Cool News
There's Probably No Better Remembrance Of John Hughes Than This...
Merrick here...
...with a link to a very touching story which, in itself, sounds like it could be a John Hughes film. It's about how Hughes' work irrevocably touched one girl's life, and how his protracted correspondence with her helped shape the person she is today.
CHECK IT OUT
It's pretty powerful, rather thought provoking, and says a lot about the man we lost yesterday.
Thanks to Hai for pointing us towards this.
CHECK IT OUT
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a quiet gentlemen that loved to entertain us, but prefered to stay out of the limelight..i respect that, RIP
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No one will ever want to be your pen pal. Signed, The Breakfast Club (thanks for posting this, Merrick.)
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I wonder how his sons are doing.
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goddamnit
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I was kind of a delinquent teen. Umm Maybe more like a criminal, anyway I remember going to my court-appointed shrink the day after seeing The Breakfast Club, and thinking "this broad doesn't get it, but this John Hughes really does"...I know it sounds hokey but it's 100% true. Gave me a little hope. That and my Husker Du records. And my weed.
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...Michael Bay can't read or write.
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That was such a great read. My heady friends and I spend hours debating the long term impact of Long Duk Dong on the stigmatized Asian American, how he differs from Ken Jeong's character in The Hangover (in the latter, Bradley Cooper is the punchline, in the former, Gede Watanbe) and whether or not, on the basis of one broadly drawn character, we should not be thankful for all the other amazing films JH made, his contributions to film making, story telling et al. And it's fun. It's a nice way to memorialize a person, by investing in dicussion in his work. But this... was the most satisfying read ever.
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going above and beyond the duty of what any artist for their fans. But the girl from this story just comes off as a little bit too demanding and stalkerish. But that just goes to show how much of a genuine and caring person John was.
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It has more insight than most of the articles I've read about Hughes over the years. I can't help but wonder in a sort of morbid way if he had any screenplays left someone might make someday.
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Moved me alot.
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Aug 07, 2009 1:02:36 PM CDT
This makes me even prouder to be from the midwest...
by shut the fuck up donny
just like ol' John.
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better than harrys usual old "the death of (insert famous celebrity name here) really affects me. this isnt cool news."
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I always wondered what Candy's death had on him, too - now I know.
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Thanks for posting the link, Merrick.
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so much for my hardass troll identity I've worked so hard to develop here since the late 90s - but that made me cry like a little girl.
here's what I wrote in the blog:
"thank you for sharing your piece of John Hughes that you have taken with you, now that he has gone away."
Planes/Trains fans will know. -
The Breakfast Club remake is now on the fast track.
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if you really think we're overselling the legacy of John Hughes here, just stop for a minute and envision a world in which he never made a single movie.
god damn, right? -
I think you're right.
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http://doctornecessiter.tumblr.com/post/47842000/i-was-just-watching-uncle-buck-for-the-731st
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I read the story that you made about how you and John became pen pals. I'm shocked that you actually got to contact him. I bet it was the best day of your life.
You weren't the only one who liked him. His films were hilarious and crazy as well. 3 films in particular that I enjoyed were Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Christmas Vacation, and Home Alone (I actually liked the 2nd Home Alone more, cause it had lots of violence, but you get what I'm saying).
When I found out that John Hughes had died yesterday, I was appalled, I was horrified. I've never heard anything from him or about him since John Candy passed away. And now, I'll never hear from him again. I'm sorry for your loss.
He was the first of many great writers. And thanks to you, we know he wasn't the last.
Sincerely Yours,
My_IQ_is_135
P.S., I'd tell you what my name is, but I don't want my identity stolen.
P.P.S., To anyone who reads this and laughs, Rot in Hell -
that is really a cool story. What a great guy.
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Very well said. He left an indelible mark on the movies of the 80’s.
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Damn did that hit home with how it feels to have lost his voice, and the insight into why Hughes left Hollywood resonates sadly too true. Very impressive that he took the time during the height of his career to befriend a fan, to share personal insights and to listen to an individual in his audience - I wonder how many other filmmakers would take the time to do that. In a way, I wonder if we all knew John Hughes a little through the stories he told. There was always a focus on the importance of being an individual, of standing up for one's beliefs even when they aren't the ones changing nations, and about loyalty to those who are really important. Who else tells us stories about that sort of things? Sure, we get knockoffs of his films, but they lack the heart that only a John Hughes movie had. So maybe we all knew him a little, and maybe that's why his passing stings a little worse.
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... Make you stop and look around at your life.I still can't believe the man responsible for some of the most perceptive and genuinely funny movies of my formative years has passed away at the age of 59. That's 5 years younger than my parents.I'd loved to have had the kind of correspondence that Alison had with the great man, all kinds of questions I'd loved to have asked him. All I'll have to remember him were a series of highly personal, highly entertaining movies that I'll come back to again and again.Nice to see that a LOT of other people feel the same way. Rest in Peace John, you earned it.
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That relationships are what matter most. Connections with others- that's something Hughes knew, cared about and nurtured in his life. Such a sad sad loss...
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Aug 07, 2009 1:46:36 PM CDT
...of it could be the derranged ramblings of a psycho fan
by curious_jorge
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Aug 07, 2009 1:46:38 PM CDT
why doesn't hollywood pay tribute and remake all his movies.
by herbwestaustin
they were probably going to anyways.
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What a touching, heartfelt story. Why can't all directors/writers be like John? Sounds like a good guy. I swear that whole 70's/80's crew of Hughes, Spielberg, Lucas, Dante, Landis, Ramis, etc. seem like the coolest most fun loving guys and greatest bunch of idea men we'll ever see in Hollywood. I'd give anything just to travel back and be on one of their sets.
