Good ol’ Valentine’s Day. When you think about it, February 14 really is just another excuse for another Hallmark holiday. And for some of us singles, that sucks. But do we have to close our eyes and plug our ears and stay off Facebook for 24 hours?
While the heart of Valentine’s Day is love, that doesn’t have to mean romantic love. The love between and woman and her best friends is right up there because without our gal pals, we’d be sunk. That’s why we’re celebrating our most special female friendships today and every day.
So make a day with your squad and check out our list of films that celebrate the female spirit.
Thelma and Louise
When you think of the ultimate gal pal movie, Thelma and Louise should be at the top of your list. When it came out almost 3 decades ago, the movie about two women on girls get away road trip gone wrong was controversial. Believe it or not, some said the validation of the female experience was feminist propaganda. To that we say: Take a seat.
Seeing two strong women cast in roles usually reserved for men was groundbreaking. Oh, and they cast a young (and shirtless) actor named Brad Pitt in his break out role, too. Brilliant.
Pitch Perfect
We loved watching as a group of misfits came together to try and capture a capella glory. The eclectic mix of personalities is what we love, from the brooding Beca to the hilarious Fat Amy to the a capella veterans who just want everything to be perfect all the time.
Pitch Perfect (and its sequels) are a fun mash up of music, comedy and friendship. Get your singing pipes ready. Who cares if you’re tone deaf. These songs are fun and fabulous, just like you.
Bridesmaids
Normally, being asked to be your best friend’s maid of honour is, well, an honour. But when your own life has been a series of failures and one of your best friend’s bridemaids is Little Miss Perfect, the claws are bound to come out.
Not only is Bridesmaids a chick flick, it is also a raunchy comedy, which is kind of why we love it. But underneath the gross out laughs and unladylike behaviour, the movie has a heart, a big one, and we recognize it. It’s the heart of female friendship, something we can’t live without.
First Wives Club
These three hilarious leading ladies are in their prime in this film about a subject that really shouldn’t be funny—divorce. Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton play divorcees who, after the death of a childhood friend, team up to take revenge on their ex-husbands, who left them for younger women.
We understand mid life crises but let’s face it. Nothing feels better than payback, unless it’s watching other women dole it out.
Sex and the City
This TV and film franchise really needs no introduction but for the rare uninitiated women among you, here goes. It’s about four very different women with very different lifestyles (but all with fabulous fashion sense) as they confide in each other about their lives—mostly their ever changing sex lives—because that’s what women do.
The small screen version trumped the films but hey, what could be better than a binge watch of your favourite episodes with your best girls?
Eat Pray Love
Having a spouse, a successful career and a cozy home is supposed to make you happy, right? But when it all comes apart, that’s when you have to go inside and figure out who you are.
Julia Roberts plays a newly divorced woman who sets out on a quest to find herself. She follows her heart all the way around the world, to Italy to discover the pleasure of food; to India to learn the power prayer; and to Indonesia to discover the power of inner peace. Hashtag #LifeGoals.
Under the Tuscan Sun
This is yet another wonderful film journey toward discovering one’s self. (Sensing a theme here, are we?)
Frances learns her husband has been cheating on her. Not only that, but she loses her house to him and his much younger and very pregnant partner. Talk about a slap in the face.
Where does she escape to? Tuscany, of course, where she buys a villa that needs a lot of tender loving care. It is through the restoration of her new home that Frances begins her new life and starts on her road to happiness. You go, girl.
