The Ultimate Guide to Chick Flicks

Choosing movies, even chick flicks, at the video store when you have teens in the house is probably one of the hardest jobs around. That is, if you care what your children watch and what they're exposed to. Girls are easier than boys, because you can usually get them interested in the old classics. My daughters love all the old Judy Garland movies, the musicals from the 50's and 60's, and the dance movies with Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire.

I've spoken with other Mom's that have teenaged daughters and we've come up with a list of the top ten movies of all times that are were our favorites, and have become our daughter's favorites as well. In the spirit of Letterman: Here is our Top 10.

10. Oklahoma!
First released in 1955 from legendary producer's Rogers & Hammerstein; it's the ultimate love story. Cowboy rides into town, cowboy meets farmer's daughter, farmer's daughter falls in love, farmer's daughter marries cowboy, cowboy settles down. The music range is broad, from the first strains of Curly singing "Oh what a beautiful Morning" to the lilting voices of Laurey and the girls singing in the "Dream Sequence" to the cast singing the rousing theme song "Oklahoma! Where the wind goes sweeping oer' the plain"; this classic will likely be watched over and over again!

9. Fried Green Tomatoes
Starring Academy Award winner Cicely Tyson, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, Mary Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson; play 5 strong women who's lives become intertwined when Bates' character, Evelyn Couch meets Tandy's, Ninny Threadgood at a nursing home. Ms. Threadgood begins to tell Evelyn all about 1920's Alabama and life at the Whistlestop Cafe. It's a heartwarming tale of family, friendship and forever love. Throw in a little mystery, murder and mayhem and you're hooked from beginning to end. Warning to criers: Get your Kleenex before you start, you will need it. You'll laugh, cry and get a surprise twist at the end.

8. Armageddon.
Yes, the movie about the asteroid made the list. I recommend it for older teenagers because of the language, but the plot and story line are awesome. My daughters and her friends insisted that it be on the list. Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton , Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Patton and Liv Tyler head up this all-star cast. Filmed while Hollywood was stuck on their "natural disaster kick", it's all about a team of oil drillers who are called into duty by NASA to detonate a nuclear bomb in order to destroy an asteroid that's headed for earth. There are some tense moments and a few teary-eyed scenes, but the comic relief supplied by Willis, Duncan and Peter Stormore, who is just downright hysterical, far outweigh the nostalgia.

7. The Harvey Girls
This is probably my favorite Judy Garland movie. And yes, that includes The Wizard of Oz! Working with Ray Folger, who also traveled with Garland to the Land of Oz, The Harvey Girls is the story of a young mail order bride, Susan Bradley, on a train west who meets a group of women headed to open a Harvey House. For those not familiar with the Harvey Girls, let's take a quick history test! Harvey houses were opened up along the Santa Fe railroad lines to serve meals to the passengers. They hired young girls to work for them, teaching them manners, how to dance, and the "proper" way to become a young lady. Now, back to our story! Once Susan gets to Sandrock, and meets her young man, she realizes she could never marry this guy and ends up joining the Harvey Girls instead. Falling in love with the saloon owner, played by John Hodiak, there is some animosity between Susan and the saloon girls, who are referred to as "Girls of a certain profession", especially Em...played by a very young Angela Lansbury. Naturally, the guy gets the girl at the end, but not before several twists and turns.

6. Cars
It's barely been out on DVD 2 months, but it has come to be one of my favorites, and apparently others felt the same way. Owen Wilson. who has quickly become a favorite among many teen-aged girls, is the voice of Lightening McQueen, a cocky, rookie race car who has fallen out of his transport truck headed for his next race, and gets lost. He crashed (literally) in Radiator Springs, a deserted town along the historic Route 66, where he is forced to stay until he makes restitution for the damage he's caused. He doesn't count on falling in love with a Porsche named Sally (played by Bonnie Hunt) or meeting the famous race car Doc Hudson, whose voice will thrill the mothers, since it's legendary Paul Newman. Add to that mix, the comedy of Cheech Marin and Larry the Cable Guy, and it's a recipe that will bring fun and laughter to the whole family.

5. Footloose
Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Diane Weist and the late Chris Penn, bring this story of small town and small minded America to life in a way that will leave you singing long after the movie is over. Ren McCormack (Bacon) moves from Chicago to a town where music outside the church and dancing have been banned, along with certain books and other activities, and falls in love with the preacher's daughter (Singer). It's only right that he would then go head to head with Reverend Shaw Moore when the high school kids decide to hold a Senior Prom. The soundtrack is worth watching the movie again and again, with offerings from Kenny Loggins, John Melloncamp, Foreigner and Bonnie Tyler.

4. Beauty and the Beast
The girls commented on this one as "The ultimate Love Story". Bad boy meets nice girl...wait isn't this the same story as Footloose? Oh no! This one is a Disney animation. Once again though, the soundtrack is awesome and so is the storyline. Sacrificial love when Belle gives her own life for that of her father who has been taken captive by The Beast (Voice of Robby Benson). The Beast is actually Prince Adam who has been cursed with ugliness until he learns to show love for another. Belle, with the help of Mrs. Potts (teapot voiced by Angela Lansbury), the Wardrobe (Superbly voiced by Joanne Worley), Lumeire (Candlestick played by Jerry Orbach of Law and Order) and Cogworth the butler (David Ogden Steirs), is able to steal his heart, and in the end, all of the beast fades away, leaving the handsome prince. And they live happily ever after. How beautiful.

3. The Lake House
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, who had wonderful chemistry in Speed, are together again for this touching film. Bullock plays Dr. Kate Forster who rents a house, the same lakehouse that Reeves (Alex Wyler) is repairing, 2 years earlier. They begin to correspond back and forth through a magic mailbox, falling in love, until Forster puts all the pieces together after visiting the architecture firm that Alex owns with his brother. Seeing "her" lakehouse photo on the wall, she inquires about it, to find out that Alex has died 2 years earlier. I can't reveal anymore because I don't want to give away the end for those who haven't seen it. This one is definitely a "chick flick".

2. Steele Magnolias.
The cast reads like a list of Academy Award nominees. Perhaps that's because it is...Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Tom Skerritt, Darryl Hannah, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Sam Sheppard, and Dylan McDermott bring you into the life and times of Chiquapin Parish, Louisiana. Conversations around Truvy's Beauty Shop expand into their small town to include Shelby's wedding, the birth of her son, her kidney transplant and her death. It's heart breaking at times, but when you get this cast of truly funny women together, the outcome is a comedy come true.

1. Sweet Home Alabama
Eye candy for girls is how this one was described. Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas and Ethan Embrey...all on the same screen? Whoa! And all in the same scene at times. Wow! Every girl wanted to be Reese Witherspoon's Melanie and have Jake (Lucas) and Andrew (Dempsey) fighting over her. What am I saying? Even the mom's wanted to be Melanie! Married to Jake because of an unexpected pregnancy in high school, Melanie runs to New York after losing the baby and meets Andrew, who is the son of Mayor Kate Hennings; played by the very funny Candice Bergen. She makes up her whole biography after becoming a famous clothing designer. But when Andrew asks her to marry him, she realizes that she's still married to Jake. She must return to her roots to remedy the problem. Only there's another problem...but you'll just have to see that for yourself.

So here it is. It's the ultimate list of chick flicks. So pick one or two off the list, invite a few girlfriends over with their daughters, grab the Kleenex, pop some popcorn (go ahead, you KNOW you want to get movie theater butter), and hit play on the DVD player.

You'll be glad you did.