A Guy or Chick Flick, Part 1 – Newer Love Stories

OK, I admit it. All those rumors about my being single once more are true. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say that I went through a period of intense mourning.

But now that I am trying to get my life back together, I’m trying to play the dating game once more.

And if there is one thing I will say, it’s that I never realized how tough it is to get back on the horse again.

Take today as an example. This afternoon I spent time over with a girl and her friends watching Twilight on DVD.

And though I do find a certain petite young girl most interesting, after going through that agonizing movie, I am beginning to re-evaluate whether she is worth all the pain.

The only thing this movie had to show was a ton of wrinkled foreheads and prolonged exchanges of long breaths.

After one scene in which they go about exchanging sweet nothings, they go back to wrinkling foreheads and exchanging long breaths all over again.

There were no agonizing deaths, graphic dismemberment, or even excruciating tortures. Yeah, sure they had a little something here and there, but it was so full of emotion, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Having said that, I have put together a list of movies, complete with my take on whether they are a guy or chick flick, for you to sift through. Use it as a guide on what to choose when watching with that girl you are courting, you’ll thank me for it in the end.

So without further adieu, here it is:

Twilight (2008)

Despite my opening paragraphs, let’s make it official: This is a chick flick.

And like I said before, the most you can expect from this is a lot of wrinkled foreheads, heavy breathing, and “Wow, he’s so cute” from the girls around you.

Absent are the gory stuff you’d come to expect from vampires who have been bored out of their minds for living practically forever.

Sadly, if you want to get the girl, this may help you a bit, provided you look like Robert Pattinson. Otherwise, your chances at her are in serious jeopardy.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

This is definitely another chick flick.

Fresh off the success of Sleepless in Seattle, this movie tried a little too hard to make the opposites attract formula work.

Now I’m not too sure about how all the girls felt about it, but from what I gathered in last weekend’s conversations, this movie passed their Quality Assurance inspection.

As far as I’m concerned, the story and character development just didn’t gel with me as it felt clichéd and forced. I give it an F for female.

Your chances may go both ways for this movie. If the girl is nice and romantic, you may just get that foot in the door. But if she has been hurt once before, she might identify with the deception used in the movie and hate your guts for it.

Ladyhawke (1985)

Definitely a guy movie.

Take one of the most beautiful women of her time and one of the manliest men in the mid-eighties then sprinkle in a jealous bishop who curses the lovers.

By day, Lady Isabeau turns in to a hawk, while Captain Navarre turns in to a wolf by night.

Nothing was more agonizing than the pain felt by the lovers at the break of dawn when both of them are in the process of changing from one form to another.

They could see each other for a brief moment but could never touch before the transformation is completed.

Good stuff, good stuff.

And while it may not make the girl fall in love with the guy, it has a near perfect chance of making the guy fall in love with the girl.

Notting Hill (1999)

Another chick flick.

Alright, so maybe this isn’t too bad a chick flick, but it still is something that girls love watching. And when I take that in to consideration, pushes this over to the girl side.

High Grant isn’t exactly a looker for me, but then again what do I know about good looks on a guy anyway?

Getting back to it, the story wasn’t too much of a stretch. It actually took the premise of normal-guy-loves-unreachable-girl and made it work.

The actors were realistically subdued and balanced each other rather well.

Finally, the ending wasn’t too bad.

The only sappy scene was when Hugh Grant was proposing to Julia Roberts at a press conference with such a lame dialogue. It could have been better with something like, “Join me and we can rule as…”

But then girls seemed to dig what he did. So again, what do I know, right?

So get it and make sure to watch it on a cold day with hot popcorn. You just might get the girl in the end.

And if you don’t, well you can probably pick up some tips on how to speak English the way it was meant to be spoken. And that might just get you the next girl.

The Cutting Edge (1992)

Oh this is so a chick flick.

Take the story of a man’s man in a man’s sport and force him into a woman’s sport. It’s been done over and over again, right?

But this time, make the guy’s sport hockey and the girl’s ice skating, just to modernize things a bit.

Take two characters with, I will grudgingly say, good screen chemistry to play the injured athlete and rich diva and viola! You have the Cutting Edge.

Now if there is one thing that had the kilig factor, it was the final scene that everyone knew was coming. Guys groaned when they saw it.

Surprisingly, the girls responded in pain too. But then the final act capped the moment off into one big kilig factor for them anyway.

I must admit that when I first saw this movie, it was under ideal conditions. The room was dark and I was with my neighbor when we watched it in her dad’s audio visual room.

We were alone, with no distractions. It was perfect.

So would it work for you? Nah, I doubt it.

Like I said, I had all the things going for me at the time. The movie, a cold room, hot popcorn, and a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend.

And though she did break my heart by going back to her ex a few weeks later, we will always have the Cutting Edge.

There you have it, five movies classified in to guy or chick flicks. For more movie classifications to help you get that girl, check out part two of this series as it’s out already.