I must admit to being floored by seeing a full tribute to John Hughes. The Oscar ceremonies (as much as I love watching them) can be stuffy and difficult for the non-movie lover to watch. But this tribute jumped off the screen at me. I always viewed tributes like this to people who spent fifty-years in the industry or to someone on the level of Charlie Chaplin, Kurosawa, Fellini, Hitchcock. I never imagined they would do such a heartfelt, lengthy and emotional tribute to a man who never won an Oscar, heck he wasn't even nominated (from what I can find and recall).
As always, Roger Ebert in doing his review of the awards show nailed the Hughes tribute:
Director John Hughes was too great a legend to be simply included in the traditional "In Memoriam" tribute. The special clip package of his work stirred desires to see his films again. They seemed good at the time, and in these dreary days, they seem miraculous. As the stars he made — his "children" —strode forward, it became one of the greatest moments in Academy Award history.
Read Ebert's full commentary on the awards and show here.