I think the three most affecting deaths I've read about on this site have been Stan Winston, Heath Ledger and now Hughes. We've lost some GIANTS in the last few years and it's so sad that we'll never get them or anyone like them back.
And Yackbacker, you're completely right. From the little time I've spent on this Earth I've found that the one true thing is that relationships with others, connections, are the most important things in life. Honestly nothing else matters. -
I think this is an attention-hungry self-aggrandizing b**** who wants to promote herself and her "famous" relationship on the eve of that "famous" person's death. How horrifying for someone to write an article like this exploiting someone's passing to promote themselves and how "great" their writing is. How repulsive! I hope this person never - ever - gets published anywhere ever again as a reward for the karma of what they have just done. Shame.
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shut your god damn bitch whore mouth.
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Aug 07, 2009 2:05:26 PM CDT
WOW. uncle buck is a fucking classic
by supercowbell5thecowbellhasspoken
man that movie brings up memories. fuck ill miss this guy.
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Aug 07, 2009 2:08:08 PM CDT
instead of wasting your money on g.i. joe tonight everyone...
by supercowbell5thecowbellhasspoken
should stay home and watch the breakfest club. watch ferris bullers day off. watch uncle buck. watch all the john hughes classics as a way to remember a legend, a genius and a great man. r.i.p. john, you will be missed.
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And that bit about John Candy...damn. Hughs is indeed a top notch class act. RIP.
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Aug 07, 2009 2:15:28 PM CDT
This is an unprecedented amount of love for someone on AICN
by zombieheathledger
In the ten years plus now I have been coming to/posting on this site never have I seen a more honest, overwhelmingly positive, tremendous outpour of raw emotion towards ANYONE. I'm guessing the bulk of the AICN readership are Gen X'ers and as Gen X geeks, we all grew up knowing the very real pain of being ostracized because we weren't in the 'cool' crowd. Through his brilliant, timeless work, John Hughes spoke to us, through us, and for us. What a special, special man.
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ditto
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Dude, seriously? Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors, and I think she would probably quite agree that only a second-hand, thoughtless monster would use the opportunity of someone's death to promote their own writing, as opposed to letting the writing speak on its own merit. It is INCREDIBLY clear if you deconstruct the article that this woman is using this to try to promote herself, and that kind of evil opportunistic behavior should not be tolerated. That people on this site are so easily fooled by this kind of vile behavior really makes me sad. And I ****ing know all about Ayn Rand, and I can't even believe you'd disagree with me on this.
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Dude, seriously? Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors, and I think she would probably quite agree that only a second-hand, thoughtless monster would use the opportunity of someone's death to promote their own writing, as opposed to letting the writing speak on its own merit. It is INCREDIBLY clear if you deconstruct the article that this woman is using this to try to promote herself, and that kind of evil opportunistic behavior should not be tolerated. That people on this site are so easily fooled by this kind of vile behavior really makes me sad. And I ****ing know all about Ayn Rand, and I can't even believe you'd disagree with me on this.
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Ignoring the brainless droning crap that Hollywood has been throwing at us this summer is a fantastic idea. Replacing it with Mr. Hughes' films is an even better one. Do it. You won't regret your choice.
As for that blog post, I've held it together about all of this pretty well until a few minutes when I read that. It was so touching and sweet, and it makes so much sense now why he quit when he did. -
Well, that explains the whole being-an-asshole thing. Thanks for that at least.
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is the nora roberts of half-cocked intellectuals.
don't get me wrong.
i wear a giant gold dollar sign necklace!
& fuck community college.
& john hughes rest in peace.
sorry i had to spew nonsense on a thread about you sir. you've made my life a little less lonely and that sir is why i will miss you...
i want to be a kid again. -
Courtesy of http://bit.ly/WGzCs: "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
And,now back to the subject at hand: This was a moving post and a lovely tribute to Hughes. Well done. -
I'll be at work at least 8 more hours and can't access that site.
I am intrigued to say the least.
Thanks. -
Ferris Bueller = Good. The rest = not so much!
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Did you guys see this, did you hear about this, hmm?
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...something to eat? Drive you out in the county and leave you for dead?
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This is the man who wrote National Lampoon's Vacation. His filmography is second to none; pure "comfort food" viewing for the 80s generation.
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What a caring man.
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Linguo_IS_Dead - I'd like to congratulate you sir (or miss) on a stunning achievement. You are the first talkbacker to my knowledge who has presented us with a well-detailed, thouroughly engaging negative comment on Mr. Hughe's work. I'm guessing you're in your teens or are well into your 30's who hated every trend and anything popular growing up and you're looking back on your life with regret now as any dream you may have had has whimpered off into the distance. Thank you sir for finally allowing this talkback to look somewhat familiar to AICN and adding in a sprinkle of hate. We salute you.
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Probably Bay won't be able to answer any mail anyway...he's too busy sorting cocaine from some whore's asscrack (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
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Damn...
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"John told me about why he left Hollywood just a few years earlier. He was terrified of the impact it was having on his sons; he was scared it was going to cause them to lose perspective on what was important and what happiness meant. And he told me a sad story about how, a big reason behind his decision to give it all up was that "they" (Hollywood) had "killed" his friend, John Candy, by greedily working him too hard."
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..about John Candy.Those money grabbing, ball-licking, coke sniffing, arse kissing, morally bankrupt, artistically bereft wankers in suits goddam KILLED A MAN! And they probably cleaned up by reissuing his films on VHS/DVD and shed crocodile tears about 'their dear friend John Candy'Cunts
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your movies had a great impact on me. I have decided to never set a foot in a movie theater again thanks to you
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Aug 07, 2009 3:56:28 PM CDT
That's something you'll never hear about Lucas or Spielberg doin
by alienindisguise
John seemed truly grateful and appreciative of everyone who rocked out his movies. Alot of directors could learn a thing or 2 from him.
