50 Greatest 'Chick' Flicks of All Time pt. 2

50 Greatest 'Chick' Flicks by O Magazine (part 2, ranked)

26. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) An uncomfortably unmarried thirty-something British "singleton," Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) decides to take charge of her life and chronicles her Year of Change in a comedic homage to Pride and Prejudice. Frustrated in her career, and numerous romantic failures, she eventually ends up the object of desire in a romantic triangle. Directed by Sharon Maguire. Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, & Hugh Grant. Based on the book Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding.

27. Something's Gotta Give (2003) Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) is a perennial, 50's something playboy with the libido of a much younger man. During what was to be a romantic weekend with his current infatuation, young Marin Barry (Amanda Peet), at her Broadway playwright mother Erica's (Diane Keaton) Hampton beach house, Harry develops chest pains. He winds up being reluctantly nursed by Erica. When Harry hesitates to act on his feelings for Erica, Harry's thirtysomething doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves) pursues a romance with Erica. Harry finds his life unraveling as he falls in love with Erica during his recovery. Directed by Nancy Meyers. Starring Jack Nicholson & Diane Keaton.

28. Rebecca (1940) A psychological thriller about a young bride, Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine) brought by her new husband Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband's first wife Rebecca haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman's death, while being terrorized by Rebecca's obsessed housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his first American film. Starring Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine. Based on the book Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

29. Island in the Sun (1957) A dramatic, controversial (at its time) story of island politics, racial tension and unprecedented inter-racial romances, adultery, pre-marital pregnancy and intrigue on a British-controlled idyllic island, Santa Marta in the West Indies. James Mason stars as Maxwell Fleury - the wealthy son of a prominent family, who is opposed for a seat in the legislature by local union leader David Boyeur (Harry Belafonte). Directed by Robert Rossen. Starring James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Fontaine & Dorothy Dandridge. Based on the novel Island in the Sun by Alex Waugh.

30. Smooth Talk (1985, TV) A psychological, coming-of-age drama about a bored 15 year-old teenager named Connie (Laura Dern) seeking excitement one summer. She meets an enigmatic stranger named Arnold Friend (Treat Williams) -- is her encounter a fantasy, a rape, or just an innocent acquaintance? Directed by Joyce Chopra. Starring Laura Dern and Treat Williams. Based on the Joyce Carol Oates 1970 short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

31. She's Gotta Have It (1986) A breakthrough, debut independent film for African-American film-maker Spike Lee. The character study follows the relationships of sexually-adventurous Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), who has three boyfriends who vie for her attention. Directed by Spike Lee. Starring Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Hicks, Spike Lee & John Canada Terrell.

32. A Walk on the Moon (1999) It's the summer of 1969, the summer of the Woodstock music festival, and married, middle-class mother Pearl Kantrowitz (Diane Lane) is spending yet another vacation with her family (TV repairman husband Marty (Liev Schreiber) and teenaged daughter Alison (Anna Paquin)) when she realizes that the freedom of the times is passing her by. Following a chance meeting with a sexy, free-spirited young man, Walker Jerome (Viggo Mortensen), Pearl is soon doing the unthinkable: having a daring, passionate affair. But she must ultimately decide between the love of her husband and children - or the lure of her newfound desires. Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber, & Anna Paquin.

33. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) A great British romantic comedy about a young man named Charles (Hugh Grant) who is determined to avoid commitment - and then he meets the girl of his dreams - Carrie (Andie MacDowell). They encounter each other at four weddings and a funeral before finally connecting with each other. Directed by Mike Newell. Starring Hugh Grant & Andie MacDowell.

34. Sense and Sensibility (1995) This dramatic romantic comedy follows the Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor (Emma Thompson) and passionately spirited Marianne (Kate Winslet), whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, & Hugh Grant. Based on the 1811 book Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

35. Monsoon Wedding (2001) A family drama surrounding an Indian marriage. Love, lust and hope envelop an upper middle-class Indian family, the Vermas led by wealthy Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah), and their world-wide guests as they celebrate for four days the arranged marriage of their daughter Aditi Verma (Vasundhara Das) to engineer Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas) - an East Indian man from Texas. Directed by Mira Nair. Starring Naseeruddin Shah.

