Countdown: 20 Ultimate Chick Flicks (No. 19)

"Ten things I hate about you" is about as close an equivalent as the Gen Y'ers are going to get to one of the old school John Hughes / Molly Ringwald chick flicks. Smart, funny and righteously angry it represents everything that the navel-gazing late nineties almost stood for. Julia Stiles, whether she likes it or not will probably be remembered more for her role as Kat Stratford in this re-interpretation of "The Taming of the Shrew" than for any real Shakespeare she has or will play in her career. The say cannot, of course, be said of Heath Ledger who through better acting choices was an academy award nominee for "Brokeback Mountain" and may very well get a posthumous accolade for his portrayal of The Joker on "Batman: The Dark Night". This classic tale of opposites attract may seem a little dated in the late 00's. But yes, that's how we dressed in the late nineties (for better or for worse) and that was the music we make no apologies to listening to. Just ask your cool Aunt / older cousin / absent sister (hopefully not your mom), and get her to confess that she too stood in line more than twice to watch this film and still knows the lyrics to "One Week" by heart.

Trivia

*In addition to playing this "re-imagining" of The Taming of The Shrew, Julia Styles also has also done two more movies based on the Bard's plays: Hamlet and Othello.

*Larisa Oleynik and Joseph Gordon-Levitt also played a couple on the NBC TV series "3rd Rock From The Sun".

*Before Heath Ledger played "Patrick Verona" in this film, he starred in the short lived Fox series "Roar"


Soundtrack Song For The Mix Tape

Your Winter - Sister Hazel