Pick Of The Chick Flicks
January 17th 2008 18:33
Many are quick to stick it to the chick flick. But! This most humble genre of filmographic entertainment serves many a noble purpose for millions of gals, and – to relieve the gender specificity – guys. Below are some I love, some I like, and some I’m not so keen on, but they all offer something: comforting catharsis, frivolous fun, light-hearted escapism, or easy-pleasing amusement.
Which chick flicks do you think are slick, get a tick, make you sick, do the trick?
Michaelie Clark
Hugh Grant is a chick flick regular - Image courtesy of sponkit.com
‘Grant’-ing Much Laughter
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Notting Hill
Love Actually
Four Weddings and a Funeral
About a Boy
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Notting Hill
Love Actually
Four Weddings and a Funeral
About a Boy
Richard Armitage of 'North and South' - Image courtesy of jrinla.com
Having the ‘Time Of Yore’ Life
North and South
Jane Eyre
Little Women
Much Ado about Nothing
The Importance of Being Earnest
An Ideal Husband
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Jane Eyre
Little Women
Much Ado about Nothing
The Importance of Being Earnest
An Ideal Husband
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Not so clueless - Image courtesy of movies.go.com
An ‘Easy Going’ Evening
Clueless
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
The First Wives Club
While You Were Sleeping
Jerry Maguire
Clueless
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
The First Wives Club
While You Were Sleeping
Jerry Maguire
Julia Roberts plays the soiled dove - Image courtesy of cbc.ca
Sparkling ‘Jules’ of Jollity
Pretty Woman
Runaway Bride
Erin Brockovich
Notting Hill
Steel Magnolias
Pretty Woman
Runaway Bride
Erin Brockovich
Notting Hill
Steel Magnolias
As Good As It Gets - Image courtesy of greencine.com
‘Hunt’-ing for Hilarity
What Women Want
As Good As It gets
What Women Want
As Good As It gets
Audrey Hepburn - Image courtesy of guardian.co.uk
Reminiscing About the ‘Old Days’
Casablanca
Philadelphia Story
Breakfast At Tiffany’s
Sabrina
Casablanca
Philadelphia Story
Breakfast At Tiffany’s
Sabrina
Muriel gets married - Image courtesy of pettipond.com
‘Relative’ Revelry
Bend It Like Beckham
Muriel’s Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Bend It Like Beckham
Muriel’s Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Grease is the word - Image courtesy of freewebs.com
Feeling ‘Groove’-y
Grease
Flash Dance
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
Moulin Rouge
Dirty Dancing
Grease
Flash Dance
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
Moulin Rouge
Dirty Dancing
The English Patient - Image courtesy of filmreference.com
Having a ‘Weep’ and a Wine
Sophie’s Choice
An Officer and a Gentleman
The Colour Purple
The English Patient
Thelma and Louise
Ghost
The Bridges of Madison County
Sophie’s Choice
An Officer and a Gentleman
The Colour Purple
The English Patient
Thelma and Louise
Ghost
The Bridges of Madison County
A likely pair - Image courtesy of voote.com
‘Hank’-ering for ‘Meg’-a Romance
You’ve Got Mail
Splash
When Harry Met Sally
Sleepless In Seattle
City Of Angels
You’ve Got Mail
Splash
When Harry Met Sally
Sleepless In Seattle
City Of Angels
Which chick flicks do you think are slick, get a tick, make you sick, do the trick?
Michaelie Clark
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Comment by Joanne Fedler
Secret Writers Business
Gotta say I LOVE a good chick flick: Bridges of Madison County, The Notebook, Grease, Knocked Up.
Hated Evening, 27 Dresses... gag.
Does Brokeback Mountain count as a chick flick? I cried my eyes out, and the blokes didn't seem to like it at all....
Great post
Jo
Comment by katyzzz
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The provactive gal, katyzzz
Comment by AmyHuang
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Bridget Jones and Love Actually are my two favourites, but then again there are so many on the list I would happily sit down and watch
Comment by tlcorbin
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A Global Citizen
Paranormal Paranormal
Is Why
Alaska Chronicle
Sleezer's World
Comment by Lara M
Love Speaks
Love how you've put them into your genres
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
One of my favourite genres, after Science fiction, action and adventure films.
