Losses all around

This afternoon I found out that a friend of mine lost his mom to cancer. Matty is a great guy with a heart of gold and my own heart is breaking a bit thinking of what he's feeling now as well as what is to come for him and his family. I can do nothing to help, except to let him know he's in my thoughts. Sad :(

Just a while ago I found out that one of my favorite filmmakers of all time has passed. John Hughes died today at the age of 59 after a sudden heart attack in NYC. His movies defined my generation and provided me with countless hours of enjoyment. He had a knack at crafting stories that just about anyone in that age bracket could relate to. He understood teenage angst and had the ability to craft iconic characters from each gender that no other filmmaker was able to do, in my opinion. I am certain that tonight there are many people who are going to watch a movie of his and remember how great his talent was. I know I will be doing that.

Looking at a list of the movies that he is responsible for during his 80's heyday is astonishing. "National Lampoon's Vacation","Sixteen Candles" "The Breakfast Club", "Weird Science", and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" are just a few that come to mind. He tried a more grown up take in the late 80's with movies like "She's Having a Baby", a movie I later watched a couple times while pregnant with my boy. He was responsible for writing one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, "Home Alone". He pretty much faded out of the spotlight following that, only doing some screenwriting under pseudonyms.

My favorite of his movies, without a doubt, is "Sixteen Candles". It tells the story of Samantha Baker, whose 16th birthday is forgotten by her family in the midst of her older sister's impending wedding. I really have no idea how many times I've seen that movie; if I had to guess I'd say 20 or so. Of all his movies this one has the the most memorable characters and some of my favorite dialogue of the movies of this genre. Some of the characters that made this movie unforgettable are: Farmer Ted, the geek; Jake Ryan, the total hottie; the oddball set of grandparents on either side of the family and of course, the Chinese foreign exchange student, Donger - Long Duc Dong. Two of my favorite dialogue sequences that always made me giggle are these:

The Geek: You know, I'm getting input here that I am reading as relatively hostile
Samantha: Go to hell.
The Geek: VERY hostile

Grandpa Fred: Dong. Where is my automobile
Long Duc Dong: Otto-mo-biiiile?

After hearing of his passing I searched Youtube for a clip of this gem to watch and found the original trailer.





RIP John Hughes and Rosemary Barnett
:(