1). Sleepless in Seattle. This one tops the list of chick flicks because it follows the basics of all chick flicks, and deviates not one bit from the chick flick script: handsome leading man (Tom Hanks) falls in love with attractive leading lady (Meg Ryan) after his son reads one of the letters sent in by the throngs of women who swooned over his phone in call about being lonely after the passing of his wife on a radio talk show. When anyone thinks of a 'chick flick,' Sleepless in Seattle immediately comes to mind, for good reason. Did I mention that they lived happily ever after?
2) Message in a Bottle. Kevin Costner (handsome but grieving leading man) falls in love with attractive leading lady after she finagles her way into his life after reading the love letters he wrote to his departed wife and then put in a bottle and throws into the sea. This is a classic chick flick in that they drag every bit of emotion out of both of these characters and at the end there is not a dry eye in the theater. This one rates very high on the chick-flick-ometer.
3) The Way We Were. Ask any chick, and they will rave about this movie, namely for the theme: handsome leading man (Robert Redford at his handsomest, and that's saying something) walks into attractive leading lady's life (Barbra Streissand), they fall in love, but don't live happily ever after since they part ways and the regret of unrequited love fills the theater. This one is for the ages, and for good reason.
4) Romancing the Stone. Handsome leading man (Michael Douglas), shows up to rescue attractive love interest (Kathleen Turner) in the jungles of Columbia, and in the end they cruise their sailboat in downtown Manhattan, presumably to live happily ever after. Chick flick theme all the way. Danny Devito plays an excellent scumbag, and lots of action, none of it too violent, as chicks rate this one high. It sticks to the chick flick script.
5) Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. This wonderful chick flick departs from the standard plot: handsome guy sweeps into town, falls madly in love with beautiful leading lady, live happily ever after, etc. etc. Nope. Chicks love this movie because Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino portray arguably the stupidest dolts that ever graced the big screen, (other than Jim Carey and Jeff Bridges in 'Dumb and Dumber'), and most women feel immeasurably superior to these two self absorbed and narcissistic idiots. One line stands out: "You know, even though we've watched Pretty Woman like thirty-six times, I never get tired of making fun of it...I just get really happy when they finally let her shop." A real feel good movie, watching these dopes stumble through life without a clue.
6). Somewhere in Time. This truly great chick flick sticks to what makes all great chick flicks: handsome leading man sweeps into town, falls madly in love with the beautiful leading lady, and they live happily ever after. And Christopher Reeve doesn't let time get in the way, he travels back through time to find Jane Seymoure, time be damned. Filmed at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, this one is a chick flick for the ages.
7) Officer and a Gentleman. This outstanding chick flick pays homage to the tried and true chick flick theme: handsome leading man (Richard Gere) sweeps into town, falls in love with distraught woman (Debra Winger) and they live happily ever after. Guys like Lou Gossett Jr's depiction of a demanding drill sergeant, and if they ever spent anytime in the military, they knew Lou hit the nail on the head with this Oscar winning role. While Gere's love interest is not technically 'distraught,' she is not exactly happy working in a northwestern factory on the assembly line, but the ending is as chicky flicky as they come, chicks all dig this one. Trust me.
8) Thelma and Louise. This great chick flick makes the list even though it diverges completely from the commonly accepted chick flick theme: handsome leading man sweeps into town, falls madly in love with distraught woman and they live happily ever after. Not even close. Portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Gina Davis, two women go on a mayhem spree and in one particular scene, execute a rapist at close range with a hand gun, which all chicks appreciate. Great ending, and although happily ever after doesn't enter into the picture, most chicks love this flick because these two women rule, if only for a moment.
9) Dave. This one gets a two-fer, in that not only is it a great chick flick, but it uses politics (I love these films) as the prime venue for setting up the classic chick flick theme: leading man sweeps into town, and falls madly in love with the distraught woman and they live happily ever after. In a scheme hatched by an evil White House Chief of Staff (portrayed most excellently and evilly by Frank Langela), Dave (Kevin Kline) body doubles for a stricken president, and the First Lady finds out when she notices that the president has stopped acting like the arrogant politician she married. Chicks will eat this one up, and it certainly makes for a great date movie.
10) Dances with Wolves. Basic theme is of a cavalry officer denouncing his rank and joins a tribe of Sioux Indians circa 1865. Although there are plenty (or should I say 'heap big') scenes that involve war and violence in general (which are decidedly NOT chick flick criteria), this film for the most part follows the classic chick flick format of romantic leading man sweeping into a despairing woman's life and (of course) they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Well, Kevin Costner (who starred and directed this film) swerved off the reservation a bit (pun intended) when the ending diverges significantly from the happily ever after thing, but still much of this movie tugs at the heart strings, and rates among the best chick flicks out there.
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30 comments:
Fredd, Really not much comment from me here being I am surrounded by females and an abundance of 'chick' flics.
