For no real reason at all, I wanted to make a decision on what the best John Hughes movie is. Not a top 5 or top 10, a top 1. I am including every movie he wrote (he only directed a handful). Here’s the list of John Hughes movies (courtesy of Wikipedia):
I’ll start by taking off everything done after 1991 (Post Dutch). Those are mediocre movies at best. Definitely not worthy of the best of John Hughes movie title.
Next I’ll remove the movies that I’ve never heard of before: Career Opportunities, She’s Having a Baby, and Some Kind of Wonderful.
Now things get a little dicey. Looking at the Vacation movies, which one is the best? I’d have to go for Vacation. No one is going to argue for European Vacation. So, no reason to continue talking about it. Christmas Vacation is very good and almost a toss up with the original, but the original is superior.
Also, let’s look at the John Candy as a star movies: Great Outdoors, P, T, and A, and Uncle Buck. Out of those three we can write off Uncle Buck. It has a few funny moments, but is far from a classic (unless your idea of a classic is a movie that you get for free with a pizza). P, T, and A is a bit more funny than the Great Outdoors. It really comes down to the co-star. On one hand you have Steve Martin on the other Dan Akroyd. I could be wrong, but Steve Martin at the top of his game is better than Akroyd. So, I’ll take P, T, and A from this group.
Now let’s tackle the really big debate; the best high school movie. In this grouping we find the following: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris. We have to eliminate Pretty in Pink immediately because it only really speaks to the female audience. Likewise, Weird Science is mostly a guy type movie, so we have to drop it from the list. Between the remaining three; Sixteen Candles is the most romantic, The Breakfast Club has the most drama, and Ferris Bueller is the funniest. Naturally, the funniest wins. So, FBDO advances to the next round.
The last category is covers all the movies left over. This list includes Mr. Mom, Home Alone, and Dutch. I personally don’t remember much about Mr. Mom, so I’ll have to knock it off the list. That leaves Home Alone and Dutch. As much as I like Ethan Embry and Dutch, it is just too dramatic for my tastes. Thus, I will take Home Alone as the top dog of this group.
So, here’s the remaining four movies:
It’s obvious that one of these movies does not belong. So, we knock Home Alone off the list. That leaves us with:
From these three movies, I have to go with Ferris. It has tons of humor, a solid B story (Ed Rooney), character development (look at Cameron), a great soundtrack (even though it was never put on tape/CD), a bunch of memorable images (all the Chicago locations), a high quotability factor (every time I get a glass of water I have to say, “and you thought we wouldn’t have any fun today. Shame on you.”), a high rewatchability factor (see my other blog for more information on this), and everything you wanted to do/be in high school. There was a period when I seemed to watch this movie at least once a week.
Now it’s your turn. How would you sort things out? Which movie is the best in your opinion? How terrible is my logic? Even worse, how bad is my writing technique (you know, with all the tangential thoughts in parenthesis [just like that one, and I guess this one])?
March 14, 2007 at 4:42 pm |
First off, you need to see Some Kind of Wonderful. Stoltz is the man in that movie. Secondly, Home Alone over Dutch? Are you mental? Next, see Shes Having a Baby, Kevin Bacon is pretty funny in that movie and you really should see that too. I do agree with throwing out everything after Dutch. Here is my list.
Mr. Mom (1983)
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)
Weird Science (1985)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
She’s Having a Baby (1988)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Uncle Buck (1989)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Home Alone (1990)
Career Opportunities (1991)
Dutch (1991)
Next the toss outs. Sixteen Candles–I agree that it is a girl movie and it needs to go. Weird Science–agree with you. Pretty in Pink–needs to go as well, what was this about again? Nic Cage dating a valley girl? European Vacation–gone because of the annoying kids. Xmas Vacation–funny, but is a holiday movie. Same goes for Home Alone. What is Career Opportunities? New list:
Mr. Mom (1983)
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
She’s Having a Baby (1988)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Uncle Buck (1989)
Dutch (1991)
Here’s the movies that I kick off now. Mr. Mom–Love Keaten, but you can tell Hughes was honing his chops. Breakfast Club–seen it too much, and I find that I am tired of it. Some Kind of Wonderful–Stoltz is great, but Hughes was honing his love chops. She’s Having a Baby–Very funny, but vastly underseen. So it goes because of lack of notoriety. Great Outdoors–too much of a straight summer movie. Dutch–Ed O’Neil is great, Embry is great, story is great, but it might just have great parts that lead to an all right movie. New list:
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Uncle Buck (1989)
The double force of Candy means that he really had something special, so I need to take off Vacation and Bueller. I love these movies, I think they are perfectly quotable, but are they too strictly funny with not so much heart? And then from here I have to say that I love Uncle Buck. I do think that it is incredibly funy with a ton of heart. Candy was on top of his game and Hughes was on top of his game, both behind the pen and the camera. The problem with planes is that I can never stop thinking about that mustache that Candy had. Seriously?
So number one is:
Uncle Buck
Can you deal with that?
March 15, 2007 at 7:54 am |
Uncle Buck, eh?
I thought it was a funny movie when it came out, but over the years it has gotten played out in my opinion. It used to always be on TV on TBS or USA or one of those other second tier cable channels.
All I remember from the movie is:
- Buck’s car backfires all the time
- He makes a huge pancake
- The girl hangs out with losers and Buck intimidates them with a crowbar.
Am I missing anything?
March 15, 2007 at 8:43 am |
“Pardon my French, but Cameron is so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you have a diamond.”
March 15, 2007 at 9:39 am |
“Yup, life move as you pretty fast. If you stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
March 15, 2007 at 11:42 am |
Uncle Buck played out? I watched Ferris Bueller twice this weekend on two different stations. Also second tier cable. So, I think we would have to agree that both of our pics have been a little overplayed over the years. The thing Uncle Buck has going for it is that it is quite a bit more believable than Bueller. So keep in the funny, the drama, and the believability and I win.
March 15, 2007 at 11:47 am |
Ferris stands up to the replays, Uncle Buck does not.
March 15, 2007 at 8:16 pm |
You’re out of your Uncle Buck’in mind if you think that is true.
March 16, 2007 at 9:12 pm |
Aren’t you forgetting that John Candy was also (briefly but memorably) in Vacation? And it has so many good lines I could take up a page writing them all down. So if I use either of your reasonings, it narrows it down to “Vacation”.
March 16, 2007 at 10:15 pm |
Another reason that I needed to take off vacation is that there are numerous sequels, and not all good. But some of the sequels are great. Christmas Vacation, in my opinion, is better than Vacation. But I can’t put Christmas Vacation on the list because it is too exclusive to one time of year, though it can be quoted throughout the year. Also, Vegas Vacation, while not better than the original, definitely stands beside it or right below it. And then there is European, while funny at times, is more or less unwatchable. Though I love these movies, I cannot ever, EVER choose Chevy Chase over John Candy. Even though Candy was in Vacation, it was not enough to sway my decision.
December 14, 2007 at 2:47 am |
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Are my favorite three, I think Uncle Buck is #4