John Hughes (1950-2009)

Director John Hughes captured the zeitgeist in the 1980s with tales of teen angst in suburban Chicago — the Molly Ringwald trilogy, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Weird Science” — and made stars of Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and Matthew Broderick.

imdb.com | Richard Corliss | Top 10 John Hughes moments
The Breakfast Club | Sixteen Candles | Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller is the most popular kid in school, the son of doting parents. Why exactly does he need a day off? Matthew Broderick is charming as Ferris, especially when breaking the fourth wall. Jennifer Grey plays his jealous sister with glee.

d: John Hughes | imdb.com | trailer | Jeanie Bueller’s Day Off

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Life must be a bitch in this suburban Chicago high school, where John Hughes employs stereotypes in an overwrought attempt to dispel them. Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy can act. The affected Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Emilio Estevaz can’t.

d: John Hughes | imdb.com | trailer | JCPenney