Top 5: John Hughes Scenes (NSFW Language Warning)
by John Nolte
1. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) - The hardest I have ever laughed in my life. There I was in the theater; bent over, my feet off the ground, convulsing and gasping for air. As a stand-alone, the scene’s funny, but Hughes meticulously uses everything that came before as a perfect set up to create an epic comedic moment. It’s so well-crafted that no matter how many times you watch, the laughs don’t diminish. A true classic in my book, alongside the Marx Brothers, Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. (Runner up: “Those aren’t pillows!”)
P.S. I miss John Candy.
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2. Pretty in Pink (1986) - When I was in high school I thought the bravest thing a guy could do was tell some girl who would never love him how much he loved her. Duckie was my hero and this balls-out plea for something, anything from Molly Ringwald wins my admiration every time. He’s angry, he’s hurt, and he just doesn’t give a damn. The touch of hostility mixed with longing and frustration is what makes the scene so much more than just another excuse to pad the soundtrack. You can feel the guy dying inside. And is Annie Potts cute, or what?
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3. Sixteen Candles (1984) – Even in Spanish the closing minutes pack a wallop. The kiss is unforgettable but the kicker for me has always been the silent acknowledgement between Molly Ringwald and her father just before she gets in the car. The “hip” will throw stones, but no one — not Martin Scorsese, not Woody Allen — mixed popular music with moving pictures better than John Hughes. There isn’t even a close second. The songs were never a distraction, never a crutch, just perfection.
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4. Christmas Vacation (1989) – Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie is one of cinema’s great comic characters. That Quaid didn’t win the Oscar is a crime. Hughes milked every Southern stereotype imaginable through Eddie but never with a hint of mean-spirit. The affection we’re supposed to have for him is intentional and it’s obvious Hughes liked his character for who he was, didn’t look down on him, and wanted us to feel the same way. On the other hand, the hostile dislike Hughes heaped on the yuppie — some might say, Hollywoodish – couple next door was just as obvious.
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5. Uncle Buck (1989) - Buck tormenting the artsy, pretentious beret-wearing Bug out to use his niece is some mighty satisfying cinematic stuff. Here’s part two. Warm-hearted Buck lives in the Midwest, bowls, drinks beer, eats trans-fat… You really don’t get a feel for how hostile present-day Hollywood is towards everyday people until you go back twenty years and get a good look at how we used to be portrayed. Somewhere along the line the unsophisticated (something to be proud of) were turned into quirky buffoons.
P.S. I miss John Hughes.
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59 Comments
In retrospect, I think Uncle Buck has got to be one of John Hughes' most underappreciated movies. I don't know about anyone else, but I couldn't stop giggling during the scene where he drills through the lock and comes through the door like Jason Voorhees.
Oh how I loved John Hughes' movies. It wasn't just the teen angst films either. I can't tell you how many times I've watched "She's Having a Baby." I could go on and on. I mean, my husband quotes "Weird Science" to me all the time. And "Vacation," oh my goodness. Could we all relate to that or what?
I love me some Edie McClurg.
I'm wondering if the left wing sites are having the kind of rememberances of Hughes that BH is having. I don't bother to darken their doors much as they are boring. My brother was the one who introduced me to Hughes films starting with Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles but he is one of those career college students now and a devout leftist so for some reason I think he would have nothing but contempt for the everyman/everyteen, non-leftist, non-political nature of Hughes' great works.
They all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
Edie's as 80's as Hughes. Awesome!
By the way, available for free on Comcast on demand, are The Great Outdoors and Weird Science. I know what I'll be watching after Red Eye.
Insomnia has its ups and downs.
Wow, haven't really thought of John Hughes or his movies for ages until I just found out the news.
Now I want to go to the video store and hire a whole heap of movies that I loved as a teenager. It's not until you read over the list of his movies that you realize just how good he was. I feel a movie night coming on.
RIP.
Jake, Uncle Buck is one of my FAVOURITE movies of all time!
I could watch it over and over. One of the best scenes is where he chucks the little girls' teacher a quarter and tells her to buy herself a rat to gnaw the mole off her face. I almost piss myself every time I see that.