I love them all and have probably watched them all, some of them many, many times... some favourite (repeats) are the entire Pride and Prejudice franchise, including the original, the American version, the Bollywood version and Bridget Jones.
I love French Kiss, Two weeks notice, Lakehouse, Under a Tuscan Sun, A Good Year, Addictd to Love, Suddenly 30, Just Like Heaven, Kate and Leopold, Ten Things I Hate About You, Must Love Dogs, Anastasia, The Wedding Planner, Sabrina and Contact ... oh and Don't tell her it's Me was pretty funny.
I liked the romance in the Star Wars franchise too.
*lol* Yup, I've been known to watch a few chick flicks here and there
Lilla ...
PS : looking out for North and South on your recommendation.
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Here are 10 Chick flicks I enjoy:
Rushmore
High Fidelity
Say Anything
Bringing Up baby
Anything with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn
Zeffereli's Romeo and Juliet
Annie Hall
Amelie
The Brothers Mcmaullen
Chasing Amy
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Ouch!
WIth four women in the house - the word chick flick is as close to kypotnite as I can get - yet spuriously I find myself building an immunity.
Way too many to even contemplate in our collection alone.
Sleepless in Seattle, Grease, Suddenly 30, The Lake House, 27 Dresses - shhh - don't tell anyone we've got that one, Perfect Catch, 10 Things I Hate About You, 50 First Dates - the list goes on and on and on . . . .
MNG
Comment by Cibbuano
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When it comes to romantic comedies, there are some great movies out there, some of which are on your list. Who doesn't like Casablanca?
Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
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great Friday post
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I think Brokeback can count as a chick flick - it doesn't need to be centred around the lives of women to count, after all. I really liked it too, ol' Ang did a great job.
Everyone always says they love The Notebook. I saw it and it barely made an impresssion on me. In fact, the most notable thing about The Notebook for me is that I barely remember it! Except for the rain kiss.
I absolutely adore Grease.
Thanks again!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Hmmm, cross-promotion?
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I really love Bridget Jones! Helen Fielding is one of my favourite chick-lit writers, and I love the cast of the movie. The Brits do it all so well, and Zellweger kept her end well and truly up (unlike Four Weddings, where the American - Andie McDowell - let the movie down).
I prefer About A Boy and Notting Hill to Love Actually, but still like it and have watched it plenty!
Thanks Amy!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Audrey Hepburn is also one of my favourite actresses. She was beautiful, and so quirky.
Not so fond of Tom Hanks lately, though his performance in Forrest Gump was awe inspiring, and he has plenty of great stuff under his belt.
Great to have you about!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Think Blockbuster will start categorising according to my genres?
Thanks!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
They're great fun aren't they? I also loved all the different versions of Pride and Prejudice - and Emma, since Clueless is 'drawn' from that. I love that Colin Firth is in the BBC version and Bridget Jones. In the outtakes, it shows Bridget doing an interview for work, interviewing the stars of P&P, including Coling Firth, who is obviously also her Darcy in the film!
I like 10 Things, and Just Like Heaven, though they do have their faults - I own them both and they are still fun to watch. Not so keen on some of the others you have listed - in fact, you have some of the few chick flicks I really don't like! A Good Year, Suddenly 30, Kate and Leopold, The Lakehouse.
Can see why you like the 'chick' bits of Star Wars - combining some favourite genres there! I personally like a bit of action and drama with my chick flick from time to time.
Thanks for stopping by Lilla, and do keep on keeping an eye out for N&S. It's definitely worth it. If you were here I would lend it to you! ABC shop should have it if you end up buying, anyway.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I'm not really a fan of it either - great cast, but... strange plot. The way the story is put together isn't quite right.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I could have written your comment for you.
High Fidelity's a good one, so is Rushmore (go Wes Anderson - can't wait to see Fantastic Mr Fox), Say Anything... and Amelie.
