Sixteen Candles (1984)

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Directed by John Hughes.

Starring Liane Alexandra Curtis, Paul Dooley, Justin Henry, Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, Anthony Michael Hall.

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On the eve of her sister's wedding, suburban teenager Samantha (Molly Ringwald) suffers silently as her family forgets her birthday. Even worse, some total dork (Anthony Michael Hall) keeps propositioning her with sophomoric innuendo when she really craves romantic attention from high-school hunk Jake (Michael Schoeffling). Moving from Samantha's family home as it's invaded by outre relatives to a high-school dance where nothing seems to go her way, this bittersweet teen comedy traces the hopes and disappointments of not only Samantha, but also a host of incidental but memorable characters, from a hapless Japanese exchange student to a prom queen and a posse of barely pubescent nerds. A climactic party scene at which these various strata of young America overcome their rigid hierarchies sets the stage for resolutions both tender and torrid. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Just between me and Hughes
by usesoap in usesoap Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Perhaps it’s a certain soft spot for the navigator of my awkward adolescent journey, John Hughes; maybe it’s the affable charisma of lead Owen Wilson (who, even off his game as he is here, is just someone with whom you want to share a beer); or it could be the overall throwback tone of the film’s less-ironic, less-cynical high school setting.Whatever the reason, I quite enjoyed “Drillbit Taylor.Hughes, the arbiter of public school angst, originally scribbled the screenplay for the new comedy and allowed it to languish for the better part of two decades before it was dusted off by reigning comedic king Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “40-Year-Old Virgin”) and his faithful scribes Seth Rogan (“Superbad”) and Kristofer Brown (TVs “Undeclared”). Hughes’ name is not found on any of the credits (acknowledgment is given to his frequent nom de plume of Edmond Dantes), but his style can be felt throughout. With great ... " [More]

Life's Soundtrack
by yojimbo73 in yojimbo73 Blog

liked it.

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"I was sitting in my jeep a few days ago looking through my iPod for something that would pick my spirits up for the drive home. Great little invention. Kinda makes that "10 albums on a desert island" thing useless. Just bring your iPod and you can have your entire collection. Anyway, I decided on the Counting Crows as it'd been years since I'd listened to them. Instantly I was transported to...I'll get to that in a minute. It made me think about that whole "smell is the best memory trigger" thing. Now maybe it's just a deficiency in my olfactory system, but smell has never done a thing for my memory. Sure, it's been instrumental in conjuring up old girlfriends and musty schools, but nothing really useful. Music on the other hand can open wormwholes to my past. When I hear the songs from the soundtrack of the movie that is my life I am instantly bombarded with memories. Sights, sounds, smells, the whole package. -"I Wear My Sunglasse ... " [More]

movie year countdown #23 - 1984 ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

is neutral about it.

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"This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.Sixteen CandlesI kind of missed the whole brat pack thing the first couple times around. If it is something that keeps coming around. I dunno. It seems like something that a number of people of my generation seem to indentify with although I was still a small child when most of these movies came out.I guess I wasn't expecting a whole lot and I didn't really get a whole lot. The movie is about as vapid as any current Hollywood teen comedy that I might have accidentally seen. And like most of them also seems to somehow drag you along mindlessly without getting too bored but feeling just as empty at the end. Maybe it's a product of bad television conditioning.I guess John Hughes connected more with me with Home Alone which came out when I was 9-years-old. And I believe Macaulay Culkin was too, so I was obviously the prime audience. I co ... " [More]

Movie year countdown viewing pr ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

is neutral about it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Here’s the dilemma. I have a list of well over three thousand movies I want to see saved on IMDB. I have a subscription to Netflix and recently every time I return a DVD it has been an extremely arduous task to make the decision as to which movie I should see next. In an effort to narrow down my choices and make the process of choosing slightly less overwhelming I have devised a system, almost a bit of a game for me. Here’s how it goes.For my first film selection, I have narrowed the options down to only films that were released in the year 2006. Then after I have watched that movie, my next selection would have to be a film released in 2005. Then I would see a film from 2004, then 2003, etc. The process of deciding is still laborious, but actually quite a bit more exciting. (I'm going by IMDB as my source for release years)I have already been making a list and have also already begun watching the films. I decided this might be a good time to start fooling ... " [More]

Trivia: 80's Siblings
by MovieGuy in Movie Trivia

loved it.

"Over in the "Grew up in the 80's" discussion group, a thread has started about coming of age and the movies which shaped our lives during that time period. It made me start thinking of all of the classic films I love which were released in the 80's, most of which I have movie posters hanging on my wall for. Which brings us to this question: Which two different sets of siblings appeared together in the 1984 film "Sixteen Candles"? (So we need four names). " [More]

Re: Guess The Movie Quote
by spoutgirl in Best movie quotes

hasn't rated it.

"Or was it Sixteen Candles? " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

In his directorial debut, successful comedy screenwriter John Hughes maps out the insecurities of middle-class adolescence with wit, empathy, and a large cast of enjoyably loopy teen characters. The film made pouty, chic Molly Ringwald a star, and more than 15 years later it isn't hard to see why. Sarcastic one minute, heart on her sleeve the next, she embodies the anxieties of bright but stifled youth the world over. Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and host of lesser-known players make the most of their sometimes limited screen time with broad, dead-on comic personae. Heathers would scrawl ironic graffiti across this tender portrait of naïve suburbia a mere five years later, but few films, if any, have since captured its good-hearted charm. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Tags: teenagers , 80s-classic , 80s , personal-classic , john-cusack
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