Vale John Hughes. You will be missed as much as your mate John Candy.
I miss you both.
[...] Here are one critics rankings of the top 5 John Hughes scenes ever. [...]
Yes!Xmas vacation!My parents STILL chain us all down and watch it every year!!
One talented guy. RIP. ( am sure he's enjoying a heaven full of the comedy greats!)
[...] Original post by Big Hollywood [...]
There is a timeless humor and poignancy about all of his films that makes my kids enjoy them just as much as I did back in the eighties. His movies are a warm and cozy blanket for me and never fail to put a smile on my face. Rest in peace, and thanks for sharing your gift while you were here.
No doubt wearing a shortie robe and eating a tasty snack. Made of dreams.
Regarding PT & A; I lost track of American humor a long time ago. That scene is funny at all: no subtlety or wit that I can detect.
Wow, good grammar and structure, genius!
Man, they are boring. Every post starts with "Every intelligent and educated person knows….." and ends with "..right wingers who just do what Faux News tells them." In between are grammatical errors, half-facts taken out of context, spelling mistakes, and well intentioned immoralaties.
Man, they are boring. Every post starts with "Every intelligent and educated person knows….." and ends with "..right wingers who just do what Faux News tells them." In between are grammatical errors, half-facts taken out of context, spelling mistakes, and well intentioned immoralities.
I can't help but think of the long distance between Apatow and Hughes. Apatow's heros are good natured but lack a moral underpining. They are funny, and human enough, but flat, two dimensional, and driven to their happy ending by circumstance, not character. Hughes on the otherhand seemed to always get that his characters were decent, and though they go unhinged ala Steve Martin's airport tirade, they always suffer their fate and recognize their sins, and finally it is their character that leads them to a satisfactory ending. Hughes made you laugh, but he also could hit you in the gut with truth about the human experience.
What a legacy.
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John Hughes wrote the original Vacation short story in National Lampoon. It was one of the funniest stories I have ever read – a very talented writer. Do yourself a favor and read this:
http://www.bizbag.com/Vacation/Vacation%2058.htm
"I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously. I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they're no good. You so much as scowl at my niece, or any other kid in this school, and I hear about it, and I'm coming looking for you!
Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.
My two kids, now 12 and 9, instantly found an affinity for "Uncle Buck" as youngsters.
I can only suppose that the honesty in the writing and its portrayals came through on the screen in such a way that a young child could see it. I think the characters reminded them of people that they knew. Much like I felt with some of the '60s rural life shows when I was a kid.
And yet, Andy didn't choose Ducky in the end. I always wished that she would come to her senses and pick him over the yuppie. Since 16 Candles had the heroine ending up with the stud, it would have been nice to have one where she ended up with the geek. Ah, well. I'll miss John Hughes.
It is funny just reading it.
Steve Martin's tirade in PTA is classic. So is the entire sequence when John Candy manages to set their car on fire while driving the wrong way on the freeway.
I'd never heard of it until today. And now I have to see it!
What a great speech. The closing line is one of the funniest things I've ever heard (When I saw it in the theater I almost fell out of my seat laughing) but the tone of the rest of it is classic John Hughes. He had the best ear for dialogue that I've ever heard.
As a teen in the late '80s/early 90's I can tell you he absolutely nailed the way kids talked, related and just hung out. Breakfast Club is bit overrated IMO, but if you watch it now, it just oozes with authenticity for that time, place and, most of all, for those characters.
R.I.P. John Hughes. You will be missed.
There are plenty of movies where that does happen. One of the nice things about Pretty in Pink, and 16 Candles for that matter, is that, even though the 'stud' has his flaws, he is not a total waste. So many films make these charectors so one deminsional that we cheer for the golden nerd to win in the end. Life is not like that; people are not like that. Hughes' charectors are not like that.
Duckie has us precisely because we know that he does not stand a chance. He knows his love is destined to be unrequited.
I have to say that I never liked THE BREAKFAST CLUB, mainly because of the way Judd "Flaring Nostrils" Nelson chews through each scene like a great white shark that is coming off a juice-only fast. Plus I was 24 years old at the time, and a teacher, so I guess I wasn't part of the target audience. Or something.
