Widescreen: Two John Hughes films make their Blu-ray debut in 2021
It won't magically arrive in time for the holidays like Neal Page did at his Kenilworth home in the closing moments of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” but a new Blu-ray collection of films by the late North Shore icon John Hughes hits stores in February, and preorders are available now.
The “John Hughes 5-Movie Collection” from Paramount Home Entertainment includes physical and digital HD copies of the aforementioned Steve Martin/John Candy road-trip classic, as well as “Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” “Pretty in Pink” and two films making their Blu-ray debut, “She's Having a Baby” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
Each film is accompanied by varying degrees of bonus features, from spare (just a trailer and an old interview with Hughes and star Kevin Bacon on “She's Having a Baby”) to comprehensive (a two-part documentary, deleted footage and three more features on “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”).
The collection lists for $26.98 and will be available Feb. 23.
‘Bueller? ... Bueller?'
In the meantime, if you still have an old DVD of “Ferris Bueller,” whose filming locations included Glenbrook North High School and Glencoe Beach, check to see if it's the 1999 release that includes a commentary track by Hughes himself. The entertaining, enlightening chat was excluded from subsequent home video releases, and is not scheduled to be included with the new Blu-ray collection either. Hughes talks about characters that didn't survive script revisions, his music choices, his decorating ideas for Ferris' bedroom ... and that's just the first five minutes. It's a must-hear for “Ferris Bueller” fans.
‘A lovely cheese pizza, just for me'
And let us not forget Hughes' biggest hit, “Home Alone.” And really, how could we? It's been on TV every day since Nov. 1, ha-ha.
You've probably already caught part of it on AMC or Disney+ or your kid's Blu-ray or that old VHS you bought at Suncoast Motion Picture Company, and you've probably thought, “Hey, this still holds up!” Macaulay Culkin beaning Joe Pesci with a paint can or throwing a spider on Daniel Stern's face has been funny for 30 years — the movie came to theaters on Nov. 16, 1990 — and will probably be funny for another 30. At least.
The best episode of the Netflix documentary series “The Movies That Made Us” has tons of behind-the-scenes footage from the film written by Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus, including a look at how the gymnasium at New Trier Township High School became the interior of Kevin's home.
Bonus: A new two-episode spinoff of that doc series, “The Holiday Movies That Made Us,” premiered last month and focuses on “Elf” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who wishes he could watch all the outtakes of the “Home Alone” scenes with Catherine O'Hara and John Candy.