Trying to narrow down all the chick flicks about mothers and daughters was not that easy. I have a few favorites and for some reason they all seem to be tearjerkers. Perhaps you have some favorites of your own.

Stella Dallas

Stella Dallas is a classic chick flick about the sacrifices a mother makes for her daughter. Barbara Stanwyck stars as the working class girl with big plans, Stella Martin. Stella works at the factory of Stephen Dallas (John Boles) and eventually catches his eye. Stephen didn’t know what hit him and before he knew it, Stephen married Stella. Soon they have a daughter, Laurel. Stella is not a bad person. It’s just that she and the high-born Mr. Dallas as from two entirely different worlds.

Those kinds of things may not matter in 2010, in our age of political correctness and ‘we are all equal‘. But in 1937, class was a very real thing. Not only did Stella come from the lower class, but she didn’t have any–class, that is.  Stella was the kind of girl who drank beer out of the bottle, told bawdy jokes, laughed loudly had not taste in fashion and had inappropriate friends. Stella is what we would call tacky or gauche.  Despite Stephen’s efforts to educate on proper manners, she was just plain old Stell. ”Perfect” Stephen could take and they divorced.

Where does that leave Laurel Dallas? With her mother in a small house on the wrong side of the tracks. I guess they didn’t have alimony and child support in those days. Stella and Laurel have a wonderful relationship. Stella tries hard to provide best things  for Laurel, but she can’t afford the expensive best things that Stephan can provide. By now, Stephen has remarried (one of his own this time) and Laurel is a beautiful young woman with the upper class sensibilities of her father. Each time Laurel returns home from visiting her father, she is full of stories about the parties, tennis, and the joys of living with the upper crust. By now  How can Stella compete with that? What hurts more is Laurel’s admiration for the new Mrs. Dallas, Helen. ‘Helen does her hair this way…Helen and her sons always do things this way or that….Helen is so refined and elegant

Laurel loves her mother, and she is aware of the affect her admiration of her step-mother has on Stella. Laurel stops telling her mother about the details of her visits with Stephen and Helen, as well as about Dick, the wealthy young man who is attracted to her.  Stella wants to show Laurel how much she loved her, so Stella books them into an exclusive resort to show Laurel the kind of ‘high class times’ she experiences at her father’s home.

Enter Stella in her tacky best, complete with feather boas, costume jewelry, bleached blonde hair, tons of make-up and cheap perfume. She quickly becomes the laughing-stock of the resort. When Laurel overhears some snooty people making comments about her mother, she pretends to be sick and makes Stella take her home early, hoping to spare her mother any embarrassment. But on the train ride home, Stella too overhears what people were saying about her and how it will affect Laurel’s changes of  marrying her wealth beau. Here comes the part about a mother’s love and sacrifice.

When Stella realizes that she is standing in the way of Laurel’s happiness, she goes to Helen asking her to ‘take’ Laurel. To help Laurel in a way that Stella could not. I have told you too much already and I don’t want to spoil the incredible flood of tears that you will experience at the end of this movie. However, Stella makes the ultimate sacrifice to ensure her daughter’s happiness.

What would you have done? Did Stella make the right choice?
What are your favorite Mother’s Day movies?

Oh Will…Oh Brad, Why Do You Make Me Cry?

Just like fashion and the weather, the movie business has seasons. Summer is “Blockbuster Season” with it come the release of action movies and BIG blockbuster films, just in time for the kiddies summer vacations. December is pre-award season, the time when Golden Globe and Academy Award voters make their nominations. That’s why you see a flood of important dramas and  serious movies being released at the end of the year.  Actors like to pull out all the stops, so to speak and end the year on a high note. But why do those high notes always have to be so sad. I spent Christmas Day with Will Smith and Brad Pitt.  Both actors released excellent movies.