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how did Hollywood kill John Candy? Didn't he die of a heart attack? Please explain.
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nah just kiddin'
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even Ellen Greene couldn't stop this movie from being a disaster
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Wagons East was hist last film. He died of an heart attack during the shooting.
John Candy did not want to make the film, but was contractually obligated to do so. -
watch that closing scene from Uncle Buck where mother and daughter embrace without shedding a few tears. Hugh Harris kicks in, Candy waves, fade to black. Same with PT&A, that scene in the train station. Maybe part of it was Candy being a force of nature as well. John Hughes was a legend, it's just a shame I had forgotten how much of an impact he had on my life over the last ten years. You take all of those movies for granted because they're all classics ingrained into our memories and because he wasn't putting out any new material. RIP.
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my lazy ass is reading the fucking link.
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I laughed a lot when I watch your movies. You're the greatest
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It should've been you instead. Sincerely, film goers and critics alike.
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Just read the news after taking a break from the internet for a day or two. This news should've been on every news outlet going. John Hughes made some of my favourite films. I watch planes, trains religiously every christmas. This news sucks. Thanks John and goodnight
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You don't see him mentioned here in these talkbacks much. Odd you know? he was a big deal for some years, it's not like you don't know his movies--Splash/Uncle Buck/Planes Trains etc.--but you don't HEAR or READ much about him, and it's sad. That's a shame. Yes he's been gone for 15 years-but seems people here yammer on and on about Tarentino-and he's been dead since '94, too-
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i want a refund.
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words of wisdom.
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Gee, I wish you folks could see this. Hey Seymour, where did you get this WEEEEEEEEEEIRD plant?
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CNN says. No wonder he was such a douche.
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Aug 07, 2009 4:25:19 PM CDT
hi folks, harry here; I. me, I, picture me at 12, me, I, also my
by ironic_name
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I'm still waiting for Bad Taste 2.
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She demanded that John respond to him and scolded him for sending her stickers and a form letter as if she's somehow more important than the thousands of others who sent him fan letters, and then when she didn't hear from him for a few months, she contacts his boss at Paramount?????? And this is supposed to be heartwarming? The narcissistic rant of a woman who demanded that someone in Hollywood pay attention to her because she likely didn't get any attention from her parents???
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could you please give your blessing for using the original ending of Little Shop of Horrors on an upcoming blu-ray edition of this gem?
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All great, love Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and everything he touched. He will be missed.
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and that John Hughes seems like real cool guy.
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Dude, I got a fan letter from The Skipper, but you don't see me writing blogs about it.
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that's because you can only write one sentence at a time. and those sentences are not that funny.
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what makes it heartwarming is the very fact that even if she didn't get attention from her parents, she DID get it from this stranger in Hollywood. He was kind enough to take the time...
That's the reason there's only been a few negative comments about John Hughes in these talkbacks about him. He was an adult voice who really seemed to understand what those of us who were kids in the 80's were going through. He was the cool uncle a lot of never had, and the fact that he took the time to write to her is what MAKES it such a cool story. -
Plenty of people in the U.S. have cool uncles. Please don't use the death of a great writer-director to promote your anti-American agenda.
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nice.
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That was so heartwarming.
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What makes her blog entry interesting is the insight into John Hughes's personality.
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Why do you continue to visit AICN? Are you a masochist? Because it's very clear that everyone here hates you.
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Fuck off moron. Go see GI JOE, or something.
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We do hate you. Keep your negative comments to yerself, dingbat.
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I thought everyone here hated everything?
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only an asshole hates EVERYthing.
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I'm not you, who loves the shitastic TF2 and Yuppie Trek.
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so loathsome, lockesbrokenleg, that even your own hand won't jerk you off.
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Oh shit, you're one of those fuckers that likes Bruno, right?
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to Pine and Quinto.
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When she scolded him during her correspondence she wasn't an adult woman who was obsessing over her favorite artist; she was a child who was incredibly moved by a movie and wanted to make sure that the person who created it knew that. It might have been a little over the top at the time, but I've seen teenagers do much crazier things than write letters. And to those who say that her timing for this is in poor taste, well, most of the stuff that happened was in the 80s and 90s and only now is it coming back to the forefront of her mind. Personally, I think that it explains why Hughes stopped directing and gave valuable insight into the life of this great filmmaker.
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(sorry, don't know how to page break here)
"Sincerely, John Hughes"
I was babysitting for my mom's friend Kathleen's daughter the night I wrote that first fan letter to John Hughes. I can literally remember the yellow grid paper, the blue ball point pen and sitting alone in the dim light in the living room, the baby having gone to bed.
I poured my heart out to John, told him about how much the movie mattered to me, how it made me feel like he got what it was like to be a teenager and to feel misunderstood.
(I felt misunderstood.)
I sent the letter and a month or so later I received a package in the mail with a form letter welcoming me as an "official" member of The Breakfast Club, my reward a strip of stickers with the cast in the now famous pose.
I was irate.
I wrote back to John, explaining in no uncertain terms that, excuse me, I just poured my fucking heart out to you and YOU SENT ME A FORM LETTER.
That was just not going to fly.
He wrote back.
"This is not a form letter. The other one was. Sorry. Lots of requests. You know what I mean. I did sign it."
He wrote back and told me that he was sorry, that he liked my letter and that it meant a great deal to him. He loved knowing that his words and images resonated with me and people my age. He told me he would say hi to everyone on my behalf.
