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1980s Movie Tournament: Round 1 Best of John Hughes |
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| 16 Candles | Pretty in Pink | |
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For most teenagers their 16th birthday proves to be quite memorable. However, Samantha Baker's (Molly Ringwald) 16th birthday starts out bad only to get worse. Her family is so wrapped up in her sister's impending wedding that they completely forget her birthday all together. Sam spends her special day getting hit on by the school geek (Anthony Michael Hall), being forced to accompany an eccentric foreign exchange student (Gedde Wantanabe) to the school dance, losing her room to her grandparents after getting felt up by her handsy grandma and wondering if the boy of her dreams (Michael Schoeffling) knows she exists. Simply stated, it's a classic 1980s fairytale that's able to run the gamut through teenage emotions.
This movie is a slumber party classic. John Hughes developed a story with enough likable characters that, even though the fashion is ridiculous, it's timeless. The character Jake Ryan proved to be quite the heart throb while the character Sam possessed a certain something that made her so relatable. No one seemed to be immune to the charms of the great Molly Ringwald. This role crowned her the Queen of 1980s Teen films. I still love that Anthony Michael Hall was able to get her out of her panties to win a bet and Long Duk Dong will always be my favorite film version of a foreign exchange student. This was one of those films that made my actual high school experience seem disappointing (i.e. my high school didn't have a Jake Ryan). Memorable quote: "Donger's here for five hours, and he's got somebody. I live here my whole life, and I'm like a disease. " |
In true 80s fashion, star crossed teenage love is challenged thanks to their respective social cliques. Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald), a fashion-conscious teen who lives on the wrong side of the tracks with her father, finds herself crushing on one of the rich boys from her school. Her affections are directed to Blane McDonough (Andrew McCarthy). Blane, unlike Andie, comes from a world of privilege and hangs out with the other rich kids at their school. Despite their socio-economic differences, Andie and Blane give in to their attraction and decide to go out on a date.
Their first date did not go well. Both Andie and Blane were treated poorly by the others group of friends. This romantic evening ended in a fight. Andie did not want Blane to give her a ride home because she was ashamed of where she lives. Despite the fight, the date ended in a ride home, a kiss and an invitation to the prom. With in days, Blane begins to feel pressure from Steff (James Spader) in regards to asking a “mutant” to prom. After some beraiding, Blane loses his nerve and retracts his prom invitation to Andie. Despite the betrayal, Andie finds the nerve to go to the prom stag. She is pleasantly surprised by Duckie (Jon Cryer), her best friend, who happily escorts to the prom. Thanks to Steff's bullying, Blane grows a backbone and finally tells Steff off. Memorable dialogue: "His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance, that's not a name!" |
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Contest Info
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