to generations of all levels of class and intellect. I'd venture to say Bergman, while fucking brilliant, speaks to a certain class that was given the opportunity to find out about and watch his films. When was the last time "The Seventh Seal" was on TBS?

I like the links provided and appreciate them, that pen pal one is exceedingly cool. And I also think more people have personal stories about Hughes that they want to share than folks have about Bergman. It's a Pop Culture thing.

"But I'm not exactly mourning a major cinematic loss right now."

Hughes passing transcends "cinematic loss". As Dave puts, he had a real influence on culture. He affected and reflected the way a generation thought and viewed their world, even if laced with a healthy dose of fantasy.

Bergman did also...don't know if you could say that about Pollack and certainly not Minghella, who while talented, had no real affect on culture and only directed a small amount of films of which only one truly hit the cultural zeitgeist(English Patient).

Do not think that just because Hughes had no output the last 15 years he did not matter. There has been a real groundswell of "whatever happened to..." about the man for a while now and his films are always in rotation on TV. Rarely a week goes by where I live where Pretty in Pink or The Breakfast Club aren't on digital film channels.

You can argue it is for the worst, but his films will probably live longer than most of the works by all three of the filmmakers on your list.

No other filmmaker is responsible for as much of the movie-reference shorthand my friends and I use. I loved most of his movies, but since they are getting a little less love than others on here, I'll single out Weird Science and Uncle Buck as two favourites. Each respectively providing one of Bill Paxton and John Candy's most memorable performances.

That MCN link from Hughes' pen pal:

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

is just about devastating, particularly towards the end when Hughes tells her that he left Hollywood fearing for what it would do to his sons after John Candy died.

The films he directed have as distinct a style as a Wes Anderson film, and just as excellent music. The guy had a very ahead of his time editing style and the way he incorporated bits of pop culture was fresh. And Anthony Michael Hall in 16 CANDLES was as revelatory as Sean Penn in FAST TIMES and Michael Keaton in NIGHT SHIFT.

I hope we'll still be able to see his three hour cut of THE BREAKFAST CLUB...

"The guy had a very ahead of his time editing style..."

Of course, it doesn't hurt if Dede Allen is doing your cutting...

Speaking of whom... how the fuck did she never win an Oscar? How 'bout an honorary?...

Don Lewis: "When was the last time "The Seventh Seal" was on TBS?" Ever read Roger Corman's autobiography? He tells a very funny/revealing story about the time Bergman thanked him for managing to get Cries and Whispers booked into drive-ins.

Dede didn't cut 16 CANDLES which establishes his style pretty well. But Hughes was also in advertising and he knows exactly how to lay out shots with a sense of his own comic rhythm as he demonstrated in his stories.

Nicol D: I think you could make a strong case that Pollack "hit the cultural zeitgeist" with The Way We Were and Tootsie, two movies that were enormously successful in their time, and continue to resonate with viewers. But if you counter-argue that neither film is as fondly and/or passionately remembered by its fans as some of Hughes' movies are by their fans -- well, I would be hard-pressed to prove you are wrong.

On the other hand, I know people slightly older than me who would argue that A Summer Place is ten times the movie that Sixteen Candles is. LOL.

Stunning that Dede Allen wasn't even nominated for THE HUSTLER and BONNIE AND CLYDE.

Sad about Hughes. I understand his leaving Hollywood, but I'm surprised he didn't just go indie; he surely could've found financing (or financed himself), particularly since he usually focused on character comedy that wouldn't require a huge budget. Maybe he just burned out. He was done with directing by age 40 or so, after only 8 films. His writing thereafter is mostly studio paycheck stuff. Maybe there was something in addition to Candy's death that knocked the spirit out of him.

This news hit me hard as a hammer. Hughes is the first of what i consider to be 'my' generation of directors to pass (Spielberg, Lucas, Rob Reiner, Zemeckis and Cameron being the other leading lights of my formative years).

It could be argued that his influence is even greater than any of those other directors - not only the Apatow industry but also Kevin Smith and Cameron Crowe are clearly working in his debt. PT&A is, honestly, one of the finest American comedies ever made anytime, and i'll be watching it this weekend and toasting Hughes (and John Candy too) while i'm doing it.

"Now are you gonna help me, or are you just gonna stand there like a slab of meat with mittens?"

"Please. Have mercy. I've been wearing the same underwear since Tuesday."
"He has - i can vouch for that."

That great final shot of John Candy is going to be doubly poignant now.

Joe,

I actually think Tootsie is one of the best American comedies ever made. Easily in my own personal 10 or 15 favourites.

I remember seeing it on a very green Boxing Day in my small hometown in 82 and loving it. It played throughout the spring and I love Hoffman and Pollack to this day. It certainly was a zeitgeist film...make no doubt.