You know my feelings about Diane Keaton though, and that I prefer Baz's R&J!
I'm an Audrey girl. I love several of Katharine's films but sometimes her manner annoys me. Cate Blanchett annoyed me even more when she played her though!
Thanks for your input JD!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Yes, you would be very familiar with flicks for chicks with so many lasses about!
I think you secretly enjoy them, but not, I pray, The Lake House.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
You know what I hate? That chick flicks get such a bad rap and bloke movies are imbued with credibility. Like it or not - despite my intro - there is always going to be gender specificity. It needn't always be a bad thing, but when you read or watch something light and entertaining just to escape daily life for a while, if you're a gal, you're considered 'flimsy'. Just because something is easy, and commercially successful, and appealing to so-called 'feminine traits' doesn't necessarily mean that to partake in it you are a moron.
Of course, to watch some chick flicks, you really would have to be a moron, but it shouldn't be a general rule.
Casablanca - yeah, it's a classic. I often wonder though, if it were made now, how would it be received? Are today's moderate, popular, entertaining romances written off only to become tomorrow's classics? It wouldn't be the first time.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Well there you go - they've got at you without you even realising it! I'd guess the films you didn't see but books you read were the golden oldies? I've read the books to them all I think, but there are some great film adaptations.
Comment by Wayne F
Bucket Movies
However of those mentioned I did enjoy the following:
Clueless
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
The First Wives Club
As Good As It Gets
Grease
By the way, would you label Mr & Mrs Smith as a chick flick romance film? Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love, then try to kill each other but fall back in love again. Would it be up there?
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by Susan Keeping
The Home Guru
What's in a word
But, by far my favourites are Love Actually and Notting Hill. I do like Bridget Jones' Diary too. Oh, and I can't forget About a Boy. It's pure coincidence that Hugh Grant is in them all
The English just do "chick flicks" so well, no American films come close in my opinion. I have decided that I love Richard Curtis ...he's is a "chick flick" genius
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I think Mr and Mrs Smith could be classed as a chick flick (with guns) though not just because it subscribes to the 'pattern'! Think of the conventions of detective stories - very solid, but it's what you do with them, how you use them, how you twist them that makes or breaks the story, not whether they are used at all. I reckon.
Anyway, back to Mr and Mrs Smith - I couldn't bear to list it. I don't love all the ones up there, but I can watch them all, and some I do love for what they are. I can't stand that movie though.
Thanks Wayne!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Have never made it all the way through Serendipity - just can't hack it. I like the parody in America's Sweethearts but I don't know that I could watch it over and over.
But the Brit flicks! Definitely. Colin and Hugh usually make them worthwhile, and the humour is just more engaging I think!
Richard Curtis is fabulous. Just think all the laughs we would have missed out on without Four Weddings, Bridget, The Vicar, Mr Bean, Notting Hill, Blackadder...! What a legend.
Thanks Susan!
Michaelie
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I've been reading the February edition of Women's Health and there's an article in there about what we can learn from guy films.
I remember watching Fight Club years ago and I didn't think too much of it and apparently it's because I'm "not a guy...there's no way I could totally understand it".
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I love Fight Club (see, I don't discriminate) (much
What part of Fight Club do they think the ladies can't understand anyway? The coming together in order to bash each other senseless? Well, yeah, I don't get that - but then that's not the central idea of the film is it? If Fight Club really was just limited to a gang of self-destructive lunatics gathering for fisticuffs I doubt it would do much for me!
I'm sure plenty of men don't get that Priscilla is about more than guys wearing dresses and singing songs in the outback!
Thanks Mrs M!
Michaelie
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
....
er... cause most men aren't!
Not me though. I tend to like 'em.
Notting Hill is probably my absolute favourite, Hugh Grant has a great underrated sense of comic timing.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I'm fond of watching some light-hearted, contemporary fiction (my euphemism for fluff), at times when I want to escape from real life and have a laugh.
