My Top Twelve (or 13)~
- Christmas Vacation “Eddie?…Eddie?!…Eddie?!?…If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be more surprised.” C-l-a-s-s-i-c! A must-watch every Christmas and I watched it last night – which is what made me think about John Hughes, the movie-maker.
- Sixteen Candles “By night’s end I predict me and her will interface.” One of the most-quoted movies for our family. “Fresh breath is a priority in my life.”
- The Breakfast Club ~ “Don’t you forget about me, don’t don’t don’t…”
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles “Every time you go away, you take a piece of me with you…” LOVE that song and that scene!
- Miracle on 34th Street (1994 version) ~ Though I am not a fan of remaking certain amazingly beautiful classics, and this would be one of those, he did do a colorful update and I cannot resist that sweet little Mara Wilson and the final scene in the gorgeous “catalog house”. It is a feast for the eyes.
- Home Alone and (6 1/2.) Home Alone 2: Christmas in New York ~ I’d be over these by now if I hadn’t ended up having very resourceful grandsons. They could so pull this off!
- Uncle Buck~ My mom l-o-v-e-s this movie and John Candy is pretty irresistible.
- Some Kind of Wonderful ~ Which quote? “You should consider whether or not you feel you can deliver the kiss that kills.” Or: “You look good wearing my future.”
- Maid in Manhattan(writer) ~ Tagline: This Christmas, love checks in,” plus Norah Jones on the soundtrack!
- Only the Lonely ~ The man (John Candy) a cop. The woman – a lonely, shy funeral home worker. The mother, an overbearing, domineering woman who wants her son’s undivided loyalty. Sweet.
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
- Pretty in Pink ~ “May I admire you again today?”
John Hughes.
He practically single handedly created the 1980’s “Brat Pack,” he wrote the teen-age angst of that time. He portrayed the “average kid” with superior skill. He captured the north-of-Chicago neighborhood as the great American hometown with wide, tree-lined streets and big warm-looking houses. He perfected the sights and sounds of chaotic family gatherings with multi-generational conversation going on. He put the right songs in the right scenes, dealt gently with the less-than-beautiful in love, graced movie-goers with believable, flawed, but good-hearted characters. We saw friendship develop, the underdog find love, Molly Ringwald become “the quintessential,” and Saint Bernards take over a household (the “Beethoven” movies, not listed above).
In a few short years, primarily through the 1980’s, the guy gave us great movies. In 1991, disillusioned with Hollywood standards and extreme leftist thinking, he became a voting Republican and Illinois farmer and checked out of it all, only to write under a pseudonym. He died in August of this year at 59. I can’t help but think of him, especially at Christmas, because of how well and how beautifully he paid homage to Christmas in several of his films. And how brilliantly he did it in “Christmas Vacation.”