I have not seen A Summer Place although I know the music by heart.

I do not say Hughes is one of the best filmmakers of all time or that he is better than Pollack or Bergman. Just that he had a more overall impact.

Kinda like Bruce Lee, whom I also love. Most of Lee's films were low rent affairs. Only Enter the Dragon was a really quality project. But taken as a cultural icon, he influenced in a way that most actors can only dream of.

Best.

i was going to say that hughes was so 'of an era', so '80 angst for those of us who grew up with him, but kam's comment in particular about how much 'the breakfast club' means to him - being quite the young guy - sort of made me have to re-think my theory...

one thing is for sure: hughes - with his unique sensibility, sense of humour, portrayal of time and place and youth and angst and relationships - may not have been 'the best' or most prestigious director, but he did achieve what few others have, fostering a lasting emotional connection/attachment to his films, and that's a powerful (and beautiful) thing.

for those of us to whom hughes' speaks with his films - whatever your faves may be - they are likely not just well-liked but BELOVED, tied to memories of misspent youth, music, coming of age, trying to figure it all out...regardless if you grew up during hughes' heyday or recently, as kam's fandom demonstrates.

(i also admired hughes for his ability to portray endearing, flawed protagonists of both sexes; he was somehow able to get both male and female viewers to relate to/care about his characters -- whether it be ferris hell-bent on his day of truancy and mayhem, or sam feeling awkward, neglected, taken for granted and overlooked by her family, hughes' characters and stories seemed to find a footing and strike a chord with both male and female audiences, who could often find something to relate to/root for in his parables. he was quite inclusive and unique in that regard)

tho my fave hughes is a toss-up between 'p,t & l' and '16 candles', this is without a doubt the ultimate hughes anthem (and i quite like this sepia-toned fanvid, too. kam, it'll be yer cuppa at any rate) so for anyone who wants to get belatedly weepy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pybSRca-cA

John Hughes even got a bunch of guys to root for Molly Ringwald getting her 16th birthday wish! How many modern teen comedies could hit both gender bases?

And one of Alec Baldwin's best film roles eva is in SHE'S HAVING A BABY, especially when trying to convince Kevin Bacon that married life will drag him down. That stuff with Baldwin shows another direction Hughes could have gone in...

Gotta say I was almost as shaken by this as Lux Interior passing this past winter (almost..).

I think P,T, & A is is his masterpiece. But I was obsessed with Weird Science as a teen. I related to the geeks. I liked the music (Oingo Boingo is vastly underrated and unfairly maligned). Kelly was yummy. There are great extrememly funny riffs by Hall. But --and this is the movie geek in me even at that time -- Bill fucking Paxton. Chet is one of my favorite characters of all time. I watched the movie just for him. And Paxton became my obscure (at the time) character actor obsession. ALIENS, of course. But also PASS THE AMMO. There's a chestnut. Did he also have a one line role as an air traffic controller in COMMANDO?

Hughes also made Jeffery Jones, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara (droooooooooool),and that douche who was Robert Downey's friend in W.S. instant icons. Ed fucking Rooney! And a young John & Joan Cusack.

But Hughes....I find many of the movies dated but my main thought was "thank you, John." I was one of the 80's teens who watched those movies as comfort food.

And the man put The Smiths, New Order, and Echo & the Bunnymen on one fucking soundtrack! And the Bunnymen song is amongst their finest, too. Wow.

Oddly, my best friend from high school is visiting my family next week. We were planning a train trip into Chicago, but now intend to work in the Art Institute and anywhere else that may tie in.

"I got my hand between two warm pillows."
"Those aren't pillows!"

David, Does your comment about F Fawcett cancer death wait "death is the ultimate disinfectant" have anything to do also with Hughes' untimely death by heart attack (was he diabetic, overweight, chainsmoker?, family heart history? father died early too?) and the outpouring of GRIEF on blogs nationwide, Canada too, over his premature untimely death? You must have read Alison Bryne Field's blog that got over 500,000 hits and is being turned into a New York Post feature and later maybe a book and a movie, right? Hughes was a great man, who touched millions. One queston, nobody seems to be raising it except me on my blog and that is because I am a forensic medical blogger sometimes, and I found a 2001 photo of JH that shows him gaining weight a la Director Coppola and Marlon Brando and John Candy and John Goodman, and I wonder why none of the obits photos ran current photos, all the photos from AP and NYTimes and LA TIMES were from 1984 when he was 35. But he really ballooned up in weight in recent years. WHY? I say this out of respect and honor to the man, a creative genius. But as a forensic medical blogger, I am curious: did he really gain so much weight and why and was this the cause of death? and chainsmoking too? Death is not innocent. We often cause it ourselves. America is obesity nation, as you know. Can you blog or dish on this, respectfully of course.

see my blog at northwardho or google me.

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