John Hughes’ movies were a big part of my teenage years. Through fantasy and a keen sense of what teenagers go through, they offered a sense of hope and optimism that the ordeals of life and love is not as bad as one would think. And most of all they were funny.

Among movies like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone, my favourite John Hughes movies were Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Uncle Buck. Even those of his movies which were not predominantly about the tortured lives of teenagers like National Lampoon’s Vacation and Planes, Trains and Automobiles were great.

If I have to pick my favourite lines from a John Hughes movie, they would all be from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Don’t worry about it, I don’t even have a piece of shit. I have to envy yours.
Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

And then there were the theme songs. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off had that infectious tune by Yello called “Oh Yeah” which was used in a lot of other movies, but I thought that it fit this movie the best.

Uncle Buck had Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing”.

Weird Science had … “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo.

And fittingly to end this post, Simple Mind’s “Don’t You Forget About Me” from The Breakfast Club.

Thanks John! I could not have imagined my 80s without your movies.