Dave and Thomas Daily Timekillers

John Hughes, the producer, writer and director whose 1980s films such as “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” offered a sharp-eyed look at teenagers and their social habits, has died.

John Hughes only directed 8 movies in his lifetime but is credited with 34 writing efforts including “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “Mr. Mom.”  The pop culture impact by Hughes is tremendous.  His movies started the careers of many of the 80’s biggest teen actors.

Here’s a look back at our Top 5 Favorite John Hughes movies.

Breakfast Club

A Brain. A Beauty. A Jock. A Rebel. A Recluse.

Five completely different high school kids are sentenced to detention on a Saturday and have a coming-of-age experience. “Breakfast Club” is one of Hughes more serious and personal films most considering it came after the comedy hit “Sixteen Candles.”

We saw this movie while in grade school and got to believe that high school would be filled with similar stereotypes from the movie.  We were right.  They were all there.

Uncle Buck

Everyone seems to have that crazy Uncle in their family. We love “Uncle Buck” because Uncle Buck’s one of us.

John Candy is Buck in this heavily [no pun intended] underrated flick that Hughes wrote and directed which has Candy in one of his first major staring roles. “Summer Rental” doesn’t count.

Also of note is the first time Hughes and Macaulay Culkin teamed up before making “Home Alone” which was written and produced by Hughes.

National Lampoon’s Vacation

Younger kids might not remember but there was a time when Chevy Chase’s poop didn’t stink. At the height of his popularity Chase was in some great comedy movies which peaked with the classic “Vacation.”

Hughes wrote the movie which was directed by Harold Ramis and the franchise spawned 4 sequels over the years.

We love “Vacation” because Hughes had a finger on the pulse of suburban America like no one else and no other movie pegged the miserable experience of a cross-country road trip like the Griswold’s trip to Wally World.

Sixteen Candles

This classic is Hughes first breakout comedy hit which started the teen coming-of-age trend which fueled the 80’s movie industry. “Sixteen Candles” helped start Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall careers and made everyone think that a girls 16th B-day was the single most important day ever.

We love “Sixteen Candles” not for the teen angst of Molly Ringwald but rather for great characters like Michael Hall’s “The Geek” or “Ted the Farmer.”  Whatever you want to call him.

Also of note, a young John Cusack plays a nerd and his sister is Joan makes an appearance.  But for our money we love the Donger!  The Donger needs food!

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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Theatrical Trailer)
Uploaded by NakedBrotha2007 – Classic TV and last night’s shows, online.

This slacker movie defined our generation as well as a TV series based on the movie staring Jennifer Aniston, tons of fan created movie trailers, a Fight Club based theory on alternative realities, an alt-rock band [Save Ferris] and the comedic career of Ben Stein.

The music also introduced kids to the Beatles [Twist and Shout] and Wayne Newton [Danke Schoen] as well as peppered pop culture with great quotes.

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