Sixteen Candles (1984)

Even though the writer-director was well into his 30s when he made them, the late John Hughes’ string of ’80s teen films captured the bizarre zeitgeist of that decade’s youth, and did it in remarkably different ways. The hands-down funniest, 1984’s Sixteen Candles made Molly Ringwald a star. Far more interesting than the lead character, though, is Candles’ perfectly pitched supporting cast, including Anthony Michael Hall as The Geek, four amazing grandparents, and Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong (insert gong sound here).

Updated 10/21/2010