36. His Girl Friday (1940) A classic screwball comedy about an unscrupulous newspaper editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant), who uses every dirty trick in the book to keep his ace reporter/ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) from retiring and remarrying cloddish Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). A twist on the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur play The Front Page. Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring Cary Grant & Rosalind Russell. Based on the play The Front Page by Ben Hecht.

37. High Society (1956) In this sophisticated musical comedy, a remake of the non-musical The Philadelphia Story (1940), a society wedding is being arranged in Newport, Rhode Island. The beautiful Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly) is to marry George Kittredge (John Lund). However, Tracy's ex-husband, the songwriter C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby), has never stopped loving her and has hopes of winning her back. A New York scandal sheet reporter Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) arrive to cover the wedding and complicate the tangled romances. Directed by Charles Walters. Starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, & Celeste Holm. Based on the play The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry.

38. Imitation of Life (1959) A remake of the earlier film Imitation of Life (1934), the story of two widows and their troubled daughters. In the search for success as an actress, Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) neglects her daughter Susie (Sandra Dee). Lora's black housekeeper Annie Johnson's (Juanite Moore) light-skinned daughter Sara Jane (Susan Kohner) repudiates her mother by trying to pass for white. As the years pass, each of the four women realizes that she has been living an emotionally fruitless existence. Directed by Douglas Sirk. Starring Lana Turner & John Gavin. Based upon the novel by Fannie Hurst.

39. Terms of Endearment (1983) An immensely-popular comedy-drama and Best Picture-winning film about the evolving 30+ year relationship between a widowed mother, Aurora Greenaway (Shirley MacLaine) and daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Noted for its tear-jerking, tragic ending when Emma develops terminal cancer and says goodbye to her children at bedside. Directed by James L. Brooks. Starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, & Jack Nicholson. Based on the book Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry.

40. The Color Purple (1985) Covers the years 1909-1949 in the life of uneducated Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) living in the rural American south. She was raped by her father, deprived of the children she bore him and forced to marry a brutal sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover) who she calls "Mister." Ultimately, she is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, Sofia (Oprah Winfrey) and Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery), acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, & Oprah Winfrey. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

41. Daughters of the Dust (1992) A deliberately paced, turn-of-the-century family (female-centered) historical costume drama about the Gullah community - descendants of West African slaves (laboring in the indigo trade) dwelling on islands near South Carolina. With its stunning cinematography and layered narrative, this film explores this unique community through the Peazant family, a fictional group of Gullah natives living on Ido Landing. Directed by Julie Dash (her debut feature). Starring Cora Lee Day, Kaycee Moore, Barbara O, Adisa Anderson, & Alva Rogers.

42. Little Women (1994) With her husband off at war from Civil War-era New England, Marmee March (Susan Sarandon) is left alone to raise her four daughters - her " little women" - the spirited Jo (Winona Ryder), who longs for a career as a writer; beautiful, conventional and conservative older sister Meg (Trini Alvarado); fragile and innocent Beth (Claire Danes); and the precocious romantic Amy (Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis). As the years pass, the sisters share some of their most cherished - and painful - moments of self-discovery as they become women and are guided through issues of independence, romance and virtue. Directed by Gillian Armstrong. Starring Winona Ryder. Based on the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

43. Eve's Bayou (1997) Roz Batiste (Lynn Whitfield) is a beautiful and dedicated mother of three in Louisiana, who is forced to admit that her family is falling apart due to her philandering doctor/husband Louis (Samuel L. Jackson). Her younger daughter, Eve (Jurnee Smollett), witnesses one of her father's infidelities. Struggling to make sense of what she has seen, Eve turns to her older sister Cisely (Meagan Good), who dismisses her - fearing the truth, and then to her Aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), a known psychic and rumored black widow. Unable to find the understanding she is looking for, Eve vengefully decides to take matters into her own hands by visiting Elzora (Diahann Carroll), a voodoo priestess. Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Starring Samuel L. Jackson & Lynn Whitfield.

