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.

Anyone who came of age in the 80s and early 90s can’t help but remember the John Hughes era thanks to the many, many hours of warm, hilarious and unforgettable memories that sprung from the great man’s Midwestern mind.

John Hughes: 1950-2009

As producer, writer and director, Hughes created timeless stories that teenagers and parents alike will continue to discover a hundred years from now. Rich in universal theme, populated with lovable, relatable outcasts, and told by a creative genius who understood us and never talked down to us, John Hughes enjoyed nearly two decades of Hollywood success before retiring to private life in Chicago sometime in the 90s.

Long before today, we were missing John Hughes.

Fifty-nine is young. Many of us hoped he would come back, but now we’ll have to settle for the rich legacy he left behind; a canon of classics that bring as much pleasure today as they did the first time we saw them.

Here are some Big Hollywood favorites: 

1. Vacation (1983) — Funny when you’re a teen, funnier when you’re an adult. We all have more Clark Griswold in us than we care to admit to. 

2. Sixteen Candles (1984) — Anthony Michael Hall’s mouthy, gutsy “Geek” won the hottest girl in school and gave hope to geeks everywhere. He still does. 

3. The Breakfast Club (1985) — John Hughes was 35 and understood the world of high school better than any high schooler.  

4. Pretty in Pink (1986) — Twenty-three years later you say “Duckie” and everyone smiles.

5. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) – Touching, romantic, and underrated. NetFlix it now.

6. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) — On par with the Marx Brothers when it comes to building up rolling, convulsive laughter. Steve Martin’s blow up at the car rental counter is epic comedy.

7. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) — No explanation necessary.

8. Uncle Buck (1989) — If this was the only film Hughes or John Candy had ever made…

9. Christmas Vacation (1989) – Warm, funny and containing more quotable lines than any film in recent memory. Nothing since has ever topped, “Shitter’s full.”

10. Home Alone (1990) — Hollywood’s last Christmas perennial.

And there are many more…

Andrew Breitbart: ”During high school I regularly delivered pizza to John Hughes. He always over-tipped. This is a devastating loss. He was a man with immense talent and integrity who refused to allow his masterpieces to be remade and exploited by the studios. In this series of high-profile deaths over the last few months, this is the only one that truly, truly hurts. Talk about the end of an era.”  

Rest in Peace, John Hughes… And thank you for standing up for gawky teens, social misfits, and life in the American suburbs. 

Thank you most of all for laughing with us, not at us.