RIP John Hughes

About 3 weeks ago, America's favorite 80's film director/producer/writer, John Hughes passed away of a sudden heart attack. I have been a long time fan Mr. Hughes' films since high school and is still deeply saddened by the loss. Why? Did I know him personally? No I didn't know him personally, I wish I did as so many other fans would want to, but he seemed like this really rad person.

I mean he made the Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day off, Pretty in Pink, Home Alone, and many others. If you think about it, one can say he is the father of Teen Flicks. If you look back in time, John Hughes is the only film producer/writer/director to produce a lot movies geared toward teens. Us Gen X'ers felt, felt like someone knew us, what we liked or didn't like, what dilemmas we faced on a daily basis (i.e. peer pressure, dating, parents, acceptance...). John Hughes knew us & portrayed it well. We were all hooked.

The day of his passing I took a Facebook poll about my favorite flick and had posted this as well on Facebook:

...today is a very sad day for all Gen Xers and enthusiasts alike... John Hughes passed away today in NY of a heart attack. I still luv Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, etc. RIP Mr.Hughes =(

The response was great. A lot of my friends were reminiscing about their favorite flicks & how it was great growing up in the 80's. And then one of them said, "are you kidding me? It's an end of an era." I was a mess. It's so true what Sandra had said. OMG, the good times are coming to an end. How awful!

For the poll, I picked Pretty in Pink, but it was a close call because alot of his films are really good and so it was a close call between, Ferris Bueller, Home Alone, and the Breakfast Club; it's a really tough decision. Some had the same dilemma as well. That's what I mean, JH knew what we were feeling and he put it out there. And the music he picked was great as well. We were introduced to Psychedelic Furs, OMD, Oingo Boingo, Simple Minds, The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the list goes on.

Case in point, John Hughes' films left an impression on all Gen X'ers & JH enthusiasts alike. I recommend that you watch his films, if haven't done so already. I would recommend that you start with Ferris Bueller's Day Off, then follow it by Sixteen Candles, and then by The Breakfast Club. After you're done you'll see what I mean. I can go on all day writing about each teen flick, but I won't; but I will leave you with these 4 links to 4 blog posts. Make sure you have a box of tissues when you read the second one because you will be ballin'

From NPR: "Five Great John Hughes Moments"

From the blog, We'll Know When We Get there: "Sincerely, John Hughes"
And the audio version of this in which Alison was interviewed by BBC 5 Live: "Stops and starts and Flows" ...btw, I think Alison sounds like Molly Ringwald.

And the response to Sincerely JH, "Sincerely, Alison Byrne Fields"

P.S. please enjoy the following video montage of John Hughes' movies put out by LAFilmcutter on YouTube, called "Through The Eyes of John Hughes." It's really good and I hope you still have that box of tissues handy...you'll still need it.