The Critics' Choice Movie Awards — which air live Friday (January 15) on VH1 at 9 p.m. — will celebrate some of the biggest and most acclaimed films of 2009, including "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Precious" and "Up in the Air." But expect the evening's most heartfelt moment to come in celebration of an absent member of the Hollywood community, as the show will pay tribute to John Hughes, who died last year at the age of 59.
The director of such modern classics as "The Breakfast Club," "Sixteen Candles" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" will get a salute on the show care of Death Cab for Cutie, who will perform Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." It's a fitting nod to the director, since it is an iconic soundtrack tune from "The Breakfast Club" and a lyrically relevant sentiment.
For the men of Death Cab For Cutie, it's a natural fit. "John Hughes was very much a captain of our youthful revolution," drummer Jason McGerr told MTV News. "Every movie he has ever made is ingrained in our brains, and 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' is a song we all fell in love with."
And as guitarist Chris Walla points out, the tune doesn't feel as old as its 25 years. "It's one of those records I keep coming back to and that I check in with every few years. It's really held up well. There's a lot of records you can't say that about."
Why has it held up so well? McGerr cited the tune's universality. "We're all characters in 'The Breakfast Club' at some point in our lives," he said, referencing the archetypes who inhabited Hughes' signature film.
Expect the powerful, moving song — which was originally intended for Billy Idol — to leave more than a few teary eyes behind at tonight's show. Following that, Death Cab will focus on recording their new album this year, and in the more immediate future, will try to figure out how to reach out to the devastated island of Haiti. "There's already a lot of e-mails being exchanged about what we can do to help," Walla said. "We're just trying to figure out how."
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