It’s been seven years since we lost one of the greatest directors in the history of moving picture entertainment, John Hughes. So many of his movies have become classics, and that’s something that shouldn’t be forgotten. Here are some of the most influential movies he ever directed, along with some of my favorite quotes from each.
(This article is my personal opinion. These are only a few of his great movies and all others should be remembered as well, these are just the ones I grew up with and have come to love.)
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The Breakfast Club (Rated: R)
How can we forget about this one? Possibly among the most popular of Hughes’ movies, this classic is about a group of 5 diverse high school students who have all somehow gotten their way into a Saturday detention session. The movie shows them arguing with each other and how they come together despite their differences.
“We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”
“Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.”
“Cause I’m telling the truth, that makes me a bitch?”
“You won’t accept a guy’s tongue in your mouth and you’re gonna eat that?”
“You see us as you wanna see us, in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Rated: PG-13)
Yet another of Hughes’ infamous classics, this one’s about a high school senior who decides he’s gonna take the day off of school, in the most elaborate way…
“How could I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?”
“You can never go too far.”
“If I’m gonna get busted, it’s not gonna be by a guy like that.”
“If you’re not over here in 15 minutes, you can find a new best friend.”
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Sixteen Candles (Rated: R)
You can only imagine the shock when newly 16 year old Samantha Baker wakes up to her family forgetting her birthday. This movie is filled with craziness, but that’s what makes it a classic.
“That’s why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they’d be called something else.”
“It’s really human of you to listen to all my bullshit.”
“What’s happening, hot stuff?”
“By night’s end, I predict me and her will interface.”
“Can I borrow your underpants for ten minutes?”
Pretty in Pink (Rated: PG-13)
Welcome back to the classic high school, enter classic love story. The girl is friends with the guy who happens to have a huge crush on her but sticks him in the friend zone while she goes after someone who is not exactly her speed.
“You could say that life itself is a stupid tradition.”
“Andie: Are you going to class today?
Duckie: I don’t know if I’m emotionally ready.”
“I just want them to know that they didn’t break me.”
“They just don’t write love songs like they used to.”
“Despite my appearance at this function, I remain now, and will always be a Duckman.”
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Rated: PG-13)
It’s the holiday season and everyone is celebrating together! Everyone’s invited! Even if you’re not invited, feel free to show up! This movie is downright the funniest movie on the face of the earth. It’s such a classic that it’s been installed in my family as the official start of the holiday season! Welcome to a family that can’t get along, tries to get along, and even still faces a bump in the frigid night.
“Take a look around you, Ellen. We’re at the threshold of hell.”
“Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah.”
“Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?”
“Well I don’t know what to say except it’s Christmas and we’re all in misery.”
“And when Santa squeezes his fat, white ass down that chimney tonight, he’s gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse!”
Home Alone & Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Rated: PG)
These movies are the best just because of Kevin’s cunning ideas. He’s the epitome of what every 8 year old strives to be. He gets left alone at his house in the first movie while his family go on vacation. And in the second one, he actually makes it to the airport with his family, but follows the wrong person, who just so happened to be wearing the same coat as his father, onto the wrong plane, headed for New York. A lot goes wrong, but Kevin always outwits the bad guys and makes it back to his family.
“A lovely cheese pizza, just for me.”
“Your heart might still be broken, but it isn’t gone. If it was gone, you wouldn’t be this nice.”
“Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.”
“What kind of idiots do you have working here?”
“Suck brick, kid!”