"No, I really will. Judd will be pleased you think he's sexy. I don't."
I asked him if he would be my pen pal.
He said yes.
"I'd be honored to be your pen pal. You must understand at times I won't be able to get back to you as quickly as I might want to. If you'll agree to be patient, I'll be your pen pal."
For two years (1985-1987), John Hughes and I wrote letters back and forth. He told me - in long hand black felt tip pen on yellow legal paper - about life on a film set and about his family. I told him about boys, my relationship with my parents and things that happened to me in school. He laughed at my teenage slang and shared the 129 question Breakfast Club trivia test I wrote (with the help of my sister) with the cast, Ned Tanen (the film's producer) and DeDe Allen (the editor). He cheered me on when I found a way around the school administration's refusal to publish a "controversial" article I wrote for the school paper. And he consoled me when I complained that Mrs. Garstka didn't appreciate my writing.
"As for your English teacher…Do you like the way you write? Please yourself. I'm rather fond of writing. I actually regard it as fun. Do it frequently and see if you can't find the fun in it that I do."
He made me feel like what I said mattered.
"I can't tell you how much I like your comments about my movies. Nor can I tell you how helpful they are to me for future projects. I listen. Not to Hollywood. I listen to you. I make these movies for you. Really. No lie. There's a difference I think you understand."
"It's been a month of boring business stuff. Grown up, adult, big people meetings. Dull but necessary. But a letter from Alison always makes the mail a happening thing."
"I may be writing about young marriage. Or babies. Or Breakfast Club II or a woman's story. I have a million ideas and can't decide what's next. I guess I'll just have to dive into something. Maybe a play."
"You've already received more letters from me than any living relative of mine has received to date. Truly, hope all is well with you and high school isn't as painful as I portray it. Believe in yourself. Think about the future once a day and keep doing what you're doing. Because I'm impressed. My regards to the family. Don't let a day pass without a kind thought about them."
There were a few months in 1987 when I didn't hear from John. I missed his letters and the strength and power and confidence they gave me and so I sent a letter to Ned Tanen who, by that time, was the President of Paramount Pictures (he died earlier this year). In my letter I asked Mr. Tanen if he knew what was up with John, why he hadn't been writing and if he could perhaps give him a poke on my behalf.
He did.
I came home from school soon after to find an enormous box on my front porch filled with t-shirts and tapes and posters and scripts and my very own Ferris Bueller's Day Off watch.
And a note.
"I missed you too. Don't get me in trouble with my boss any more. Sincerely, John Hughes."
Fast forward.
1997. I was working in North Carolina on a diversity education project that partnered with colleges and universities around the country to implement a curriculum that used video production as an experiential education tool. On a whim, I sent John a video about the work we were doing. I was proud of it and, all these years later, I wanted him to be proud too.
Late one night I was in the office, scheduled to do an interview with a job candidate. Ten minutes or so into the call it was clear that he wasn't the right guy, but I planned to suffer through.
Then the phone rang.
1…2…3…4…a scream came from the other room and 1…2…3…my boss Tony was standing in my doorway yelling, "John Hughes is on the phone!!"
I politely got off the phone with the job candidate who was no longer a candidate and
Hit. Line. Two.
"Hi, John."
"Hi, Alison."
We talked for an hour. It was the most wonderful phone call. It was the saddest phone call. It was a phone call I will never forget.
John told me about why he left Hollywood just a few years earlier. He was terrified of the impact it was having on his sons; he was scared it was going to cause them to lose perspective on what was important and what happiness meant. And he told me a sad story about how, a big reason behind his decision to give it all up was that "they" (Hollywood) had "killed" his friend, John Candy, by greedily working him too hard.
He also told me he was glad I had gotten in touch and that he was proud of me for what I was doing with my life. He told me, again, how important my letters had been to him all those years ago, how he often used the argument "I'm doing this for Alison" to justify decisions in meetings.
Tonight, when I heard the news that John had died, I cried. I cried hard. (And I'm crying again.) I cried for a man who loved his friends, who loved his family, who loved to write and for a man who took the time to make a little girl believe that, if she had something to say, someone would listen.
Thank you, John Hughes. I love you for what you did to make me who I am.
Sincerely, Alison Byrne Fields. -
I couldn't bare to watch, but I hope to the Almighty that Mary fucking Hart did not dishonor his memory by uttering his name, but then again, those smiling jackals love death.
Great story! -
It's not heartwarming - it's narcissism at its worst. She is trying to milk John Hughes' death for self-promotion, and is clearly someone with a VERY unhealthy attitude toward celebrities and the kind of "obligation"-minded "fan" who thinks that an auteur's work belongs to them. I've never been more repulsed and think that this is without a doubt one of the lowest blogs I have ever read, and I'm including reviews for THE SINFUL DWARF or BLACK DEVIL DOLL here. This woman is the mother of all disgusting blogs. I can't think of enough negative things to say about someone with this bad an attitude who, as you rightly say, WROTE TO A CELEBRITY DEMANDING MORE THAN A FORM LETTER IN RESPONSE TO A FAN LETTER and who CONTACTED THE BOSS OF A GUY BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KEEP UP CORRESPONDENCE WITH HER ... IF this stuff is even real, which I strongly doubt. What a b****.
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I mean, come on... "I love you for what you did to make me who I am." What kind of cunt writes this?
(sidenote) "The mother of all disgusting blogs"? Really? -
What teenage girl isn't narcissistic? Kinda like today...what fanboy isn't a bitter, loser twats towards their wanna-be surrogate daddies, Lucas and Spielberg?
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Irony. I haz it.