44. The Virgin Suicides (1999) A dark drama set in the mid-1970s, in a sleepy Michigan mid-western community. The Lisbon sisters, five teenagers, ranging from ages 13-17, have beauty that has bewitched a group of neighborhood boys, although they are protectively isolated by their repressive parents (James Woods and Kathleen Turner). The girls move like fleeting visions against the suburban landscape, luminous and unattainable. But when high school stud Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett) convinces Lux Lisbon (Kirsten Dunst) and her sisters to go to the prom, Trip sleeps with Lux and then abandons her after the seduction. The family becomes engulfed in a stunning chain of events, involving suicide and sexual awakening, that will change their lives forever. Directed by Sofia Coppola (with her directorial debut). Starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst & Josh Hartnett. Based on the book The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

45. Lovely & Amazing (2001) An intimate family portrait of four hapless but resilient women in the dysfunctional Marks family, and the bitter lessons they learn in keeping up with the hectic demands of their individual neuroses and problems in relationships. Middle-aged Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn) is about to under liposuction. Her three troubled daughters are cynical, unhappily-married, would-be artist Michelle (Catherine Keener); insecure, self-critical struggling actress Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer); the youngest - adopted, overweight African-American Annie (Raven Goodwin). Directed by Nicole Holofcener. Starring Emily Mortimer, Brenda Blethyn, Raven Goodwin, & Catherine Keener.

46. Laurel Canyon (2002) Recent Harvard graduate Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancée, Alex (Kate Beckinsale), relocate into Sam's estranged mother Jane's (Frances McDormand) house in upscale Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, thinking that she won't be there. Only problem is that she is still there - a record producer finishing up a record for a twenty-something British rocker boyfriend named Ian (Alessandro Nivola). Sam's mom, an Age-of-Aquarius devotee, seems more interested in smoking pot and drinking than actually working. Both Alex and Sam are soon distracted - by Jane's advances and by the seductive, beautiful med-student intern Sara (Natascha McElhone) respectively. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Starring Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, & Kate Beckinsale.

47. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002, Aus.) An adventure drama set in 1931, regarding Molly (Everlyn Sampi) and her younger cousins, Gracie (Laura Monaghan) and Daisy (Tianna Sansbury), who were three half-caste, aboriginal children from Western Australia taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution. They were taught to forget their families, their culture, and re-invent themselves as members of "white" Australian society. The three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, traveling 1,500 miles on foot (with no food or water), and navigating by following the fence that has been built across the nation to hold back an over-population of rabbits. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Starring Everlyn Sampi. Based on the book Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington.

48. Whale Rider (2002, NZ) A family drama about the Whangara people who believe their ancestor Paikea was saved from drowning by riding home on the back of a whale. Since then, the tribal group granted leadership positions to the first-born males, believing them to be descendants of Paikea. But then a young mother dies in childbirth along with her newborn male son. His twin sister survives and the little girl, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes, nominated for Best Actress), is brought up by her grandparents. Learning the skills of chiefdom from her uncle, Pai shows that she possess a natural leadership ability. Directed by Niki Caro. Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes. Based on the book by Witi Ihimaera.

49. Bend It Like Beckham (2002, UK) Eighteen-year-old Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra's (Parminder K. Nagra) parents (Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) want her to be a nice, conventional Indian girl. But she just wants to play soccer (football) like her star sports hero, David Beckham. For Jess, that means kicking a ball around the local park with the lads until she's spotted by Jules (Keira Knightley), who invites her to join the local women's team. Directed by Gurinder Chadha. Starring Parminder Nagra & Keira Knightley.