That outta the way I do not see 'Dave' as catoagizes as a chick flic. Granted it does have the familiar qualities for one, but so far removed (as you allude to) as not to be considered one.
Just my take is all.
Some good picks here! My top 10 Chick flicks:
Gone with the Wind
Titanic
Bridget Jones' Diary
Walk the Line
Love Actually
Pretty Woman
Dirty Dancing
An Affair to Remember
A Patch of Blue
Thelma and Louise
Gee, now I want to have a chick flick film fest . . . off to Blockbuster!
Christopher:
Most EXCELLENT observation about 'Dave.' When I was researching (if you can call it that) my list, I looked on several 'best chick flick' sites, and it was nowhere to be seen, unlike all the others on the list. I hesitated in including 'Dave,' but ran with it for the following reason:
My wife likes nothing BUT chick flick movies. She hates western flicks, comedy flicks, kung fu flicks, sci fi flicks, war flicks, historical flicks, horror flicks, action flicks, well...you get the picture. She is into nothing BUT chick flicks. And yet she liked 'Dave.'
I rest my case.
Fuzzy:
'Walk the Line?' Interesting choice there, but who am I to judge. Oh, that's right, I put out a 10 Best list. Oh well. Not to besmirch this one, I liked it lots. But the wife didn't, and she is a chick flick afficienado, so it didn't make the cut.
'An Affair to Remember' of course was the basis for Sleepless in Seattle, but it's a bit dated for my likes.
I never tire of watching 'Titanic,' mostly for the special effects (how did they do that?). I've seen it at least 10 times.
I've never watched 'Gone with the Wind' all the way through, again, it's so dated, and I hate the old style ham acting that was the gold standard way back then.
I've never seen a number of the movies listed, so I'm obviously no expert, but I'm a big fan of Love Actually and my newest favorite is 500 Days of Summer- VERY well done, unconventional, and smart.
Not much of a "chick flick" myself, but I do agree with Romancing the Stone (gun fire and action! plus I like Danny Detvito); An Officer and a Gentlemen, a classic!; Thelma and Louise had gun fire too and a cop chase to boot WOOT WOOT!!; Dave was a good commedy, one I put on to have noise in the background while I clean house.
I would have expected to see Gone With the Wind in here somewhere. My grandmother was offered the part of Scarlet, but it was either her Baptist preacher father or brother who said she couldn't have anything to do with "evil Hollywood".
Ever After would have been another good choice as well as 50 First Dates (my son LOVES Adam Sandler).
OH! Top Gun!!! There's another good one! The scene where Tom Cruise sings The Righteous Brothers to Kelly McGillis is a great chick flick scene along with Meg Ryan's line, "Take me now or loose me forever!" I've garnered my corniest southern accent and used that line on my husband a few times. LOL!
TKZ: haven't seen either of those, but that is not surprising if they were produced within the last two years or so. I wait until the movies I watch hit the bargain bin before I rent them, so there may be some outstanding chick flicks out there right now of which I am blissfully unaware, but will catch in 2012, perhaps during the first year of the Palin administration.
Krystal:
Yeah, Gone with the Wind is on all the chick flick lists (except mine). Just a bit dated for my tastes.
Adam Sandler has never really been one of my favorites, but he really did a good job in "Click,' your son would like that one, too.
I'm surprised nobody has pitched a fit about not seeing 'Love Story' here somewhere. Oh, well. That's a chick flick for sure, but IMO not a great one.
And for sure Top Gun was good, but I've never been much of a Tom Cruise kinda guy, except Risky Business was cool, as was Rain Man. Neither, of course, would be chick flick material under anyone's definition.
I am not a chick flick fan. Of your listing I have only seen "Romancing the Stone" at a theater. The other two I've seen, "Thelma and Louise" and "Sleepless In Seattle" I saw on TV.
I'm an old school sci-fi fan..."The Day the Earth Stood Still," "2001 Space Odessy," and like that.
Message in a bottle was good. Fight scenes and Paul Newman!
What about 50 first dates? or my all-time favorite, The Wedding Singer?
I thought sure I'd see a hugh grant movie in there.
But I'm no expert in this area.
Joe:
If you are an old school sci fi guy, then 'Forbidden Planet' introducing Robbie the Robot should be high on your list.
Lowest of low on your list: 'Terror of the Triffids.' Look it up and weep. Saw that one as a teenager, and understood how bad some of this crap can get. It made Godzilla look like Oscar winning material.
Silver:
Paul played a pretty good dad for Kevin Costner in Message in a Bottle. Don't remember much fighting in that one, tho.
Haven't seen the other two yet, they haven't made the bargain bin at Blockbuster yet.
Kid:
Oh, sure, Hugh is nothing but a chick flick actor: brutally handsome, and the Brit accent drives the chicks wild. Of course, a Brit accent doesn't do a thing for dumb ol' Fredd, so his stuff didn't make my cut. And ALL of those Hollywood guys are handsome, and so its hard to tell them apart, truth be known.