But PLANES, TRAINS. . .now THAT was funny. Damned funny. My favorite line: "Wanna take a shower?"
I just put in my Planes, Trains & Automobiles DVD and I always liked this exchange from the "wrong way" scene:
Steve Martin: "He says we're going the wrong way."
John Candy: "Oh, he's drunk! How would he know where we're going?"
It's actually pretty smart when you think about it.
I haven't seen Uncle Buck in years. I literally get cold just watching a clip of it (it takes place in the winter). I actually saw Sixteen Candles for the first time in 2001, senior year in high school. We were going to our state DECA competition and one of the guys brought along a tape to watch on the bus. I thought it was a blast and was amazed by how constant (and fulfilling) the laughs were. PT&A and Christmas Vacation I used to watch all the time as a kid (albeit taped off of network TV). There's nothing like Clark's big rant at the end: "Hallelujah! Holy sh–!! Where's the Tylenol?!" I think I saw The Great Outdoors on TV when I was a kid, too. I love Aykroyd's trademark long-winded answer when he describes what he sees out beyond the cabin. And then John Candy says, "Trees. I just see trees."
I met her on set of an idependant film called "Breaking Dawn" several years ago and found her to be very sweet and charming. I hope I am lucky to work with her again some day.
I met her on set of an idependant film called "Breaking Dawn" several years ago and found her to be very sweet and charming. I hope I am lucky enough to work with her again some day.
two true classics!
And Duckie did get the girl in the end, just not the one he was originally focused on. Like all us nerds, he learned to pick himself up and move on.
Funnily enough, I believe in the original ending Ducky did get the girl. But that didn't test very well with young women at the time who wanted her to get her prince charming, even though he was kind've an ass. In my heart of hearts, she dumps him two minutes after the credits, and hooks up with Ducky.
I'll go with "those aren't pillows!"
the sinner,
Patrick
Amen on missing John Candy. My older brother met Maureen O'Hara once (by the by – hottest red-head ever). He asked her about John Candy passing (it happened shortly before) and she just got sad. Said he was one of the sweetest, most genuine people she'd ever worked with.
John Hughes will definitely be missed, and so will his films – after all, we've spent decades trying to replicate that magic with little to no success. "American Pie" is no Hughes successor, no matter what anyone says.
the sinner,
Patrick
I've never seen Uncle Buck but after watching that clip, it's definitely going onto my rental list.
John Candy was a riot.
This has been a problem for me with a lot of John Hughes movies (graduating from high school in 1985, I figure I was square in the demographic target sudience), namely, for all the gentle portrayals of geeks and nerds in his movies (and again, in this, I was square in the target audience), how Hughes left them in the lurch, romantically. The absolute worst of all of JH's movies in this respect, IMO, was The Breakfast Club, where the Jock (Emilio Estevez) is matched up with the Outcast (Ally Sheedy), the Bad Boy (Judd Nelson) is matched up with the Cheerleader (Molly Ringwald), and the Nerd (Michael Anthony Hall) is matched up…with the paperwork. Very nearly ruined the entire movie for me.
"The “hip” will throw stones, but no one — not Martin Scorsese, not Woody Allen — mixed popular music with moving pictures better than John Hughes. There isn’t even a close second."
Cameron Crowe would be a close second. "Ma Cherie Amour" in Almost Famous, "In Your Eyes" in Say Anything, "Good Vibrations" in Vanilla Sky … He's a close second due to the heavier hand used when pairing songs to scenes.
I guess I realized I was really an adult when I saw "The Breakfast Club," and the only character I felt sorry for was the poor teacher (Paul Gleason) who had to waste his Saturday babysitting those little brats.
That said, I loved a lot of Hughes' films.
I have to say that many of his teenager films (16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club) never really appealed to me. I'll take PTandA, Uncle Buck, the Great Outdoors (also really underrated) and the Vacation films over them any day.
The "Wrong Way" scene in PT&A is one of my absolute favorites, in any movie. That bit of hilariously clever dialogue together with the shots of Steve Martin and John Candy as terrified skeletons (wearing wigs and clothing), followed immediately by John Candy laughing maniacally in that cheapo devil costume…comedic gold!