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And please, can we all stop the use of the phony phrase, "....our thoughts and prayers are with the family."
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The ugliest part of this all is that Hughes words do not sound even a LITTLE bit sincere, if they were at all even truly written by Hughes. Instead, they sound like the same kind of nonsense you hear at comics conventions and sci-fi conventions (those dwindling, soon-to-be-lost-to-memory non-events). "I did it all FOR YOU!" *crowd gives a smelly cheer* Right, like he didn't send letters like that to a million people - form letters, mind you - if he did it for her. Like he wasn't, at best, opportunistically milking HER for new slang and new "teen perspective" if he was even in contact with her. People do that sort of thing for reasons - and not out of kindness. And beyond that, like I said, I don't think for a minute this "woman" is legit. These are either forgeries, likely, or just inventions of a sick and self-obsessed mind who'd rather get attention over John Hughes' death than be honest. Again, I say it - fu**ing b****.
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It must be very lonely in that ivory tower. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Have a good weekend, everyone. -
...it also paints a poor picture of this blogger, and illustrates why Hughes likely left Hollywood. It's because of fan(atic)s like this that artists like John Hughes and J.D. Salinger eventually become recluses and leave the business. Their art isn't enough for some people - they want more. They want them to take time out of their busy schedule creating more art, which these fans cherish, to become their fucking pen pal. And if they don't respond to their letter with haste, they contact their boss at Paramount...are you fucking kidding me????
Works of fiction that deal with angst and suffering sometimes strikes a chord with the masses and gives them something to soothe the pain, and revel in the joy, beauty, and humor of it all, like Hughes clearly did. But there are always those on the fringe who are on the edge, and these works of fiction speak to them so deeply, that they want something from these artists which could probably be better dealt with by a psychiatrist. John was a good man, so he wouldn't turn such troubled people away, lest they do something drastic and kill themselves, and have their blood stain his soul. He created these types of films to reach out to such people, but I don't think anyone could predict the demands those people will then make. His correspondence with her was likely, in his eyes, seen in the same manner as we see volunteer work or community service to help out those in need. He did it out of his inner goodness. These fans are people who feel misunderstood and feel like adults don't care about them, so if the man whose art touched them turns them away, he knows how that might push them over the edge, so he doesn't do that. Instead, he stops making such films, makes benign kids films with no deeper messages, and eventually gives up his craft all together to save his inner goodness and his soul. -
The world is a bit sadder without you in it. Now you can have "home Run Inn" Pizza whenever you want!
You are missed. -
It does seem that some of you are a bit hard on this blogger...as has been pointed out, she was a kid at the time, and kids are naturally self-centered (nothing wrong with that, or them, it's just a stage of growing up). However, as an adult I hope she realizes that is how she was and feels at least a little embarrassed about it (it doesn't sound that way from her story, but she may just not have felt the need to mention that). I just like the story because of what it says about the kind of person John Hughes was.
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can you present to someone before enough is enough? The blog actually kinda reminds me of that Eminem song 'Stan.'
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"please don't get me in trouble with my boss anymore."
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Aug 07, 2009 9:17:28 PM CDT
"I missed you too. Don't get me into trouble with my boss."
by badmrwonka
I lasted up til then before getting a little misty.
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Wahhhhh,where's Avatar?
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Those of you on this Talkback sending this "woman" a hearty "f*** y**" do my heart good.
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ha ha ha hardy ha ha ha suck it up jeez
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Great movies, great guy. Rest in peace John. You will be missed but we will always have your movies. Thanks for those gifts. Wonderful movies from a great human being.
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had connections with fans like that. Still, John was a very very great man.
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Just because doing something "out of kindness" is foreign to in your cynical, joyless existence doesn't mean others can't find happiness in it.
You are to be pitied.
That being said I didn't find this all that touching. She was a bit pathetic in her demand for more than a return letter. -
Thanks for the gift. People like you who reciprocate something beautiful in the life of another make God smile. You've made me believe the world is not such a shitty place after all. Karma will be kind to you.
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this is an amazing story, especially how it completely trumped all the canned MSM stories with their "shocked and saddened" quotes, but nothing to say. With Fieldss story, we can remember Hughes as every bit as human as we'd hoped he might be. Say what you will about the later work, but Sixteen Candles is forever golden.
"Relax, would you? We have seventy dollars and a pair of girls underpants. We're safe as kittens."