I saw 'Notting Hill,' 'Bridget Jones Diary,'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' but did not see what apparently was his biggie chick flick, 'Love Actually.' None of them did anything for me, even though I like chick flicks for the most part.
Fredd,
"Haven't seen the other two yet, they haven't made the bargain bin at Blockbuster yet".
Too funny,,lol,,thanks.
Somewhere in Time was a great book. Surprisingly I'm not a big "chick flick" devotee, although I loved Thelma & Louise. Must be the non-conformist in me.
Chick: we all liked Thelma & Louise, there's a bit of rebel in all of us, and vicariously experiencing this rebellion through these two is certainly fun. That is, until the canyon scene.
Romancing the Stone is definitely on my list. The Way We Were definitely. My movie picks are on the quirky side. My additions would be Scent of a Woman, Lost in Translation and Sideways (even though it's about the guys, and neither are Robert Redford - it has a girl vibe).
One of my all time favorites is Fiddler on the Roof. I think it qualifies as a chick flick because of the love the father, Tevya, has for his daughters.
Great subject Fredd. So fun to think of things other than politics.
Maggie:
This was my intent from the beginning: the politics of the day are as frustrating as any I have seen in my lifetime. The current administration is completely out of control and clueless as to how to govern. Rahm Emanuel is a monster, David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett are Goebbels personified, and Obama is an empty suit who listens to these two Marxists, and we get what we get: chaos.
A little chitty chat that doesn't include these topics which make my head explode is a nice diversion from time to time. Thanks for noticing, Maggie.
Good choice..Recently I had the opportunity to watch 'Message in a bottle'..I thought it was awesome..though the ending was sad...
My wife LOVES The Princess Bride! Both funny and romantic. But she does have a rather good sense of humor.
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Aynzan: yeah, my wife and I saw Message in a Bottle on the big screen when it first debuted several years ago, and at the end their wasn't a dry eye anywhere.
John: didn't see that one, but will keep my eye out for it when I am rummaging around the Blockbuster bargain bin.
Officer & a Gentleman!!! oh my word!!
Also - The Notebook!!
Oh, & I'm w/ Fuzz on Dirty Dancing! and Krystal w/ Top Gun - wow! (kinda spoils it, though, since Kelly McGillis came out of the closet)
And Maggie's right w/ Scent of a Woman. Wonderful!
One thing, though: Gone w/ the Wind film can't COMPARE to the book!!
I read it during mid-terms 2nd sem. my Sr. yr in college (I was crazy, but I couldn't be a Southerner & graduate from college w/o reading GWtW!). Anyway, when I finished it, I stumbled to the phone, dialed my boyfriend (now husband) & tearfully pledged my love for him, saying how I didn't ever want it to be 'too late.'
He never actually admitted it, but I'm sure I heard his muffled chuckling before he said, "You finished it, didn't you?"
Susannah:
I particularly liked Officer & a Gentleman because I had the same motorcycle as Rich Gere: a 1979 Bonneville Triumph 750cc beauty.
Gone with The Wind: The only exposure I got to the old stuff was in college as well, in my required lit classes. At the U. of Oregon back in the day, they seemed to think a well rounded education was something that was a good thing. Not anymore. But GWTW was not on the reading list, so I can't say much about it, other than I see that it sold 200,000,000 tickets - still a record which will hold off Avatar.
Cool bike Fredd? Do you still have it??
As is usually the case, a book is gonna be better than the film version of the same story. But GWtW is just such a rich, layered story & Scarlett was always my Grandmother's heroinne. (She's 95 now & still has her Scarlett days!) I couldn't get away w/ merely seeing the movie! ;)
Susannah:
It was indeed a cool bike. I bought it brand new in 1979, shipped it overseas when I was stationed in Frankfurt with US Army Intelligence (yeah, I know, oxymoron here), and sold it to an artillery captain for some cash and a .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk revolver in 1983.
Books are indeed virtually always better than the subsequent movie, and I happened to love a book series written in the same year as Margaret Mitchell penned 'Gone With The Wind,' 1937: that was a great year for books that later turned into Oscar Winning movies. J.R.R. Tolkein wrote 'The Hobbitt' in 1937, and over the next few years followed it up with the sequel three novels that became 'Lord of the Rings.'
I read the Hobbit when I was 14, and just gobbled down the other three. At 14, I wasn't much of a reader but rather a basketball and football playing kid. I will always have a place in my heart for the characters in this book much like your grandmother has for Scarlett O'Hara two-thirds of a century later.
I like "Somewhere in Time". It has a great plot twist at the end, when Cristopher Reeve suddenly becomes aware of the date on the penny in his pocket.
Mark:
Yeah, then ZAP!! He completely loses all that he has achieved, and the love that should endure time is lost forever.
Completely chick flick material.
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