John Hughes' resume

”I screw up as often as anyone,” says Hughes, who seems proudest of Ferris Bueller. Here are his off-the-cuff judgments on some of his 27 movies.

Sixteen Candles (director, writer, 1984) ”A dream, but no close-ups, no coverage — I had no idea what I was doing. When we wrapped, I couldn’t say anything, I was too sad.”
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (cowriter, 1985) ”I had to do Breakfast, so I got dumped (from the project). I’ve always had the dumb luck to get the hell away from crap.”
The Breakfast Club (producer, director, writer, 1985) ”I had this genius mentor, editor Dede Allen, who cut Bonnie and Clyde. It was like 32 days of film school.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (producer, director, writer, 1986) ”It’s the only one that looks the way I wanted it to. We shot it in a Super-35 format — because it wasn’t appropriate and the movie was about doing things that are not appropriate.”
The Great Outdoors (executive producer, writer, 1988) ”Annette Bening is great. There aren’t too many s—y performances in my movies.”
She’s Having a Baby (producer, director, writer, 1988). ”I was disappointed by the reaction. I had no time, one week in the cutting room. Great sound, though.”
Uncle Buck (producer, director, writer, 1989) ”I don’t think I did a very good job, but John Candy did.”
Home Alone (producer, writer, 1990) ”The best thing that ever happened to me, and the worst. It gave me leverage, but that can be corrupting.”
Dutch (producer, writer, 1991) ”It tested higher than any teenage picture I ever did. Nobody went.”
Career Opportunities (producer, writer, 1991) ”Ten million bucks thrown down the drain. It hurt a lot to put my name on it.”
Home Alone 2 (producer, creative supervisor, writer, 1992) ”Exactly what it should’ve been, give people what they expect. The third one can be clever.”
Beethoven (writer, 1992) ”It was about my love-hate relationship with my lunatic dog. I never saw it.”
Dennis the Menace (producer, writer, 1993) ”I think it sold out a little at the end, got a little jokey. But to bring Walter Matthau back was a major crusade.”
Baby’s Day Out (producer, writer, 1994) ”Not my favorite. It’s an electronic laugh machine. When it hits tape, it’ll be fine — there’s some great stuff in it.”