Howard Deutch
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Lady Bird (2017)
Directed by Greta Gerwig
influenced by Pretty in Pink (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Themes Visuals
But the film it reminded me most of was Pretty in Pink , which first-time director Greta Gerwig—the actress best known for Frances Ha and 20th Century Women—is clearly paying homage to (there’s even a scene where Lady Bird wears a pink prom dress).
Lady Bird’s pink hair, repurposed prom dresses and self-proclaimed identity as living on the “wrong side of the tracks” may scream homage to “Pretty in Pink,” but this is a resoundingly modern, assuredly female-voiced comedy that portends more great things to come from Gerwig behind the camera.
Little wonder there are subtle echoes of “Pretty in Pink” throughout, from not one but two pink-hued frocks and a pair of unsuitable suitors to a dad who is down on his luck (playwright Tracy Letts) and a batch of pop oldies on the soundtrack (Alanis Morissette and Dave Matthews Band loom large).
Lady Bird and her mother stop bickering for a moment in the thrift store when they suddenly unite in the ecstasy of finding the perfect prom dress (inspired, Gerwig told me, by “Pretty in Pink”).
Both performances are remarkable, brittle and diffident in wholly original ways that distinguish Gerwg’s film from The Edge of Seventeen , Pretty in Pink , and other canonical coming-of-age works that attempt to honestly reckon with issues of privilege.
Mixing the introspective resilience of Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha (which Gerwig co-wrote) with the whimsical emotional dramatics of a 1980s John Hughes comedic melodrama like Pretty in Pink or Some Kind of Wonderful , the movie never hits a false note, each beat of the story building one upon the next to produce a melodious coming of age symphony that’s absolutely sensational.
Director Levan Akin talks to us about the real dangers they faced making this movie, the films universal themes, how he is inspired by 80’s director John Hughes and ‘Some Kind Of Wonderful ‘ and the many messages Akin has received from the LGBTQ+ community -many from countries where it is dangerous just be yourself.
Taylor and screenwriter Scotty Landes are clearly aiming for an edgy John Hughes vibe in the film's many party scenes (the Hughes-penned Pretty in Pink is even referenced in the dialogue), but with the exception of Maggie, the teens are too one-dimensional for us to care about.
The DUFF (2015)
Directed by Ari Sandel
influenced by Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), Pretty in Pink (1986)
Plot
The plot sounds an awful lot like She’s All That, Can’t Buy Me Love, 10 Things I Hate About You, Mean Girls, or even Some Kind of Wonderful, and it would be easy to dismiss sight unseen The DUFF as a copycat/rip-off of high school coming-of-age films from decades past.
Too bad, it never figures out its own identity, playing dumpy gatekeeper to the likes of Some Kind of Wonderful and She’s All That .
It should come as no surprise that things take a turn towards She's All That or Some Kind of Wonderful by having Wesley teach Bianca how not to be perceived as the DUFF, and hopefully win the heart of soulful guitarist Taylor (Nick Eversman).
And, if the film owes its everything to "Sixteen Candles," "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Can't Buy Me Love," "She's All That," "10 Things I Hate About You," and " Mean Girls " (just to name a few), at least its story stays true to its irrepressible heroine without feeling the need to change her.
After The DUFF straight-up steals a scene from Pretty in Pink — Bianca attends the homecoming dance stag and wearing a hand-sewn dress — it becomes eye-rollingly preachy.
It'll have to settle for "Pretty in Pink," with worse music and a more upbeat attitude.
Peele uses everything to craft tension and pressure, which he often releases by punctuating the dread of Us with humor—Gabe is a goofy, nerdy dad full of one-liners and dad-jokes in the vein of John Candy in The Great Outdoors.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
Directed by Susan Johnson
influenced by Pretty in Pink (1986)
Themes
“The male lead was a drip, but it doesn’t matter!” is a line I feel like I’ve subconsciously been telling myself since Pretty in Pink, or really any number of Brat Pack–era classics that our young romance-obsessed heroine Lara Jean (Lana Condor) would probably know by heart.
(We don’t need you to repeatedly have characters reference Pretty in Pink to see its influence.)
And if the title recalls the British romantic-comedy smash “Love, Actually,” it’s for good reason, although “Love, Simon” has more in common with those cherished but overrated films of the late John Hughes (“Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Breakfast Club”) than those of Richard Curtis.
Love, Simon doesn't quite reach the heights of teen movie classics like Say, Anything..., Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Clueless, Mean Girls or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it comes close enough to be one of the best American romantic teen comedies in recent memory.
Don't be fooled, this is no censor-baiting Larry Clarke ( Bully , Kids ) or Harmony Korine ( Spring Breakers ) style expose, but rather something more akin to Catherine Hardwick's 2003 tale Thirteen, or the beloved John Hughes movies of the 1980s ( Pretty in Pink , Sixteen Candles ).
Elsie Fisher plays Kayla, an eighth-grader on the cusp of graduation being raised by her single father, Mark (Josh Hamilton), another in a long line of well-meaning single dads raising girls in teen movies, from Pretty In Pink to Not Another Teen Movie .
And Lucy’s problem is the eternal Pretty in Pink conundrum; does being a penniless loser rule a guy out?
I noticed how Lucy gets along well with her boss, Violet (Marin Ireland), at the matchmaking agency, similar to how Andie connected with Iona at the record shop in… nah.
This is nothing new as high school comedies—from Pretty in Pink (1986) to Netflix’s Sex Education —have filtered coming of age through the glossy filter of Gatsbyesque parties.
His taste in hats echoes Pretty In Pink’s Ducky.