Seven Pounds

Will Smith starred in Seven Pounds with Rosario Dawson in a touching, although confusing story of  one man’s search for redemption.  Smith character Ben Thomas tries to make for the deaths he caused in an automobile accident because he was checking his Blackberry.  The movie asks an interesting question, at least to me.  Can you make up for mistakes you’ve made in the past?  Can you give you live to save another person’s  life? Who can choose which lives are worth saving?

Brad Pitt stars with Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Benjamin Buttons tells the story of a life lived in reverse. Benjamin was born an 80 year old baby who instead of growing older life the rest of us, grows younger.  The movie was beautifully filmed by director  David Fincher.

Even though they were completely different movies,  Seven Pounds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button had a some striking similarities.

• Both movies had gorgeous leading men who probably gave the best performances of their careers. Brad Pitt was actually nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

• At the heart of each movie there was an enduring love story, that called for a sacrifice on the man’s part.

• These movies made you think about some very serious questions about life, death and what it means to really love someone. How much are you willing to give up for the person you love? What does life mean to you and what will you do with your life? Such meaningful questions.

• Seven Pounds started at the end of the story and worked backwards to explain the actions of Will Smith character. Benjamin Button was about a man whose life was lived backwards.

• They both have bittersweet endings or beginnings. You have to decide for yourself.

What did you think of Seven Pounds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?

Its Christmas Day.

A day usually reserved for gift giving and spending time with your loved ones. Which makes it the perfect day for me to head to the movies. While you are at home unwrapping gifts and wondering what the heck your husband was thinking when he bought you a six slice toaster, I will be spending the day with Will Smith and Brad Pitt in a dark  movie theater.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Seven Pounds

It has been my tradition for many years to go to the movie theater on Christmas Day. Everything except the theaters are closed and unless you can score an invitation for dinner or are in the mood for spending the day over a hot stove, popcorn, nachos  and Goobers make a really nice lunch.  Also, you get your choice of seats.  If you can get there early enough (the first 2-3 shows) you will have the whole place to yourself.  If you plan it just right, you can do a double feature.

Besides the joy of being alone with Will and Brad in a dark theater, there is another good reason to go to the movies on Christmas.  This is the time of year when great movies are released.  The Oscar ballots go out next week and Hollywood scrambles to get all their Oscar contenders out into theaters by the last week of December.

And since I don’t want to be unprepared come Oscar night. How embarrassing  would be for Miss Chick Flick herself to lose the Academy Awards contest at my friend’s annual Oscar bash?  I may not see every movie…Frost/Nixon…Milk…not so much.

But if there is a chick in a flick, I am there!

Why I Love to Cry at Movies

Last night…late last night I was flipping through the 400 channels of nothing on cable TV when I spotted a familiar scene from a old movie. It was the last 10 minutes of one of my favorite ‘tearjerkers’, Imitation of Life, starring Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner and John Gavin.

I will not bore you with the details of the old fashion plot line. and if you have never seen this 1959 melodrama, I am sorry for the spoiler. But the last scene of Annie’s (Juanita Moore) funeral makes me cry every time. How can you help yourself? This is a funeral to rival that of JFK and Princess Diana, complete with horse drawn carriages, teary-eyed mourner, and a Dixieland band. Mahalia Jackson singing a tragic gospel song about dying, Lana Turner and Sandra Dee balling their eyes out and being comforted by a misty-eyed John Gavin. There is also every other person that appeared in the movie crying like babies because they loved her so much. But where is Annie’s beloved, ungrateful daughter, Sarah Jane?

Cut to the outside of the church where throngs of people watch Annie’s flower covered coffin being loaded into the herst. Then, from out of the crowd you hear her. Wearing an old beat up coat and hat, looking downtrodden and bedraggled. It’s Sarah Jane, coming home at last, but too late to see her long-suffering mother being laid to rest. She pushes her way through the crowd, throws open the back doors of the car and (this is part that always gets me) lays herself across her mother’s coffin to beg her forgiveness. “Oh mama, I’m sorry. It’s so sorry… John Gavin brings her into the car where she is comforted by Lana Turner…”Oh Miss Laura, I killed my mother“. (excuse me, I need a minute…Ok, I Ok now).