Sixteen Candles came out just as I was entering high school and it was perfect. The angst, the awkwardness, the weird exchange student who, after just a few hours in town, was more popular and better liked than kids who had grown up in there their whole lives. So many wonderful scenes in that movie –
-The grandmother with the long cigarette ashes (that Bille Bird hopes to catch with a spatula) opening up the box of donuts with her nails, saying "Voila! Breakfast!" as she blows cigarette smoke all over them.
-Caroline, the popular perfect girl, giving Anthony Michael Hall's Geek a birth control pill in the car ("Now we're both on the pill!!!).
-Ginny's entire wedding scene ("Mike keep your voice down! We don't want the whole world to know she's on her period!")
To this day, if Sixteen Candles is on TV, it doesn't matter what I'm doing, I sit down and watch it – regardless of whether its just starting or if it's halfway finished. Thank you John Hughes for providing my generation with its own set of movie classics. God bless, and may you rest in peace.
Agreed about Vanilla Sky — the whole last 15 minutes is outstanding in its music choices.
I agree 99% with all of this but let's not push the idea to be "proud" of being unsophisticated. That implies a lack of civility which characters like Buck and Cousin Eddie do have overall (even though Eddie sometimes does not have the best manners).
I embarassed my date during PT&A because I was laughing so hard – to the point of stomach cramps. "We'd have an easier time playing Pick-Up-Sticks with our buttcheeks…"
Planes, Trains, Automobiles is definitely my favorite of John Hughes' films. I do love all the teen angst stuff, of course. Who doesn't. And they came at the right time for me; essentially my generation. But PTA hits so many chords that are just good old fashioned wonderful.
I almost didn't see it because of the title. I dismissed it as a gimmick flick, which I try to avoid. Well, a college buddy made me sit down and watch it, and I've been making others sit down and watch it ever since.
People I know who don't care for Steve Martin or John Candy or even John Hughes films love PTA.
That says a lot about Hughes' ability.
Rest in Peace, John.
Planes, Trains, Automobiles is definitely my favorite of John Hughes' films. I do love all the teen angst stuff, of course. Who doesn't? And they came at the right time for me; essentially my generation. But PTA hits so many chords that are just good old fashioned wonderful.
I almost didn't see it because of the title. I dismissed it as a gimmick flick, which I try to avoid. Well, a college buddy made me sit down and watch it, and I've been making others sit down and watch it ever since.
People I know who don't care for Steve Martin or John Candy or even John Hughes films love PTA.
That says a lot about Hughes' ability.
Rest in Peace, John.
1. I hope they put together some kind of John Hughes set of DVDs for sale!
2. It's nice to hear (according to Ben Stein anyway and I read it somewhere else too) that he was a conservative (or at least a Republican). I guess you can see that in his films in terms of how he treats middle America. I always enjoyed his films, but I might just enjoy them a little more now knowing that he respected "fly-over" country, unlike the rest of Hollywood (well, except for Big Hollywood and a certain percentage of actors, etc. that we know of).
Funny, I don't remember all those f-words in Planes, Trains. No less funny, but I usually have a great movie-memory. I used to watch Christmas Vacation every year, it was my "It's a Wonderful Life".
I watched Home Alone with my kids at xmas and it was both hilarious and touching and they loved it. Sorry he left so soon but if it means anything, he'll be remembered for generations through his movies. I'm way closer to 59 than to 16 now so I appreciate him all the more.
Out of context, the scene isn't all that funny. It's hilarious if you've seen the entire movie up to that point, and have gotten to know Steve Martin's character.
In many ways, Steve's character is much like a proper, mild-mannered Englishman. He's the type of man who lives in a neat, tidy suburban house, who never loses his cool or uses dirty words.
After three exasperating days with John Candy, he's finally reached his breaking point.
I think the righteous dude line was the funniest in "Ferris Bueller," rivaled only by "I've got my father's gun and a scorching case of herpes."
John Hughes and John Candy are dead. The decline and death of America is truly at hand.
Wheres PaPa! Funniest movie to me. Doubled me up. Probably outdated today though
Astorian is right. Once you have seen the whole movie, it becomes utterly hilarious.
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