Las Vegas Weekly

August 7, 2009 · 5:17 PM

Some of John Hughes’ best work, all from the 1980s

By John Katsilometes

The great filmmaker John Hughes has died at age 59 of an apparent heart attack in Manhattan. He wrote and directed many great films, particularly in the 1980s, and following are my favorites:

1.National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983): Remember when Chevy Chase was funny? Hughes, who wrote but did not direct this film (and we're counting it in this list anyway), gave him a lot to work with: “The moose says you’re closed, I say you’re open!” Or, “Perhaps you don't want to see the second-largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?” Or, “Real tomato ketchup, Eddie.” “Nothin’ but the best, Clark!” Or, “This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. A quest for fun.” Aunt Edna, Cousin Eddie, great cameos by Eugene Levy (as the slick car salesman that hooks dopey Clark into the Wagon Queen Family Truckster) and John Candy (the overrun Walley World park security officer). This is every road trip the family took when I was a kid.

2.Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): The cast seemed like it was having a blast making this film. The “Danke Shoen/Twist and Shout” medley, a street party featuring a marching band, was a truly inspired blending of genres. The “Hey-battah-battah-battah SAH-WING, battah!” chatter from the Cubs’ game is always good for a laugh on the softball field.

3.Weird Science” (1985): Kelly LeBrock was the perfect creation, as Oingo Boingo chanted in the title song from the film. Long forgotten, maybe, is Bill Paxton’s performance as obnoxious brother Chet, who spat, “You two d***weeds couldn’t get laid in a morgue!” before being turned into a large pile of dung.

4.Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987): How about the dueling, F-bomb-infused rant between Steve Martin and rental car agent Edie McClurg? Or Candy’s attempt to sway the hotel manager by saying, “I have $17 and … a Casio." This would be No. 1 if not for the syrupy ending.

5.The Breakfast Club (1985): These kids were bright, troubled, opinionated, immature … pretty much my entire senior class. Judd Nelson’s untrammeled angst didn’t wear well over time, but was there a better crier in the 1980s than Molly Ringwald? And Anthony Michael Hall’s tearful confession to the group that his inability to make a simple lamp nearly led him to suicide was an unexpectedly moving twist to the daylong saga. Sure, the closing shot, of Nelson’s John Bender thrusting his gloved fist skyward, is sort of farcical, but impress your friends with this bit of trivia: The date the teens spent in detention was March 24, 1984.

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