I know this is schmaltz at it best/worst. But sometimes a girl just needs to cry and they just don’t make sad movies like this any more. It gave me the idea for this blog. A place for movies that women love. The romantic comedies, the tearjerkers, the fairytale fantasies, the movie that stars a gorgeous man. All them them in one place. What do you think? So in honor of the many tears I have shed at the movies, here is my list of the saddest chick flicks. Your ideas are welcome. What movies bring a tear to your eyes?

Get out your tissues,  here is the list of my favorite tearjerkers. I have also updated the list to include some suggestions from reader comments.

1. Stella Dallas
Barbara Stanwick is wonderful as the tacky, but self-sacrificing mother.

2.  Imitation of Life
Two mothers from different walks of life struggle to raise their daughters.

3.  Madame X
Another Lana Turner movie and more mother’s love.

4.  Now, Voyager
Bette Davis goes from old maid to gorgeous and finds love at last.

5. Dark Victory
Bette Davis as a spoiled socialite who falls in love with a country doctor.

6. Secret Life of Bees
Dakota Fanning is all  grown up and shines as a girl who longs for the mother who died when she was a baby. (Are we seeing a theme here? Tearjerkers & mothers)

7. Cinema Paradiso
A loving tribute to movies and the power of love. A must see for movie lovers.

8. Beaches
BFFs Bette Midler and Barbara Hersey  meet as children and continue their friendship as adults and go through life’s ups & downs together.

9.   My Dog Skip
An only child gets a dog who becomes his best friend. Let me just tell you, I saw this movie one Sunday afternoon about three week after having lost my little dog. I cried so hard, I had a headache.

10. Big Fish
Finally one about fathers and sons. Tim Burton’s fantasy still brings a tear to my eye. The great British actor Albert Finney stars with Billy Crudup.

11.  The Notebook (added by Amanda)*
The novels of Nicholas Sparks are always to be read with a box of tissue. The say can be said for his movies. Although the book Message in a Bottle was better than the movie, it is still worth renting.

12.  Terms of Endearment *

13.  Mr. Holland’s Opus*

14.  Bridges of Madison County
Meryl Streep as a lonely Midwestern housewife who falls for Clint Eastwood. The scene in the car at the red light…that’s all I’m going to say.

15. Schindler’s List

16.  Glory
This one always make men cry. “Oh yeah…you’re not crying, you just have something in your eye.”

17.  Notting Hill (added by Diane Lee)
You know how I feel about Julia Roberts.

18.  Moulin Rouge (added by Windy)
It is a sad chick flick, not to mention the fact that it is a musical. But is not one of my favorites. Although the song “Come What May” at the end of the movie is worth it.

19.  Bambi (added by Gwen)
Does anyone in a Disney movie have both parents?

20. Old Yeller
See #9. So you know this one will send me reaching for the Advil.

21.  Where The Red Fern Grows

22.  Romeo & Juliet (1968 Zeffirelli version)
I saw this movie with a large group of friends, including my weepy cousin Gloria.  She cried so loud, I thought she was having a seizure. She did the same thing for Love Story.

23. Kramer vs. Kramer

24.  The Color Purple

25.  Terms of Endearment

26.  Legends of the Fall

27.  It’s A Wonderful Life
I love Jimmie Stewart. They always play this movie at Christmas time, but is more about appreciating our lives than about the holiday.

28.  Steele Magnolias

29.  Life Is Beautiful

30.  P.S. I Love You
Like Ghost, this movie shows us a love that surpasses death and Gerard Butler is much better in this movie than in The Ugly Truth.

31. The Notebook
Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook is the all-time most romantic tearjerker ever. Starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Gena Rowlands and James Garner.

Dry your eyes and tell me your favorite tearjerkers?

New week: To lift your mood and bring a smile to your face. Happy Endings. “And They Happily Ever After” Movies.