Snuggling up with your sweetheart for movie night can be a pleasant way to spend your evening. But it can go south all too quickly if, 30 minutes in, you realize that not only is your arm is falling asleep, but you’ve somehow been doomed to watch Katherine Heigl eat hot dogs and be a black hole of talent for the next two and a half hours.
(If your date says, “Let’s watch ‘The Ugly Truth’!” turn and run as fast as you can.) It’s no secret that the movie can make or break a romantic night in, which is why the Daily Wildcat has compiled this list of man-friendly chick flicks that, if all goes well, you just might enjoy as much as she does.
10. Chicago (2002)
_Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, John C. Reilly_
Originally a stage musical, the film tells the story of Roxie Hart, a small-town girl who, while awaiting trial for murder in 1920s Chicago, uses her newfound fame to avoid being sentenced to death.
WHAT SHE’LL LIKE: “Chicago” went up for 13 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), and ultimately took home six. The music is addictive, the cinematography is breathtaking and the performances are top-notch all around. Simply said, it’s good cinema.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE: Cleavage. Tons of it. Not since Demi Moore took the stage in “Striptease” have we seen sexier dance numbers than this. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and Google “Cell Block Tango.” We’ll wait.
9. Love, Actually (2003)
_Director: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Kiera Knightly, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson_
Set in London, “Love Actually” follows 10 interconnected stories of love and loss in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
WHAT SHE’LL LIKE: It’s cute, well-written, filled with romantic quotables (“Let’s go get the shit kicked out of us by love!”), and features one of the most adorable performances by a child actor in the history of film.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE: Bill Nighy. The English thespian’s turn as a washed-up rock star who doesn’t care about anything but a comeback is funnier than most performances in regular comedies. Also, there’s a storyline involving two sex-scene body doubles, one of whom is Martin Freeman (the guy who’ll be playing Bilbo Baggins in 2012’s “The Hobbit”). While it’s true the movie gives women a perception of love that will probably — no, definitely — cause you to fall short of their now-bloated expectations, you won’t care — “Love Actually” is one cheesy story that actually works.
8. Hitch (2005)
_Director: Andy Tennant
Starring: Will Smith, Kevin James, Eva Mendes_
A professional “date doctor” faces the challenge of his career when a client sets his sights on a beautiful female celebrity.
WHAT SHE’LL LIKE: While it’s true that by now, most adults would probably rank watching a Kevin James movie somewhere between running head-first into a cactus and having a bone marrow transplant, this one is a welcome exception. “Hitch” is that rare combination of familiar-but-new, meaning its predictability doesn’t detract from the fact that … well, it’s just so sweet.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE: “Hitch” makes picking up women look easy. As said in the first five minutes: “Any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet … he just needs the right broom.” Which is nonsense, but that doesn’t mean you can’t at least have fun imagining it’s true for two hours.
7. Going The Distance (2010)
_Director: Nanette Burstein
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long_
Two young people struggle to keep their romance alive while living across the country from each other.
WHAT SHE’LL LIKE: The chemistry between Drew Barrymore and Justin Long — who have dated in real life — is to die for. Plus, the woman who made “American Teen,” (which if you haven’t seen, is just … wow) directs it.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE: Charlie Day from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and Jason Sudeikis from “Saturday Night Live” argue about the best way to go down. Also, Jim Gaffigan dry-humps Christina Applegate. ‘Nuff said.
6. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
_Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher _
Does this qualify as an oldie? “While You Were Sleeping” is about a hopelessly romantic woman who pretends to be engaged to an unconscious man, only to become mixed up with his family and fall in love with his younger brother.
WHAT SHE’LL LIKE: First, it’s delightful. Second, it’s the quintessential ‘90s flick: jean jackets, Rachel haircuts, cute old men, a little Christmas spirit and (of course) Bill Pullman.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE: Sandra Bullock alone should be enough to sell you on this one, but if she isn’t, at least you get to watch that giant-eyebrowed freak from “Sex and the City” get beaten unconscious and almost run over by a train.
Want to see the top 5? Pick up Friday’s Wildcat for the ones that topped our list.
