Jude's Thursday Dish #41: John Hughes Edition

Don't you, forget about him. Today's Dish is in honor of the wonderful John Hughes, the director who died of a heart attack last week. So many of the media influences I grew up with are passing away. It's surreal. I don't think it's because I'm getting old. Many of them are dying relatively young. Anyway, in honor of the film maker, here is a gallery of my favorite films of his and how they influenced me. And they really did. A lot of my life can be tied back to a John Hughes movie (or a song from one of the soundtracks.)

Little did I know when my friend Leslie introduced me to this VHS would my future husband still be quoting it in 2009. This is a great movie, but for John and his family, it's one of the GREATS. They are HUGE "Mr. Mom" fans. Michael Keaton is so good in this (I wish he was still doing more work other than "Herbie Fully Loaded") He summed up mothering young kids perfectly, "My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines! Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows, and I'm LIKING them! I'm losing it."

I saw "Vacation" edited on TV for years before I watched the full version in high school. I had no idea there was nudity in it! A tame R by today's standards, but I was totally shocked. I always thought it was a little skeevy of Clark to be lusting after other women when Beverly D'Angelo was really hot. This was my first exposure to wonderful Clark Griswold who has become an entertainment staple in my life. John and I always joke about this movie when we're on a road trip. Yeah Wally World!

Sigh. This was the quintessential romantic comedy of my teenage years. What girl could NOT turn to mush by the dreamy Jake Ryan? (Who by strange not-so-coincidence is the name of Hannah Montana's boyfriend.) Fun trivia: John and Joan Cusack are both in this movie. Be forewarned if you haven't seen it in a while. It's the kind of movie you recall being clean, but there's a huge boob shot in the beginning. I learned this the hard way when I took it over to my niece's when I was babysitting years ago.

If "Sixteen Candles" is the quintessential romantic comedy of the 80's, then "The Breakfast Club" is the quintessential teen film -- maybe ever. Oh the angst! This movie had a lot more influence on my life than it probably should have, but the message that we're a lot more similar than we think still holds true today. It's not a perfect movie. For one thing, the feminist in me thinks it's totally lame that Ally Sheedy had to get a makeover in order for Emilio Estevez to fall for her! Still, I'll ALWAYS heart this movie.

I think this is the first John Hughes movie I saw in the theater. I remember going to the Creekside 5, 6, 7 theaters by Cottonwood Mall. There is no way my parents would have taken me to this, so I'm wondering if I went with my older brother Brad. Hmmm, I really don't know. Anyway, again -- totally shocked to see boobage in this movie. But I was probably 13 when I saw this. An inferior "Vacation" movie, but has some great moments. John and I have remembered it fondly on our trips to Europe.

Certain movies remind you of people and this reminds me of my friend, Leslie. She adored this film. We always felt so sorry for poor Duckie. In the original ending, Duckie was supposed to win Andie's heart, but test audiences weren't going for it, so they had her end up with stupid Andrew McCarthy. But the movie has great music (OMD's "If You Leave") and a good message about class. One of my favorite things is hearing about who was considered for a movie or who turned down a part. It's fun to imagine how different a film would be with different actors. This movie has a lot of that. Anthony Michael Hall turned down the part of Duckie. Robert Downey Jr. was considered for that part and Molly Ringwald has said that the original ending would've stuck, because she had chemistry with RDJ and not like the brother-sister vibe she had with Jon Cryer. A ton of actresses were considered for the part of Andie including Jodie Foster, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Justine Bateman and Brooke Shields.

Ah, Ferris. Ferris has John Hut written all over it. Not that's he a Ferris at all (that's reserved for his brother, Chad). But Ferris is what John wishes he could be if he had an irresponsible bone in his body. I've always loved this movie, but I love it even more because of John. One of my favorite "John wishes he was Ferris" moments is when we went on a road trip to 4 corners back in 1996 (way before we became a couple). He wore his Ferris beret in honor of taking the day off. Personal affection aside, this movie is a CLASSIC.

John Hughes was really unhappy that the studio made him change the ending of "Pretty in Pink" where Andie left Duckie, so he basically made the same movie and let the underdog (this time with Watts as the Duckie) win the heart of the lead. SMART MOVE! I will say though, this movie gave me totally unrealistic expectations of romance that followed me for a big part of my dating career. It made me think that all my guy friends would just turn around and love me one day. Fortunately, I wised up and found my own Duckie. Anyway, LOVE when Watts teaches Keith to kiss. And that ending. My favorite song in the world is "Can't Helping Falling in Love With You" and there's an excellent version of that by Lick the Tins at the end. This is one of my favorite Rom-Coms ever.

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is the first John Hughes movie of what I'll call the Amy/Idaho era. When I was a freshman, I moved up to Ricks and roomed with my cousin, Amy. We would go down and visit her parents in I.F. all the time. It was an awesome time in my life. Amy was/is a huge John Hughes fan and introduced me to the more of his films. I remember the first November I was up there, we watched this movie around Thanksgiving. So funny. And one of the few times that dropping the "F" bomb didn't seem totally gratuitous. That scene with Steve Martin and Edie McClurg in the airport is inspired.

This is all Amy. We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this movie. Watched it all the time. Sure, Alec Baldwin is way smarmy in this and there's that gross scene with him that we'd always Fast Forward. He looks a far cry from Jack Donaghy (or even Jack Ryan). But it's a really funny film and probably has the most heart of any John Hughes film. At the end where Jake thinks he lost Kristy and the baby. Sigh. And "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush will make you bawl like a baby... pun intended. I love how John Hughes wrote a good coming of age film from the irresponsible teen boys of his earlier movies and showing how a boy needs to grow-up and take responsibility of being a faithful husband and dad. Also, the credits rock with different celebrities popping up in cameos to offer baby name choices.

Another Idaho movie. John Candy was awesome. Another "who almost got the part" was that they wanted Danny Devito for the role of Uncle Buck. It would've been SO different. Candy owns this roles. This movie makes me laugh out loud. Especially the part with Laurie Metcalf as the sex-crazed neighbor. This movie is very quotable (who hasn't said, "Moley Russell's wart"?) One of my favorite quotes though has to be:
Bug: Ever hear of a tune-up? Hee hee hee hee hee.
Buck: Ah, heh heh heh. Ever hear of a ritual killing? Ah, heh heh heh heh heh
Bug: I don't get it.
Buck: You gnaw on her face in public like that again and you'll be one. Ah, heh heh heh heh!

John and I named our first Christmas tree "Griswold" after dear Clark. This movie is actually my favorite "Vacation" movie even though it's probably the not as good as the original. It's just SO funny. And this is SO the Huts. Another GREAT movie for John's family. I wish they had just ended the trilogy with this movie, because that Vegas one is awful. My favorite parts are when Clark is trying to get all the Christmas lights on and when Randy Quaid brings Clark's boss to the house. When he goes off on his boss. John loves when he asks for the Tylenol. This is a film we try to watch every year. I can't wait until Katie is old enough to watch it.

The last 3 aren't movies I love, but show how John Hughes' movie touch a 2nd generation from his 80's teen followers. Katie doesn't like "Home Alone" because it makes her sad, but I thought I'd better include it because I know it was pretty influential. However, she does ADORE the "Beethoven" movies and "101 Dalmations' with Glenn Close. They should've stopped with the 1st and 2nd Beethoven movies (the 5 jillion that follow are terrible) and only done one "101 Dalmations" movie. Still, the original ones that John Hughes actually did are cute and have a lot of the same elements and heart of his earlier work.

Well, there you have it! Phew. Thanks for all the good memories and RIP, Mr. Hughes.

That's it for this week!