Director John Hughes, RIP

I always had a soft spot for Maid in Manhattan, and now I understand why.

One of my favourite FB quotes comes from Grace: Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.. Also, when it randomly comes up in conversation, I am incapable of saying 'nine times' without it coming out in Ed Rooney's voice.

I remember hearing/reading a comment from him that the reason he stopped making "those movies" is that he could no long relate to teenagers anymore.

Which is kinda enh as a reason; those teenagers grew up, same as he did

When you grow up, your heart dies.

If this is true, why does Estevez' character looks totally smitten by Sheedy when he sees her after the makeover? Maybe there's some hidden subtext that he was hot for her all along, but the overt text totally contradicts that. And, you know, this isn't some super nuanced and realistic theatre piece where that sort of ambiguity is a positive thing. It's a teen-oriented movie with a anti-conformist message that's mostly handled very well, yet in that one moment it still succumbs to conformist/sexist cliches. I think the interpretation you and Dan suggest is simply reading too much into the film; certainly most of the BC's main target audience, i.e. teens, wouldn't have interpreted that scene in this way

kind of ironic that you are blasting this movie's handling of its non-conformist message for not conforming to your idea of how it should have happened

I think you're using the word "conform"/"conformist" there in two different ways that aren't really comparable. Anyway, I'm not saying how what should've happened, merely pointing out that for a movie whose main theme is criticism of conforming to expected social roles, it puts Sheedy conforming to expected ideals of femininity in an oddly positive light.

The movie is less about not conforming to social roles and more about befriending people who you like, no matter who they are. It's really odd that you WANT Sheedy's character to stay in a place that she's created because she is, by her own admission, deeply unhappy and trying to get people to notice her; is it really big surprise that when people do start noticing her and paying her positive attention, she would change the way she presents herself? Is the important thing here that she "betrayed" her weirdo self by putting on less eyeliner and a headband or that four other diverse students at her school decided she was funny and sweet and want to be her friend?

yeah, being so invested in her weirdo image makes you the shallow one a lil bit friend.

that said, she looks totally shitty post makeover, that thing where she's a thinly veiled Nan Goldin smack-lesbo was pretty good and she was waay hot in it, I wish they'd show it on tv again.

http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes-77/BreakfastClub42.jpeg

She looks like Matt Dillon in drag.

Really?

... Huh.

i'd say stick to your guns instead of two homos but whatevs

instead of LISTENING to two homos, eh

Stuck between two homos in a resulting paste.

funny that the most controversial elements of two of his molly ringwald movies involve a girl successfully leaving the world of dorks behind and hooking up with the prom king. I get the Pretty In Pink ending (turning a preppy douche into a good guy is more of a victory than settling for your passive-aggressive best friend) but as plaxico points out, TBC's ending would work a little better if she didn't look hotter before the makeover.

hey did you guys know that John Hughes movies had funny jokes and sharp dialogue and charismatic acting hidden somewhere beneath all that suffocating sociopolitical commentary you disagree with so vehemently? (xpost)

(The biggest thing I, personally, took away from that movie was the idea that I could dress however I felt like dressing; this meant that some days I would show up at school wearing a tuxedo jacket, Guess! jeans and combat boots and other days I'd show up in Dockers and a Genera sweater; there's no particular reason to pigeonhole yourself into one particular "style" because that is not the sum totality of who you are.)

xp: lol I am not backing down at all, I just didn't/don't see the Matt Dillon connection
xxp: The "success" of the makeover is less important to me than the
vulnerability she showed by letting someone else strip off her armor. Also I would ask out either version because she is Ally Sheedy and pretty hot regardless of style.
xxxp: lol some dude OTM

C'mon, Dan: WIN! WIN! WIN!

...my old man...
(the for-TV edit of that movie is so classic)

i heard there was an outtake where Ally Sheedy curls into a ball and sings some phil ochs song to herself when everybody starts prancing around, before finally joining their egyptian-walking. they couldn't have included it (it would have killed the magical reality that allows them to suddenly have a dance montage), but it would have underlined the idea that Ally was doing a good thing (accepting friendship) rather than abandoning punky glamour for wan "prettiness."

she didn't look hotter before to Andrew, jesus.

i'm all about the little kicks that MR does on the stairs, defining cinematic image imo

she didn't look hotter before to Andrew, jesus.

like with pretty in pink, it shouldn't be surprising that the initial reaction of indie/outcast boys isn't "she abandoned her eyeliner/smiths-loving dork friend and got the prom king YAAAAY"

key word there is initial

"turning a preppy douche into a good guy is more of a victory than settling for your passive-aggressive closeted Smiths-loving best friend"

John Hughes movies had funny jokes and sharp dialogue

I so wish. "Long Duc Dong"

so no one's posted Vacation '58 yet?

http://www.bizbag.com/Vacation/Vacation%2058.htm

who is your obsession with Duckie's homo repression?

never occurred to me that Duckie didn't actually want to bone Ringwald. lots of straight dudes wore goofy clothes and listened to fey bands while pining for girls in high school, in his time and in my time.

It's not Duckie's fault. Hughes didn't tell him what he'd done to that character.

xpost

TS: the little brother in Sixteen Candles ("I just hope you just burn the sheets and mattresses after he leaves") vs. the little brother in The Last Dragon ("Chocolate covered yellow peril!")

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-hughesteensmar24-pg,0,2280297.photogallery?index=12

lots of straight dudes wore goofy clothes and listened to fey bands while pining for girls in high school, in his time and in my time.

See also Robert Downey Jr.'s Weird Science character for a classic pre-grunge KROQ fratboy type. (As Rollins once muttered in some routine back in the eighties, 'Rednecks in Southern California are like rednecks anywhere except they have Oingo Boingo bumper stickers.')

He is reportedly working as a carpenter making handcrafted furniture in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Man I hope he went full Amish.

John Hughes' The Village

amish u so much

damn, son. RIP.

you made Ally Sheedy hotter than hot.

damn, son. RIP.

you made Ally Sheedy hotter than hot, debatably.

yeah, being so invested in her weirdo image makes you the shallow one a lil bit friend.

I'm not saying she should've stuck with her weirdo image, but if the only way Hughes could think of to make her character feel noticed and loved is to give her a traditionally feminine makeover (which is immediately followed by a "scwhing!" reaction from Estevez, emphasizing that her newfound "sexiness" is what makes her noticed), then it's kinda sad. Surely there could've been other ways to portray her transformation? You know, something that symbolizes personal change, rather than a superficial makeover and the subsequent attention from boys.

or maybe her hair was hiding her face and the big reveal was her pretty face

attention from the opposite sex is a big deal to teenagers

sometimes i think tuomas is a really sophisticated troll whose specialty is making me hate my own opinions

sometimes i think he's a really stubborn foreigner who thinks he understands US pop culture and social mores way better than he actually does

I like to picture Tuomas as a figure skater. He wears like a white outfit, and he does interpretive ice dances of my life's journey.

Photoshop plz

Tuomas Sundance

http://z.about.com/d/figureskating/1/0/i/F/-/-/evgeni.jpg

oh shit, lol

"Wow. And weird: I just bought the Reach the Rock soundtrack on CD yesterday."

a great, great (if dark) soundtrack.

RIP. this just came out of nowhere, didn't it?

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

long interview from 1985.
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/08/06/47-minute-interview-with-john-hughes-from-1985/
John Cusack originally cast as Bender! Virginia Madsen.

Hey, I pretty much feel identical to Tuomas re Breakfast Club. The last five minutes nearly ruined all of the goodwill the movie had accumulated to that point.

and Ally Sheedy stopped being hot