Don’t you forget about him…

7 comments March 28th, 2008

John Cusack, Anthony Michael Hall and Darren Harris in SIXTEEN CANDLES.

If you went to high school in the 1980s (like me), there’s a good chance you were a fan of the films of John Hughes. SIXTEEN CANDLES, THE BREAKFAST CLUB and FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF — what I like to think of as his High School Trilogy* — are comedies than manage to be serious, teen movies that manage to be grown up and artifacts of the 1980s that manage to look pretty good today.

If you’re wondering what ever happened to Hughes, The Los Angeles Times has your answer: He’s living just down the road in the suburbs north of Chicago, where most of his movies were set. He doesn’t talk to the press, he doesn’t hang out in Hollywood, and aside from coming up with the original premise for DRILLBIT TAYLOR years ago, he doesn’t make movies.

Of course, his movies are still a big influence today, mostly because the people making movies grew up on SIXTEEN CANDLES and other Hughes epics. As producer Judd Apatow says in the LA Times article, “You see Hughes’ influence on all TV comedy, especially the stylized single-camera comedy. His great film characters, starting with Anthony Michael Hall in ‘Sixteen Candles,’ were big inspirations. When we were growing up, we were all like Hall — the goofy skinny kid who thinks he’s cool, even if nobody else does. ‘Superbad’ has that same attitude, that mix of total cockiness and insecurity.”

Since those mid-80s high school glory days, Hughes wrote and/or directed at least one grown-up classic (PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES), two underrated gems (SHE’S HAVING A BABY and UNCLE BUCK) and a lot of crap (BEETHOVEN’S 4TH, CURLY SUE, MAID IN MANHATTAN and others). He also wrote HOME ALONE, which guaranteed he’d never have to worry about writing or directing anything again. Financially, the guy is set.

But it’s too bad he never returned to that high school setting. I’m as sick of sequels as the next guy, but I’d kill to see a follow-up to  THE BREAKFAST CLUB with the same cast, set in the present and stuck in a single room — maybe even that same library. Or a FERRIS BUELLER sequel, with Ferris, Sloan and Cameron as world-weary adults spending the day in Chicago. (In a way, Alexander Payne’s ELECTION is a twisted sequel of FERRIS, with Broderick playing a version of the principal he tormented way back when.)

C’mon, John. It’s time for a reunion.

* No, I’m not counting Hughes’ 1985 movie WEIRD SCIENCE or 1986 movie PRETTY IN PINK. Sorry.

Home movies

Add comment March 5th, 2008

In the new movie BE KIND, REWIND, Jack Black and Mos Def create their own no-budget remakes of famous films to rent at their struggling video store. Because they claim the movies are from Sweden, these are known as the “Sweded” versions. Because the Internet is full of creative pop-culture nuts looking for an outlet for their moviemaking abilities, genuine homemade Sweded versions of movies have begun to flood You Tube. Here’s a sample, a wonderfully offbeat take on BACK TO THE FUTURE. 

I really like the imaginative way they accomplished the special effect of Marty’s hand disappearing, but I have one question: Where the heck did these guys get their hands on an actual De Lorean?

If you want to see Sweded versions of other classics, including DIE HARD, STAR WARS and LORD OF THE RINGS, just click here.


 

When Larry met Woody

2 comments February 7th, 2008

Larry David (right) and his buddy Jeff (Jeff Garlin) share a laugh on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Here’s an interesting bit of casting news: According to Entertainment Weekly, Larry David (co-creator of SEINFELD and creator and star of HBO’s CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM) is going to star in Woody Allen’s next movie. As the site says:

“How much neurosis can one movie channel? We’re about find out. Larry David, the mind behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, is set to be the lead in Woody Allen’s next, as-yet-untitled feature, which is scheduled to shoot in New York City in the spring. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but David will act alongside Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe). The movie marks Allen’s return home after he made three films in London and one, the upcoming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in Spain.”

It will be very interesting to see how Larry fits into the world of Woody. Sure, they’re both neurotic, but Larry is a much more aggressive, in-your-face sort of neurotic, and I can’t imagine him having deep intelluctual conversations about Ingmar Bergman or e.e. cummings. (This is the guy who, after all, watched a “Girls Gone Wild” tape on an episode of his sitcom.) Maybe that conflict will lend some much needed tension and energy to whatever Woody’s next movie is.

Sure hope it doesn’t disrupt plans for another season of CURB, though. The last one — which just arrived on DVD (look for a review soon) was one of the best, with some truly classic episodes. Rent it now!