CATCH A CLASSIC

Sixteen Candles

AMC, 11:45 a.m.

John Hughes made his directorial debut with this 1984 coming-of-age comedy that he also wrote and that ushered in the era of the ’80s “Brat Pack” film genre of movies largely focused on youngsters and with a stable of regular young actors who became stars. One of those stars was Molly Ringwald,

who leads the film here in a funny and touching breakout performance as high school sophomore Sam, who hopes her 16th birthday will kick off a great year for her. Unfortunately, things start off badly when her family forgets her birthday, and they only get worse when her efforts to get closer to her crush, senior Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), go awry in often embarrassing ways. Meanwhile, geeky freshman Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), who has his own crush on Sam, keeps turning up to cause annoyance.