So a couple of months ago I was at work talking to a friend about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and how I thought he should check it out, when someone else blurted out don't waste your time it's a chick flick. Well first off I don't think he really watched or understood the movie, because he was wrong and secondly even if it was a chick flick what's wrong with that.I've seen some great films that were chick flicks, and I'll confess I actually like chick flicks. It isn't even that it's a chick flick, so much as how great the story being told is.
It happened one night, Gone with the Wind, and Penny Serenade are some of my first movies I remember watching as a kid, thanks to my mom and are some of my all time favorites. As I got older another favorite is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir or The Women, the original from 1939 not that crappy remake they recently made, which has only female actresses in the whole movie but is a classic.
Some others that I've enjoyed over the years are Untamed Heart, My First Mister, Cherish, or Sommersby, movies that rich in story telling and just fun to watch. Richard Curtis is another writer and director who has made in my opinion some great films or wrote them, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time, Love Actually and Notting Hill the latter two again are personal favorites.
Of course there's Ghost, Pretty Woman, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Dirty Dancing because no one puts baby in a corner, guilty pleasures for sure. There's more I want to add Sliding Doors, The Holiday or the Lake House, if you've not seen these, give them a try, I think you'll enjoy them. I can't write this without mentioning When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle or a couple more of my guilty pleasures like Never Been Kissed and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
One night I decided to do a double feature of The Night We Never Met and Three of Hearts, now that was a great night as both movies complimented each other, again if you've not seen these movies give them a shot. I could go on with a lot more because these supposed "chick flicks" are great movies and I don't care what anybody thinks because I'm going to watch them and have a good time doing so, because sometimes it's just about a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.
I would love for feed back and for recommendations of other movies I might not have seen, till next time have fun watching movies because you know I will.
Most of those guys who talk sh!t about chick flicks probably has at least one or two of them in their DVD collections. I have plenty of them in mine and won't apologize for it. Hey, they're good movies!!! Outside of some you mentioned, I have Sweet Home Alabama, Where the Heart Is and 13 Going On Thirty (though that was originally for my daughter).
ReplyDeleteAnd those boneheads who go so far as to not watch them don't think about the fact that there's probably a damn good looking chick or two in the chick flick!
The funny thing is too that many movies, even if they're not considered chick flicks, have similar storylines to what you mentioned- about someone wanting the other to love him or her. Bull Durham really is more than just a baseball movie, Tin Cup more than just a golf movie, Forrest Hump more than just a porno.......well actually I don't really know about that, I just wanted to get a Forrest Hump mention in here. HAHAHA!!! sorry Dave....good blog though.
It seems as though people often assume a move is a "chick flick" if it has any focus at all on emotion or relationships. For instance, I *loved* the Descendants, but many would categorize that as a chick flick because of the film's dramatic focus.
ReplyDeleteI think it's insulting to presume men would only be interested in movies that don't even scratch the surface. Many men are comfortable with exploring "feelings" ... even through cinema.
(loved the Sommersby reference, by the way ;o) )
It reminds me of someone trying to view a porn film back in the day, where you had to wear a disguise just to get in the theater because you didn't want anybody seeing you. I'm not trying to connect the two, porn and feature films, but whenever you talk about films deemed chick flicks you get the eye roll or the sigh from guys who act like they've been tortured because they had to watch that film because of their significant other. I agree with you Chris, I think a lot of guys either own or secretly enjoy watching chick flicks but they have to up hold their guy image. A great film is a great film no matter what it's called.
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