Top 5: John Hughes Scenes (NSFW Language Warning)

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1. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) – The hardest I have ever laughed in my life. There I was in the theater; bent over, my feet off the ground, convulsing and gasping for air. As a stand-alone, the scene’s funny, but Hughes meticulously uses everything that came before as a perfect set up to create an epic comedic moment. It’s so well-crafted that no matter how many times you watch, the laughs don’t diminish. A true classic in my book, alongside the Marx Brothers, Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. (Runner up: “Those aren’t pillows!”)

P.S. I miss John Candy.

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2. Pretty in Pink (1986) – When I was in high school I thought the bravest thing a guy could do was tell some girl who would never love him how much he loved her. Duckie was my hero and this balls-out plea for something, anything from Molly Ringwald wins my admiration every time. He’s angry, he’s hurt, and he just doesn’t give a damn. The touch of hostility mixed with longing and frustration is what makes the scene so much more than just another excuse to pad the soundtrack. You can feel the guy dying inside. And is Annie Potts cute, or what?

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3. Sixteen Candles (1984) – Even in Spanish the closing minutes pack a wallop. The kiss is unforgettable but the kicker for me has always been the silent acknowledgement between Molly Ringwald and her father just before she gets in the car. The “hip” will throw stones, but no one — not Martin Scorsese, not Woody Allen — mixed popular music with moving pictures better than John Hughes. There isn’t even a close second. The songs were never a distraction, never a crutch, just perfection.

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4. Christmas Vacation (1989) – Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie is one of cinema’s great comic characters. That Quaid didn’t win the Oscar is a crime. Hughes milked every Southern stereotype imaginable through Eddie but never with a hint of mean-spirit. The affection we’re supposed to have for him is intentional and it’s obvious Hughes liked his character for who he was, didn’t look down on him, and wanted us to feel the same way. On the other hand, the hostile dislike Hughes heaped on the yuppie — some might say, Hollywoodish — couple next door was just as obvious.

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5. Uncle Buck (1989) – Buck tormenting the artsy, pretentious beret-wearing Bug out to use his niece is some mighty satisfying cinematic stuff. Here’s part two. Warm-hearted Buck lives in the Midwest, bowls, drinks beer, eats trans-fat… You really don’t get a feel for how hostile present-day Hollywood is towards everyday people until you go back twenty years and get a good look at how we used to be portrayed. Somewhere along the line the unsophisticated (something to be proud of) were turned into quirky buffoons.

P.S. I miss John Hughes.