5 - When Harry Met Sally...

4 - Dirty Dancing

3 - Beaches

2 - Breakfast at Tiffany's

1 - Pretty Woman

As it turns out, there are many great chick flicks. Some are very good movies women like a lot, and others are good enough movies that women would shoot their husbands to watch. And then there's one that's patently awful but despite that, women can't get enough of it. Our list is kind of an amalgam of those movies. Interestingly, "amalgam" is not found in any chick flick.

But before we explain our logic, which flies in the face of any chick flick worth its salt, we must tip our hat to the list of movies that didn't make the cut. A lot of these are really good, even if a couple might not be ideal candidates:

Gone With the Wind, Bridget Jones' Diary, Ghost, Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Notebook, Thelma & Louise, An Affair to Remember, Waitress, Moulin Rouge!, Grease, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Sleepless in Seattle, An Officer and a Gentleman and Terms of Endearment (The rare Debra Winger double-shot), Muriel's Wedding, Annie Hall, and The Bridges of Madison County.

Why is When Harry Met Sally our number five film? Well, I'm not sure it's squarely in the Chick Flick realm. I mean, it is a chick flick, don't get me wrong, but guys can and do enjoy it as well. It's Billy Crystal's best movie, that's for sure, and there's just enough testosterone in it to make it a good date movie. Also: There's some sense to it. So, you can see that if we rank it any higher we're doing a disservice to real, honest-to-goodness, double X chromosome entertainment.

Dirty Dancing has just about everything a woman could want in a chick flick: The Ugly Duckling, the Prince Charming, dancing, and really lousy dialogue. I think it's the dancing and the soundtrack that puts it on the list, though. That and the ridiculous scene where they're "practicing" in the river.

If Beaches were a better movie, or if it were a good movie on any front, it would be the top entry on this list. Unfortunately, the only thing it has going for it is Bette Midler, who's usually the best component of any movie she's in. However, she's given so little to work with here in Soft Focus Heaven that even the Divine Miss M is subdued greatly. The story is absolute treacle, it's mopey, the original title was Forever Friends, and if you need any more evidence, try asking a guy to watch it. Even from your death bed.

We didn't receive as many votes for Breakfast at Tiffany's as I would've liked. It's a classic, it features the all-time female movie icon for women in her most memorable role, it's the original hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold movie (Oh yeah, Holly Golightly was a pro and please don't try to debatee it), and it's a real tear-jerker for les femmes. In fact, you could argue, and I will, that you wouldn't have the number one movie on this list without the number two movie on this list.

But at number one we have Pretty Woman. What is there that needs to be said, really? Julia Roberts has sold more movie tickets than any other actress who's ever lived, and it started right here. She am chick flicks. If it looks like a romance and Julia Roberts is in it: Guaranteed box office. If it's anything but a romance: Near-certain flop.

Pretty Woman is, like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Dirty Dancing, kind of a moment in time. The planets aligned and then when it was released the firmament shifted. Is Pretty Woman a great film? No. A streetwalker captures the affections of a billionaire tycoon who saves her from her downward spiral. Everybody knows prostitutes only have that effect on holier-than-thou governors.

But Pretty Woman is a good film for what it is, certainly good enough to qualify for our top spot with the addition of the cult-like following of women it has generated over the years.