OK, I'm calling it hear and now. I hear the wheels of Hollywood turning this into the next "Julia & Julia." If this must come to pass, I say we draft John Cusack to write, produce, and star as John Hughes, with alllllll the brat-packers in supporting roles. -
Aug 08, 2009 3:25:33 AM CDT
'Wyatt, i'm sorry for being such a shit to you all these years'
by kennyhyperk
Where's all the love for Weird Science ..... I frickin loves that movie. Really sad to hear about Hughe's death. His films shaped my childhood and I still love to bask in the warm glow of nostalgia that they give me...... I miss being a kid
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Aug 08, 2009 6:25:06 AM CDT
There's Probably No Better memory of John Hughes Than This
by islandkeeper
Oh, for sure, all you negative and mean people who say between a litany of cuss words that Allison probably made up her story or that she was one self-centered cussword to think she was entitled to more than his other millions of fans, and so haughty she wrote his boss when he stopped writing to her...Allison's going to get a lot of attention posting that she had a celeb penpal HERE. I never even heard of this site til 15 minutes ago--so you think it's got a 13 billion membership?Someone wrote what's up with this crap like 'I love you for what you did to make me what I am." It was probably more the way she really is, and saying she wasn't going to settle for a form letter with cursing language what she felt she had to come off like to seem like the rest of you posters & be accepted by you--at the real time it went down when she was a teen, she more than likely cried about the form letter and wrote again with no attitude at all, just pain and low self-esteem. Later in life we talk like as introverted teens we reacted in cooler ways than we did.I can't say she made it up or it was true, (none of us really can but her), but I had a famous grandfather who wrote back to select fans who wrote him, and now he's been long dead, a very famous man recently wrote to me saying that such and such was named after Grandpa because he was a very famous deceased what-he-was and well qualified to recieve that honor posthumously, then told a story about him and Grandpa. I wrote back, he wrote back,etc. I saw his picture on a Facebook page recently and wanted to say "I know him--we write each other", but decided it would either be taken as attention-seeking or a big lie.And yes, he's encouraging me to write a good book.Not exactly Allison's story--why was SHE singled out, and it IS hard to believe Hughes told himself with every movie "I'm doing this for Allison", & maybe this site IS the whole world to her...but before spouting off, ever hear of trying common sense? 1. Did he have small children or teens he would be more likely to be doing it for than a strange one? I mean how would I feel if Grandpa had written in a book that he did it all for a strange girl my age he never knew or even one he knew? Grandpa did in fact do something for a girl my age who's dad and mom were good friends of his and Grandma's, once--made something just for her,which made me jealous, but he didn't go on and do everything else he did thinking of her,too, wasn't obsessing on her, just like I wrote my first book for HIM but write other books for other reasons. 2.Did anyone figure her age and check a timeline to see if when he stopped writing her he'd been madly courting a future wife? This could boost her believability or undo it, depending(is the lady yet living to say if he got letters from some Allison he claimed was an innocent fan?) Would he drop his obsession with Allison when he became obsessed with his future wife? Seems so but if he did stop writing to her right when he fell head over heels for someone it also authenticates her story somewhat, as a guy would stop writing a teen he's never met about then, if not earlier... 3. A recent Parade mag, Sunday newspaper supplement, column by the smartest lady in the world answered a reader questioning why movie stars don't write fans: their boss, MGM or whatever, won't let them, to protect them. I once worked for American Family Publishers & got scads of letters to Ed McMahon with magazine orders, detailing hardships, many 7,15 pages long,"my son won't bring me meat and the doc says I have to have it" to "dad killed himself, I'm 21 and raising my 6 little brothers and sisters alone the last 3 years, we are starving, please pick my number to win the money", & "I'll split it with you", "I'll give half to my church","I framed a picture of you and put it on my nightstand and I kiss it good night every night", to, "here's a picture of me" (showing a gorgeous blonde with bosum spilling out of a bikini and perfectly straight white teeth while claiming a life of hard poverty)--even the minimum wage workers didn't believe that was a pic of the writer, or any of the other things true, the only truthful one probably the lady who thought she'd already won and wrote "please give the money to someone who needs it, my sister and I are well-off and don't." This is the modern times and Hughes as you say only 59. My grandfather died in 1960,had his cult following in the 40s and 50s.It was the age where handshakes affirmed deals. Movie stars weren't the greatest people in the world, sports stars didn't make more than the U.S.president.There was no plethora of famous musicians and TV figures. Nowadays people with low self images don't want to be forest rangers or railroad engineers, they want to be actors,names in blazing lights and books about them going on for centuries.Quick--who made Mt. Rushmore? Borlund; the name is unknown. But we all know who MJ was (thank God we don't know who the Hanson brothers were anymore).Guess what I'd get if I wrote Scarlett Johanssen or Reese Witherspoon and said I was so & so's granddaughter.Right, no answer. People who write me find me and know I'm me and initiate contact. There was one exception-Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, & that's because I wrote of things he did with my grandparents, and about him giving my dad 3 tickets to All-Stars games and stuff when he'd play in our city cuz I had 2 brothers--leaving me out each time--no one knew this stuff but us, so he knew I was me. That is why I can give Ally the benefit of the doubt but the doubts are going to be strong ones by many folks; I think we should be kinder about it though since we really don't know.Allison will have to accept that she is showing us a Hughes who is awful naive for his times, (how come we can say fuck and jerk and whack off all we want, but can't say retarded?)Reminds me of a story Grandpa told me (yes I'm a John Hughes age): a famous guy he knew took up pen-paling with a fan and finally they were going to meet.When the guy got to the restaurant he saw that his "friend" was an African-American and just went on past. In them days there were places for blacks and others white only,lines drawn the star maybe couldn't ignore, plus a large amount or majority of Americans were rascist. And there hadn't really been stalking, unless maybe you were Archduke Ferdinand whatever of Austria and Lady Sophia.Still, recall how 'they" had to keep telling "us" ( or, "we' had to keep telling "them")even 2 years ago to consider the fact the teen girl writing to us, ""pouring their hearts out" on Myspace was really a 48-year-old man. So it boils down to, if we don't want to even hear about a Hughes that dumb, we are going to lambast the lady (if she's even one, a female, I mean); if we find it touching that this great dude was so trustin, we are going to say Allison's words put tears in our eyes.I'll go the other way around: it makes me sad to think Hughes was so stupid,and, because of the Hollywood rule about never answering fan mail, I'm choosing not to believe it until I hear of at least ten more such connections occuring between great people of these times and those they get fan mail from, specifically Hollywood figures bound by contracts not to respond to fan mail, cuz I know up-and -coming writers with published stories will answer strange fans on Facebook and befriend them--it happened to me, and no she doesn't know who I am or Grandpa was. But neither does she directly write to me, nor I to her-- she doesn't say she's going to writers conferences around the world for me, every story was written for me-- just lets me see her posts about her fantastically fun life.So there you go. And if I wrote her publisher that she stopped being my friend--only a minimum wage employee paid more the more mail she handles a day, will ever see it-- scour it for the words "where are my magazines" and ignore it if there isn't anything in the letter she'll be chastised for ignoring (which would only be, 'where's my magazines?') Reading the whole dumb with an a thing would cost her for her slower performance. Duh! Chances she'll ever meet the Big Guy and be welcomed for giving him the letter are, like, nil....
