Life moves pretty fast

john hughes was a very smart man. he had a string of hits during the 80's, got rich, left the scene, and lived out his days in virtual anonymity. i am hard pressed to think of a film maker with more films to his credit that i consider favorites: ferris bueller, sixteen candles, weird science, the breakfast club, home alone and the "good" vacation movies just to name a few. surely anyone born before 1980 was touched in someway by the magic of his cinematic touch.

as a writer, director, and producer, hughes essentially developed and perfected the middle-class high school comedy genre. it is to this end that i have been forever changed, owing much of my development as a socially awkward adolescent to hughes' dialogue. his movies were literally the backdrop of my childhood. while mr. hughes hadn't been a force in the industry for sometime, his passing will certainly stir emotions throughout a generation of sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads. we all adored him. we thought he was a righteous dude.

as more of the greats pass on with each coming year, i am left feeling troubled for the youth of tomorrow. in the case of john hughes, what are the films that are shaping the lives of young people today? the fact that i can hardly stomach the "scary movie" or "final destination" series's leads me to believe that there may trouble a brewin'.

luckily, films of yesteryear shall live on through dvd players everywhere. as an expectant parent, i must admit that i have been stocking up on the classics for many years in the hopes that my children with always know: you can never go to far, french chicks don't shave their pits, those aren't pillows, and periods make for interesting honeymoons. perhaps his most enduring words of wisdom should be this:

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

if these words have fallen upon deaf ears, than please do yourself a favor. break out of the transformer/terminator/potter rut, and rediscover a john hughes classic this weekend. any of the a fore mentioned films will suffice.