John Hughes

[4] Chris Columbus (Adventures in Babysitting) directs this John Hughes production about an eight-year-old boy accidentally left at home while his family flies to Paris for the Christmas holiday. At first, the boy (Uncle Buck‘s Macaulay Culkin) enjoys his freedom, but when two burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) target the house, he must find the courage to fend them off. I get why Home …

[7] Chevy Chase stars as a husband and father determined to take his family on the vacation of their dreams, cross-country to an amusement park called Walley World. But the trip is fraught with wrong turns, wildlife, hillbilly relatives, and perhaps more than anything else, Chase’s stubborn unwillingness to accept defeat. Vacation is a great star vehicle for Chase’s brand of oblivious humor. Writer John …

[5] Writer/director John Hughes serves up this comedy star vehicle for John Candy, who plays an unreliable uncle called upon to babysit his nieces and nephew while their parents are away on emergency travel. As you can imagine, the meat of this movie is in Uncle Buck’s interactions with the children. Hughes is a master at letting characters breathe within the confines of tight story …

[7] Christmas is coming and Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is determined to have the best old-time family holiday gathering ever, complete with an amazing house lighting display, the biggest Christmas tree ever, and extended family filling the house with Christmas spirit. Of course, nothing goes according to plan. That’s the point of the Vacation movies — to watch things blow up in Chevy Chase’s face …

[7] Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson star in this Howard Deutch-directed film from writer/producer/’80’s teen titan’ John Hughes. Stoltz is a high schooler pining for a popular girl (Thompson), all while his tom-girl best friend pines for him (Masterson). Masterson has the juiciest part here, too afraid to tell her buddy that she loves him. You gotta give Thompson credit for riding …

[4] Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction, Field of Dreams) stars a high school grad who freeloads off his parents until a menial overnight job at Target introduces him to the love of his life, played by the stunning Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth, A Beautiful Mind). I like the idea of two nascent lovers spending the night alone in a Target store, but this John Hughes production reeks …

[10] Writer/director John Hughes had more box office hits than you can shake a stick at, and while many of them were fun and irreverent fare (like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Weird Science), one sticks out above the crowd — his crowning achievement: The Breakfast Club.  It’s a low-concept, small-scale production — practically a filmed stage play — about five disparate teenagers who suffer …