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I completely agree with your assessment.
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...and makes me view Hughes work in a completely different light.
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Good God, man. Lincoln, freed the slaves with less words than your rant.
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...and still nothing on Budd Schulberg. Hughes seems like a genuine nice guy and all and made some good films (a lot of them were too cutesy sentimental for me but Planes, Trains is pure class). However, Schulberg wrote On The fuckin' Waterfront and doesn't even warrant a fleeting, single obituary? Not trying to piss on anyone's chips, just saying that's all.
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obiously i'm not Cameron Crowe, just my username from the last time i posted years ago and too lazy to change it.
The blog by Alison had a couple photos of the letters from Hughes. An old girlfriend of mine worked in a movie theater in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills, and in 1991 after "Home Alone" came out, she got me an autograph from him with a message that read "To produce you have to belive, to believe you have to have pssion. Success doesn't matter unless it comes from your personal satisfaction in your work. I've done it both ways. Pride is better than money. I hear your movies are good. Keep shooting: good luck. John Hughes".
The handwriting on this and the autograph match the writing in the photos. So her letters are real.
Second of all, here's a quick story of a dorky connection I made with Hughes. I was moving to Chicago in fall '94 (three years after getting the autograph) and I for geeky fun's sake wrote his production company office there (he had one in suburbs), saying i was moving up to study at Second City and because I'd been dreaming of living in Chicago ever since i saw 'Pretty in Pink' and "Ferris' in '86. I asked if he had any advice or if i could ever visit the office. A month or two went by and then a week before i moved from Little Rock Arkansas, I got a phone call from a guy named Seth Vamos who worked for Hughes. He said John saw my letter and that I could come visit his office when i got up there. I was moving that Saturday, driving up. Seth said "How about Tuesday?"
Imagine my excitement in the 12 or 14 hour drive up, knowing that I'd see the guy who inspired me to get into showbiz. So i went out that Tuesday and wound up near Skokie across from a northside mall, where Hughes had an airplane-hangar sized unmarked building for filming many of his interiors.
I went in to the office, met Seth and was told John wasn't in, but that he was cool with Seth showing me around. John had a mini-museum of cast-signed posters, the baseball Ferris caught from Wrigley in a glass case, and lots of other little props from the movies. After taking a look around the office, Seth led me to see the filming areas. Hughes' unfortunate remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" had recently been filmed there, so the fake courtroom set was still standing, looking like a big plywood box from the outside but elaborately constructed on the inside. Another corner held dozens of fake trees that were used in some closeup scenes of faux Central Park in "Home Alone 2", and a few other things i no longer remember.
As I was leaving, John called to check in with Seth about some CDs or tapes he had duped of one of his son's bands (that son played in at the time), Kill Hannah I believe. As he was about to hang up, Seth told John hang on and that the fan who asked to see the office was there. And he put John on and i got to say thanks for all the great movies and he was really cool about it even though it was like a minute-long conversation.
So, yes John really did pay attention to people. And those letters she photographed are real. -
No, hating everything is (hopefully) not what people here do. Just you.
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Some whiny adolescent girl writes a gushing fan letter to the King of Pap, the perv writes back, and this is some kind of emotional touchpoint for you people?
Did you ever stop for a moment and think about this?
Why is a grown man with kids a "pen pal" to some clearly needy adolescent female? Why does he keep this up over *years*? And why do all the similarly emotionally stunted parents-basement-dwelling losers on these boards tear-up over the "beauty" of this story?--Oh wait I guess I answered my own question.
You guys don't even pay attention to the funniest part of this entire dead-john-hughes story.
Do any of you ever wonder why an apparently healthy 59-year-old man with the means to have access to the best health care in the world dies of a *heart attack*? The same reason all this guy's celebrity contemporaries are croaking--cocaine and drug use is finally catching up with them all. (Except michael jackson who was murdered by his doctor). John Ritter, Robert Palmer, The Ramones, etc.... -
You're a non-contributing bore.
RIP John Hughes. -
Shut up. You don't even have the courage to say "fuck" without these fucking things:****
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Buy his product.
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Of my great times at the cinema. I mean Speilberg is great and Lucas has kind of hit a rough patch in the last decade,but damn John Hughes was a legend. I can't remember not liking one of his films. Uncle Buck,Christmas Vacation, Ferris Bueller,Planes Trains, fucking horrible that this guy is gone. A real national treasure.
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http://tinyurl.com/lpnbpk It's pretty good too.
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lol, i guess if you consider all the john-hughes-knob-slobber dripping from all these other posts to be "contributions", i'll happily remain content to reside in Reality Land. Oh, and stop turning up the heat, your mom said if it's too cold downstairs go get a space heater.
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I posted it... but I'm not sure where. Anyway, this is by a couple friends of mine for documentary about the dearly departed made a few years ago. Ladies and germs... scroll down and enjoy "Mr. Hughes Come Home" http://www.joyfocus.com/audio/
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began america's fevered love affair with ruining all things union!
fuck you troops and fuck you unions! fuck you schulberg and faces in the crowds and all that other garbage you twat bombs fuck you supreme court and fuck you carl lewis, carl weathers, and carlsbad caverns! fuck!!!!!!!!!!!FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUCK -
as John Hughes is. Lucas was a visionary with the teen movement in film with American Graffiti.
