Don’t lie, dudes, you know what we’re talking about. Chick flicks aren’t just for chicks, are they? No, there are plenty of cinematic skeletons and guilty pictures in our movie closets. Aside films with classic love scenes that seem a bit creepy now, we’re pretty certain these are the movies guys will never admit to watching, yet secretly love more than life itself, maybe even more than fantasy football. Yeah, we said it.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Because even the two most beautiful people alive have love problems.
It wasn’t their first and hopefully won’t be their last. The fancy businessman makes a bet he can get the girl, and the successful businesswoman bets she can get rid of him. Classic rom-com conflict. Who better to hold these opposing roles than the two most beautiful people in the world (before all that Dallas Buyers Club stuff, of course)? Though their movies together are ultimately loaded with cheese and awkward moments, there’s nothing better than a little Matthew McConaughey mixed with Kate Hudson for 90 minutes of pure blonde miscommunication and tears.
Failure to Launch
Because we can never get enough McConaughy.
Did we mention we just love a McConaughey rom-com drama? As long as it’s not Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, we’re in. A couple years after How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days came the continuation of an extensive chick-flick bender for the Academy Award winner, costarring Sarah Jessica Parker. Although Bradley Cooper and Zooey Deschanel give us some of their earlier work, the show is, of course, stolen by McConaughey, whose inability to grow the fuck up makes us all feel a little better about ourselves. Why the hell won’t my parents buy me a hot girlfriend?
Garden State
Because Natalie Portman, duh, and that soundtrack!
Aside from easily one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, this has to be one of the most universally adored dramatic dark comedies. Starring the guy every girl geeks out over and the girl (Natalie Portman) every guy touched themselves to ever since Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Garden State tells us you can go home again, as long as there are psychedelic drugs, gravediggers and beautifully warp-minded women there.
Mean Girls
Because the popular kids still pick on us.
We all love a good reunion, and 2017 could be the year that a Mean Girls sequel goes down. Let’s face it: Lindsay Lohan could use it. Moving to a new place can be hard. Dealing with these bitches would be impossible, though. Guys love nothing more than a good old-fashioned catfight (meow), and Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried are our top picks for one. Here’s hoping we get a reunion with a grown-up woman catfight!
As Good As It Gets
Because nothing beats Jack and a little dog.
The story of an older OCD man living next to a young, hot Helen Hunt and a cute dog and a gay neighbor is nothing if not the perfect setup for a movie dudes will love. Besides all the classic Nicholson moments, it’s just a damn enjoyable movie about getting over your own bullshit to enjoy the good things in life. Nothing beats Jack, and if you don’t think so, you don’t know…jack.
Dirty Dancing
Because sometimes, we just want to dance.
He may be dead and gone, but he’s not dead to us. A little Patrick Swayze goes a long, long way, especially when we’re in the mood to dance alone in our living rooms. Wait, what? I mean, we love the writing. It was either this or Ghost, and nobody feels completely at ease about a movie where a guy wooed the girl from the Other Side, even if it was a strapping Swayze.
500 Days of Summer
Because we now understand love is a motherfucker.
The Penis Game was never stronger than it was that fine day we saw Zooey Deschanel scream it in the park. This unconventional love story was perfect in that it went horribly awry for our young dreamer. While society would have us believe women are the hopeless romantics, guys, too, tend to think they’re going to live happily ever after when they meet that perfect girl. But everyone knows that in the city of Los Angeles, dating is a real bitch and rarely goes accordingly.
When Harry Met Sally…
Because Billy Crystal is an adorable man-child and Meg Ryan is essential to romance.
He’ll always be a boy at heart in our hearts, even if he is like 80 now. Between Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, City of Angels and any of the other countless movies where Meg Ryan proves romantic films are pointless without her, she plays the part beautifully across from Billy in the story that begs the question “Can men and women truly be just friends?” Hell no!
Pretty Woman
Because we respect a classy lady of the night.
This is the kind of movie that teaches us we never know where the day may take us. Richard Gere, back when he was likable, teamed up with Julia Roberts, back when she was one of the sexier actresses around, in a movie about a businessman who falls in love with a hooker. And we all know how those nights end, right guys? Sorry, not to be misogynistic. But seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we fell in love with a prostitute…
The Notebook
Because…screw you, we like it, alright!?
For the last time, we’re not going to explain why we like this movie when it’s obvious. Who doesn’t want to see Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling kiss in the rain and find each other throughout a lifetime? So what if it’s a little creepy he wrote to her every single day in a year. That was romantic (back then), and so what if her parents don’t approve. It turned out better for Ryan than Romeo.