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John Hughes Obituary and Ten Best Films
David Bax , August 10th, 2009 10:24

John Hughes was a comedy genius who perfectly captured the trails and tribulations of the American suburban teen. He created some of the most memorable films of the 80s including The Breakfast Club, Christmas Vacation, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Battleship Pretension's David Bax looks back on his legacy with a list of his top ten films.

John Hughes was often referred to, and not incorrectly, as the voice of a generation. But he never looked much like the teenagers in his movies. In fact, he looked more like their fathers, or perhaps the people they would grow up to be. That’s because he was their voice, too. John Hughes spoke not just for the brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses and criminals that roamed the nation’s high schools but for the entire world they came from. While suburbia never experienced the drug and violence problems that plagued America’s urban centers in the 1980s, they certainly had their own demons to deal with. Hughes portrayed these with total honesty, never being either whiny or condescending. That’s why, even though the clothes and hairstyles are dated, his films still ring true to the legions of people who reside in the vast, prefabricated lands that surround the nation’s cities. Below, his ten greatest hits.

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