Despite boasting many scenarios and set-pieces straight out of the John Hughes ( Pretty in Pink , The Breakfast Club ) or "story set on a single night" playbook (think Go, or American Graffiti ), Booksmart is at pains to reflect today's teens in all their complicated, multi-dimensional, chaotic glory.
It’s another film in the grand tradition of right-around-graduation movies ( Can’t Hardly Wait , Dazed and Confused , Pretty in Pink, 10 Things I Hate About You ), but Booksmart gives off especially distinct Superbad vibes, both in story structure and its general theme of growing up.
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
influenced by Pretty in Pink (1986)
Characters Themes Plot
With the best of intentions but few regrets, Nadine would probably devour a definitive teen icon such as Molly Ringwald's Andie Walsh from Pretty in Pink , John Hughes' 1986 masterpiece.
A terrific teen comedy with the traditional feel of John Hughes’s Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink, The Edge of Seventeen stars Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine, a 17-year-old high-school misfit whose best and only friend starts to date her smug, perfect older brother.
And the Lord did then give us Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, and lo, it was good.
That was the heyday of John Hughes: Molly Ringwald was Pretty in Pink and Matthew Broderick would soon take the day off as Ferris Bueller.
As Mr. Brumer, the school’s long defeated English teacher, Harrelson ranks up there with such unlikely and welcome teen movie supporting players as Harry Dean Stanton in “Pretty in Pink” and the tag team of Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci in “Easy A.” Mr. Brumer is Nadine’s barely-there rock — the fellow sadsack who will sit there and silently sit through her epic complaint jags, piping up only to offer deflating non-advice or a withering quip.
Like “Pretty in Pink,” Craig’s obvious inspiration, Nadine is presently presented with a love-struck, tongue-tied nerd she refuses to give the time of day.
Meanwhile, in a storyline that begins like Pretty in Pink and then becomes a monster hunt, Mike’s type-A older sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) teams up with Will’s brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), whose creepy vibe and shaggy hair obscure his heart of gold.
You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by Dustin – Farrah Fawcett hairspray hair and all – standing at the sidelines of the dance floor, for all the world a pre-pubescent Duckie from Pretty in Pink.
Aboveground, Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) is following a more “Pretty in Pink” storyline until it goes John Carpenter, which eventually teams her up with Will’s brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Directed by Jon Watts
influenced by Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Themes
After the John Hughes melodies of Homecoming were such a success, writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers and director Jon Watts have continued the motif but aimed a little more angsty with echoes of Some Kind of Wonderful and Sixteen Candles fluttering in the background whilst still maintaining the Ferris Bueller frivolity with some superb gags.
Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018)
Directed by Ian Samuels
influenced by Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Though when Sierra heads into the kitchen for breakfast, her upbeat, ego-boosting parents (Hughes alums Alan Ruck of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and Lea Thompson of “Some Kind of Wonderful”) ask if she remembered to “leave her insecurities in the bathroom mirror.”
Ellie doesn’t just live on the wrong side of the tracks, she lives on the tracks, since her depressive immigrant father (Edwin Chu, channeling Harry Dean Stanton in “Pretty in Pink”), works as the stationmaster.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Directed by Stephen Chbosky
influenced by Pretty in Pink (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Visuals Themes
High School in the late 1980’s and 1990’s bore little resemblance to the hyper-stylized version portrayed by John Hughes in films like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.
Chbosky employs the comedic-dramatic tightrope frequently walked by the late John Hughes in such mid-80’s, adolescent-skewing classics as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Pretty in Pink, as well as an arsenal of me-decade tunes by such singers as David Bowie, The Smiths, Morrissey and, naturally, Dexys Midnight Runners.
All I can say with any certainty is that Chbosky’s Perks is the first film in far too long to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful – screenplay bibles for emotionally adrift teenagers.
But that something is way too dramatic for a movie that in spirit is closer to Pretty in Pink than Cries and Whispers .
All I can say with any certainty is that Chbosky’s Perks is the first film in far too long to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful – screenplay bibles for emotionally adrift teenagers.
He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
Directed by Ken Kwapis
influenced by Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
And so he strays, jumping into bed with a curvaceous yoga instructor ( Scarlett Johansson ), who's caught up in her own Some Kind of Wonderful conundrum.
Furthermore, any motion picture that can use 1987's "Some Kind of Wonderful" as a story point and sell it wholesale is clearly after my own affections.
Suddenly, she realizes that Hughes' 1987 opus Some Kind of Wonderful (always underrated in my book) can explain, you know, everything.
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)
Directed by Michael Fimognari
influenced by Pretty in Pink (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Themes Plot
For example, Pretty in Pink , Some Kind of Wonderful , She's All That and countless others in the genre pinpoint class as a significant social barrier for our potential couples.
John Corbett returns as the girls' devoted father, getting a lovely side narrative, and Holland Taylor is a real treat as the older, wiser Stormy, who dispenses sound advice to our heroine; the latter nicely paying tribute to Iona and Andie's dynamic in Pretty in Pink , when the teenage girl has to choose between two boys.
For example, Pretty in Pink , Some Kind of Wonderful , She's All That and countless others in the genre pinpoint class as a significant social barrier for our potential couples.
But because of this more — ahem — realistic approach, the sweet 16 innocence that allowed John Hughes’ “Pretty in Pink” and Cameron Crowe’s “Say Anything” to gush with so much romantic appeal is lost.
No, it’s not Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink but Easy A , a sex comedy that’s purportedly based on The Scarlet Letter but owes a bigger debt to a certain king of ’80s teen angst.
Where would we be without his classics such as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink and Some Kind Of Wonderful?