Bueller, Bueller? John Hughes quotes
Posted: Thursday, August 06, 2009 3:00 PM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
Movies
I was stunned to see that iconic 1980s film director John Hughes died today at age 59. He apparently suffered a heart attack while walking in New York.
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Don't you forget about John Hughes, and his many quotable films.
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For those of us who consider ourselves children of the 1980s, Hughes' films were the soundtrack to our junior high, high school, and college lives. Even if your high school life didn't look like the world he depicted in "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and other films, you could recognize the real in it. High school has a pain that "Happy Days" never knew, and despite the gauzy proms and Ferris Bueller hijinks, Hughes found it.
I like to think that even the jocks and cheerleaders and student-council presidents had days when they felt like more like Duckie or Anthony Michael Hall's Geek in "Sixteen Candles." Those are the characters who stuck with me, and with viewers. In "Pretty in Pink," I wanted Andie to end up with misfit Duckie, not cover boy Blane, and still can't imagine who was in the supposed focus group who rejected that original ending. (In fact, I met Jon Cryer two summers ago on the set of "Two and a Half Men" and he admitted that he still hears fans call him "Duckie" wherever he goes, whereas no one calls him "Alan" from "Men.")
And the characters came to life in part because of the words that Hughes gave them to say. Hughes' movies are among the most quotable group of films out there. When his death was announced, those famous lines started to fly around our newsroom. Here are just a few. Share yours in the comments -- not just from his teen flicks, but from "Vacation," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," and all other Hughes flicks.
"Bueller, Bueller?"
"Demented and sad, but social."
"What about prom, Blane? WHAT ABOUT PROM?"
"That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"
"I am now, and will forever be, a Duckman."
"That's right, I'm Abe Froman." "The Sausage King of Chicago?"
"They think he's a righteous dude."
"SAVE FERRIS." (Later a band!)
"Fred, she's gotten her boobies!"
"Those aren't pillows!"
"That's impossible, sir. It's in Johnson's underwear."
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
"Mr. Griswold, that if you are thinking of taking the tribe cross-country, this is your automobile. The Wagon Queen Family Truckster. You think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it."
"I don't know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper. It does just fine by itself, huh?"
