'Chick Flicks': After examining Filmsite's own Greatest 'Guy' Movies of All-Time (illustrated) compiled by this site, or the 100 Greatest Guy Movies Ever Made and the 50 Best Guy Movies of All Time, it only seemed fair to put together a list of gal films or chick flicks (a demeaning and damning term, however, since this sub-genre of film was traditionally known as the "woman's films - melodramas " in the 30s and 40s). It is not supposed to be an all-inclusive and comprehensive collection of all 'chick flicks' ever made - that would be impossible. Familiar quotes or taglines from each film have been included in this compilation.

'Chick flicks' have often been put down as trite, sappy, emotional, soap-opera-ish, cliched, melodramatic, weepy, and trivial. Often considered an all-encompassing sub-genre, they mostly include dialogue-laden, formulated romantic comedies (with mis-matched lovers or female relationships), tearjerkers and gal-pal films, movies about family crises and emotional catharsis, some traditional 'weepies' and fantasy-action adventures, sometimes with foul-mouthed and empowered females, and female bonding situations involving families, mothers, daughters and children.

Basic themes of 'chick flicks' include self-discovery, efforts to find the right man (although often misguided or attracting the wrong one), mistaken identity complications, various love triangles, 'Cinderella' or 'ugly-duckling' tales, and lots of female bonding.

Actors and actresses typically associated with 'chick' flicks include Meg Ryan, Barbra Streisand, Hugh Grant, Robert Pattinson, Owen Wilson, Mel Gibson, Emma Thompson, Cameron Diaz, Renee Zellweger, Meg Ryan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Rachel McAdams, Sandra Bullock, and Katherine Heigl, among others. From the following list, it appears that 'chick' flicks have become a prominent staple of films beginning in the mid-1980s and forever since. Compared to the earlier "woman's film," film critic Molly Haskell has written that the:

"chick flick," chirrupy and upbeat, sings a different tune, more defiant and ironic, postmodern and post-feminist, like the growling braggadocio of "grrrl power." Where "grrrl power" says "I can be cute and assertive too," "chick flick" says: "I'm emancipated but it's OK to long for romance, to get hung up on a guy, to obsess about mothers or children."

It must be noted that some of the most successful box-office films of all time have been 'chick flicks' - such as the romantic comedies Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994, UK), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), or the # 4 film of 1990, Pretty Woman (1990).

Recently since the year 2000, there has been a rash of lightweight, female-oriented romantic films (or rom-coms), including some that passed by fairly unnoticed. Many of them have been with the same chick-flick superstar:

• Sandra Bullock: While You Were Sleeping (1995), In Love and War (1996), Hope Floats (1998), Practical Magic (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Miss Congeniality (2000), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Two Weeks Notice (2002), The Lake House (2006), The Proposal (2009), and All About Steve (2009)
• Julia Roberts: Steel Magnolias (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), Dying Young (1991), Something to Talk About (1995), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Stepmom (1998), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), America's Sweethearts (2001), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Eat Pray Love (2010)
• Kate & Leopold (2001) with Meg Ryan
• Serendipity (2001) with Kate Beckinsale
• Crossroads (2002) with Britney Spears
• Maid in Manhattan (2002) with Jennifer Lopez
• 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) with Josh Hartnett
• A Walk to Remember (2002) with Mandy Moore
• Life or Something Like It (2002) with Angelina Jolie
• Kate Hudson: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Raising Helen (2004), and Bride Wars (2009)
• Little Black Book (2004) with Brittany Murphy
• A Cinderella Story (2004) with Hilary Duff
• The Wedding Date (2005) with Debra Messing
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), with Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, and Blake Lively
• The Perfect Man (2005) with Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff
• Jennifer Garner: 13 Going on 30 (2004), Catch and Release (2006), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
• Failure to Launch (2006) with Sarah Jessica Parker
• The Holiday (2006) with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet
• She's the Man (2006) with Amanda Bynes
• Drew Barrymore: 50 First Dates (2004), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Music and Lyrics (2007), and Going the Distance (2010)
• P.S., I Love You (2007) with Hilary Swank
• Nights in Rodanthe (2008) with Diane Lane
• The Women (2008), with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening
• Katherine Heigl: 27 Dresses (2008), The Ugly Truth (2009), Life As We Know It (2010) and One For the Money (2012)
• He's Just Not That Into You (2009) with Ginnifer Goodwin
• Remember Me (2010) with Robert Pattinson
• Jennifer Aniston: Along Came Polly (2004), The Break-Up (2006), He's Just Not That Into You (2009), The Switch (2010), and Just Go With It (2011)
• Sex and the City (2008)
• Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) with Isla Fisher
• Valentine's Day (2010) with lots of chick-flick stars including Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner
• Crazy, Stupid Love (2011) with Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Marisa Tomei
• Friends With Benefits (2011) with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis
• No Strings Attached (2011) with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman
• Pitch Perfect (2012) with Anna Kendrick
• Rachel McAdams: The Notebook (2004), The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) and The Vow (2012)

More About Chick Flicks:

See also Greatest Tearjerker Films, Moments and Scenes (illustrated) - many that are "great chick flicks" - and the genre of Romantic Films. Also 50 Greatest Chick Flicks by O Magazine. Another useful resource for this subject is The Rough Guide to Chick Flicks by Samantha Cook, and The Ultimate Guide to Chick Flicks by Kim Adelman.