Chick Flicks Roundup 2015

Photograph by Len Matthews via Flickr.

Chick Flicks can actually be a broad term to describe what ladies love to watch the most. It could be a teenage drama, a romantic comedy, a movie with a strong female lead, a movie that empowers women. It doesn't really have to cater to a certain age of woman either. Everyone, young or elderly can enjoy a set of movies and they are usuallly portayed by media as films that are too cheesy for men to watch. I would like to think that's not true at all in the present day and there are plenty of men that seem to enjoy them as well. So it's not much of a female centric genre anymore, just a genre of movies based mainly on women or love stories. I've noticed that most of the good Rom-Coms are usually based on books and you'll notice that in my list below too. I just gravitate more towards those films.

The Hits:

Love, Rosie

This British Rom-Com starring Lilly Collins and Sam Claflin is based on the novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. You might know her as the famous writer of ‘P.S I Love You’ – the critically acclaimed film and loved by every Rom-Com lover. I have actually read this book before I watched the movie and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the book. It is probably because I don’t read Chick Lit anymore. This is the first time I’ve experienced this but the movie surprised me with some great performances by the actors and I ended up loving it a lot. It was also quite an emotional ride as these two best friends grow up together and are separated by time, distance and often by other partners but they belong together. A really nice, simple movie if you’re in for a slow movie for the night. It will surprise you too.

Imdb Rating – 7.2/10

The Other Woman

This one’s quite a comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton and who doesn’t love a Cameron Diaz Rom Com? It is a funny, silly, annoying but hilarious story about how three women get the better of a man found cheating on them. It is more comedy than romance, a lighthearted film that I really enjoyed. It has been a hit or miss with the critics but I personally found it quite funny and entertaining. It has a mostly predictable story line but it does have it’s major funny moments which are worth it. I last saw Leslie Mann in ’17 Again’ ( Remember when Zac Efron tried to kiss his friend's mom?) and she was so different and a total laugh riot in this one. Kate Upton has more of a cameo than a full-fledged role but she is good eye candy for the film.

Imdb Rating – 6/10

Blended

I have to be honest, I jumped to the thought of watching this because of major ’50 First Dates’ feels. It stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore once again in a Rom-Com which is reason enough for me and I’m sure quite a few people would agree. This one is about two people who had been on a bad blind date. They accidentally get stuck on the same holiday and both are single parents and are holidaying with their kids. This is a hate-to-love kind of film, and very heartwarming too. Adam Sandler is hilarious as usual with some slapstick comedy thrown in. Drew Barrymore’s kind character is so cute and likeable. The kids are adorable and funny too. A very sweet film and something everyone will enjoy watching. The film is predominantly shot in Africa so there are quite a few animal encounters and adventures that they go on which were so exciting.

IMDb Rating – 6.5/10

The Longest Ride

This was a remarkable film, perhaps the most believable and real love story by Nicholas Sparks. He writes a lot of tear jerking stuff but this one felt like something people go through in the course of their life. This one’s about two parallel love stories set in North Carolina but different times. I am partial to this film because I love everything country, cowboys, fringe and southern accents. There is wonderful eye candy in the form of Scott Eastwood and Jake Huston( a new discovery who played the charcter of Young Ira and reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio) and the movie had a nice surprising ending. I would like to call it the ‘happily ever after with a twist’. This was probably my favourite film based on any Nicholas Sparks books.

IMDb Rating – 7.2/10

If I stay

This is more of a serious and tragic film about music, love, growing up and fate. It is about Mia, a cello player and a lover of classical music who meets a young rock star, Adam who is so different from her yet they fall in love. The movie locations, portrayal of music oriented family, intensely emotional scenes are all so wonderful. This one has two parallel worlds, one before the accident and one after and both are shown in a series of flashbacks without a predictable ending. You never know what’s going to happen unless you’ve read the book by Gayle Forman of the same name. I can only imagine how gripping the novel must be. Chloe Moretz was fantastic in the film. I am a new fan of her, although I didn’t know much about her before watching this film. Some of her scenes actually brought me to tears.

IMDb Rating – 6.8/10

All the movie trailers are compiled in the playlist.

The Misses:

Best of Me

This James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan starrer was a big disappointment to me. It is based on a Nicholas Sparks book as well and I have read this particular one.  This movie was very slow, boring and couldn’t captur the usual feeling of Nicholas Sparks based movies. In the plot, two high school sweethearts reunite after twenty years and cross each other’s paths again. I didn’t like the James-Michelle chemistry either. I am a fan of both of them because of action movies they have been in and let’s not forget ’27 Dresses’ and ‘Enchanted’. This one however wasn’t a hit with me. I didn’t even shed a tear which is unusual. Haha!

IMDb Rating – 6.6/10

Fifty Shades Of Grey

I was never part of the Fifty Shades fandom and never will be. I’ve never read a single book but I was curious about the new over-hyped movie. It was supposed to be a sexy movie about a literature student and the hot billionaire Christian Grey but it is not even half of what it promised to be. I didn’t watch it in the theatres, I got the movie home and decided to give it a go but I couldn’t even finish it. It was way too boring for my liking with a weak plot. Of course Jamie Dornan is a sexy man but it didn’t come out the same way in the movie.

IMDb Rating – 4.2/10

The Age of Adaline

This one is going to be a bit difficult to explain why it was a miss with me. I have heard of many people who loved the film and I personally loved the story line but I can’t say the movie was executed as well it sounded. When I first saw the trailer, I was very excited for this because it was a romance film with a science fiction twist to it. However the movie was very slow paced, with quite large boring parts and the only exciting bits are the start and the ends. So I wouldn’t say this was a complete disappointment but I don’t think I will be watching this one again. Blake Lively put up a great performance and I honestly love her as an actress. The old throwback to 20s era was beautifully shot and the fashion was to die for. Being a science fiction lover, I didn’t quite like the mixing of these two genres. I love them too much but separately.

IMDb – 7.3/10

What were some of your hits and misses?