I like ones like High Fidelity and Muriel’s Wedding that have a bit of grit as well as humour. I’m not so keen on ones that are too soppy and predictable like Sleepless in Seattle unless I am extremely world-weary.
Byee
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I`m such a corny girl - I have a place in a mealie? (African term for 'corn on the cob') field!
sorry if i have repeated any mentioned in the comments section - I love...
Shadows in the sun
Possession
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
PS I love you (I cried from the start of this one!)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Under the Tuscan Sun
Bridget Jones Diary
Sliding Doors
Scarlet Letter
Dirty Dancing
Ghost
Bridges of Madison County
While you were sleeping
JERRY MAGUIRe - when she walks out onto the street and he is waiting for her??? swoooooooonnnn
I'm sure there are loads more that I have forgotten. I`m a sucker for this section I`m afraid. I do enjoy other genres, I`m not a complete sook!
Ash
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I agree about Hugh Grant - he does what he does well, without any pretensions. But he often doesn't get acknowledged for it, because he doesn't do 'serious' movies.
Rupert Everett is even worse off. He is a great comic actor - and dramatic actor - but he seems to be held back even more in this area because of his sexuality.
Thanks Luke!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I know what you mean - all my favourite chick flicks either have a bit of 'grit' as you say, or are just hilarious. Usually modern romance has to have something else with it for me, ie comedy, drama, suspense, some real conflict or twist. And I can't handle the trite BS in some of them - there are several famous lines in Jerry Maguire that make me want to spew. Lol.
Mich
BTW: Love your term - lighthearted contemporary fiction.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Haha sounds like you really RELISH corn!
I love pretty much all that you love, so save me a place in that mealie field! I forgot all about Sliding Doors - that's a good one, John Hannah is just great in that, and Four Weddings.
PS I Love You - I'm really hesitant about seeing this. I read the book and it just made me angry. I think I am jealous of the author, lol.
Adored Sandra Oh in Tuscan Sun.
Bridget, Jane Eyre, Possession, Greek Wedding, Pride and Prejudice, Dirty Dancing... You're a girl after my own heart!
Thanks Ash
Michaelie
Comment by Krystal
feelings
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Thanks Crystal
Michaelie
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
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I disagree... I mean, we're brought up to think that men shouldn't be interested in romance, mainly because of the feminine image.
But romance isn't about flowers and poetry, it's really about finding a person to connect with, and men do this all over the world, don't they?
I can think of several male friends who, on the outside, seemed to be tough guys, but once they fell for a girl, became pussycats.
Plus, I can think of a lot of men that have been driven to wild anger and sadness when they've lost a woman.
These are all indications of a gender that has a sense of romance, wouldn't you say?
Comment by Amanda 3
A Literati
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Thanks
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Great post and so many comments. I printed it out to put in my Netflix queue.
I would add
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Before sunrise
My private idaho
Dogfight
The thing called love
Mis
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I don't know what that is, but thanks!
The Long Kiss Goodnight - good one. Dynamo mummy, plenty of action, and Samuel L Jackson. Great mix! There are some really funny lines in that movie.
Before Sunrise is a fantastic movie - really got me into Ethan Hawke. Have you seen the sequel?
Love, love, love My Own Private Idaho. Never really thought of it as a chick flick before but I reckon it would be.
Dogfight and The Thing Called Love - you got a thing for River Pheonix, god rest his soul?
Thanks Mis - great suggestions.
Michaelie
Comment by Anonymous
My all time favourite is Bridget Jones - and I never even knew she wasn't a pom until after I'd seen it!
I also quite like Love Actually and Pretty Woman.
Mr & Mrs Smith p*ssed me off though - I think my prior expectations were way too high.
The Poms are by far the most successful in making a good chick flit!
Pamela
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Apparently Zellweger stays 'in character' the whole time she's doing a movie, which is probably how she managed to master the accent so well! I love Bridget too.
Mr and Mrs Smith was total trash. Brangelina aren't favourites of mine to begin with, but the whole production was just pitiful.
They'd best leave it to the Brits.
Thanks Pamela!
Michaelie