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Nice guy or not, J.H. hadn't written/produced/directed anything worth a shit since 1986. His crap output FAR exceeded his quality output... that is, unless you're digging on the emotional nuances of gems like Beethoven's 5th.
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I think your name sums it up you fucking loon: Planes, Trains, Uncle Buck, Some Kind of Wonderful, Home Alone, Carrer Opportunities, Shes Having A Baby....all written or directed POST 1986....get a fucking grip
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When I go to your movies, they make me menstruate uncontrollably. What were you thinking making "Michael"? Write me back.
PS I am a man -
i never found them to be terribly realistic. I was a teen when Breakfast Club came out, and while i thought it was a good movie, i found it to be anything but an accurate depiction of "life as a teenager". I am not trying to take anything away from John Hughes, he was truly a national treasure, but i never met ANYONE like any of the characters in his movies. and i went to a HUGE high school.
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..the movies and creators that had such an impact on your life. I don't think everything Hughes did was particularly great, but his body of work overall set a very specific tone for the kind of guy he obviously was. Like everyone else I loved the Breakfast Club, still get a kick out of dropping in and out of it when I see it's on TV. Yet another sad loss in a year that somehow seems to have had more than its fair share.
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Because he was born in Lansing fucking Michigan, that's why. Furthermore, he got the most touching moment of acting John Candy ever did on screen in Planes, Trains & Automobiles when Steve Martin goes off on him in the motel and Candy's humiliated character makes him feel about an inch tall.Best-EVER.
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Jesus, man, stop over-analysing and read that blog again. She had a meaningful pen pal relationship with one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema - a man who had an entire sub-genre devoted JUST TO HIM - and she wants others to know what the man was like by describing said relationship. So she mentions herself - we need to know a little about her in order to put the quotes of John Hughes IN CONTEXT. Context is EVERYTHING when quoting someone else's words. She's obviously just grateful that she got to know the great Mr Hughes on a level the rest of never will (but most of us wish we could have), and feels that in sharing her memories and the letters they shared, we will get a glimpse of the John Hughes BEHIND the movies - by all accounts, a thoroughly decent human being.
You can sit there intellectualising all you want (whilst I do a dismissive wanking motion to cancel it out) but your appraisal of this girl's motives says far, far more about your stunted, cynical and probably socially crippled outlook on life, the universe and everything, than it EVER does about the writer or John Hughes.
Jeez... it must be so fucking joyless to be you. -
FUCK YOU LOLZ LOLZ LOLZ
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Lea Thompson is luminous, Mary Stuart Masterson is spunky, cranky and adorable, and Eric Stoltz was actually cool once. Craig Sheffer is the smuggest bastard in any teen movie EVER, and Elias Koteas takes that movie and runs off with it. Though Maddie Corman comes closes to Scene Stealer Of The Movie with this line:
"But Dad, anyone can get into college. Only a select few can say the same about Amanda Jones."
(off the shocked faces of her family)
"What? Am I wrong?"
Fantastic movie, very under-rated, and - as always - teen dialgoue that will never be bettered. Nobody gets how teens think like John Hughes does, and probably no-one will again. Respect is due. -
Oh my... you just cited Home Alone, Uncle Buck, and She's Having a Baby as proof of John Hughes' undeniable genius? Need I even respond to that with some dismissive remark about your congenital mongolism or can it simply be taken as fact?
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Where a little girl becomes friends with Elvis after her caretaker takes her to see an Elvis movie. I don't remember what, but there was something wrong with the little girl. Anyone remember that movie?
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Aug 11, 2009 12:05:53 AM CDT
I never realised how few movies he actually directed.
by excaliburffolkes
John Hughes had such an incredible run of interesting movies during the 1980's and early 1990's that I naturally assumed he directed far more than he did. A surprising number of times he wrote/produced movies and let someone else direct, but they ended up feeling totally John Hughes-ish anyway. Has any other Hollywood director/writer/producer talent ever pulled that off as much as Hughes did?
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I've had 3 friends die of heart attacks in the past year, and none were older that 42.
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Wow! You know for certain that JH was on coke?!? You know for certain that drug abuse is the main cause of heartdisease in the US, and not - oh, I dunno - obesity? You know this for CERTAIN?
You sure know a lot for a guy posting on a fucking movie news website. Who killed JFK? And what REALLY happened at Roswell? Hey, if anyone knows, the Mong here knows... -
I always got the impression that his movies were very slight exaggerations of real archetypes that you'd find at high school. You don't have the guys who don't fit in wandering round saying, "What d'you know, I'm the guy who doesn't fit in" (well, I assume anyway) - yet this happens fairly regularly in John Hughes movies. In SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, the sister openly speaks about the cliques and their positions in it. But for all this, I think John rightly did this as a way of exposing where the characters were coming from regarding thieir insecurities - they knew their place in the high school caste system and railed against it; but in talking about these cliques, the characters are vocalising what teens in the real world tend to think rather than talk about. It seems to me JH characters just talked their deeper thoughts through more than real teens possibly do (though as it's been over a decade since I was a teen, maybe I'm wrong...)
Contemporary US teens - am I on the right track with this? -
1) I never said jh was on coke; i'm saying his coke use from the 80's caught up with him in the form of a heart attack. 2) i never said jh had heart disease; he had a heart attack caused by coke-induced damage to his heart. 3) jh hwas not obese. 4) lee harvey oswald killed jfk. 5) the roswell incident was caused by a weather balloon. 6) you are a parent's basement dwelling douche.
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You must have some fat unhealthy friends. Oh sorry: *had*
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