Love, Actually, Is All Around Us

Spring has finally sprung - at least in the minds of college students who refuse to give up their flip-flops for a couple more weeks of winter. Spring means much more than a change of wardrobe or a thorough cleaning of the dorm room, though. It means love is in the air. We can enjoy the love in the change of season by living vicariously through a chick flick. To make your viewing completely stress-free, The Heights Board has compiled a list of the top 10 modern chick flicks. So buckle up - it's going to be one sappy ride.

10. The Wedding Planner

Jennifer Lopez has never been better than she was in The Wedding Planner. She was the typical type-A heroine - a lonely perfectionist who witnesses everyone pass her by on the highway to love, because as her character Mary says, "Those who can't wed, plan!" But future brides beware, because the film may have planted the seed in every wedding planner's head that they have the potential to steal the groom. Then again, not every groom is Matthew McConaughey, and so probably is not worth the effort.

9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Before Little Miss Sunshine or Juno, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was the little indie movie that could. Romance is not the main character in this romantic comedy though, as Tula's huge Greek family certainly takes that piece of the wedding cake. The father's obsession with Windex, the mother's obsession with cooking, and their collective obsession with the marriage of their daughter combine into a perfect script that could garner laughs from even the most bitter of people.

8. 10 Things I Hate About You

To think, the most famous person in 10 Things I Hate About You at the time was that kid from Angels in the Outfield. The teenage romance was the perfect introduction for Julia Stiles and the much-missed Heath Ledger. The moment that clinched the movie a spot on this list would have to be the scene in which Ledger sings a rousing rendition of "You're Just Too Good to Be True" in front of the entire high school - marching band and all.

7. Love, Actually

Fabulous cast? Check. Endless humor? Double check. Heartbreakingly beautiful love stories? Check to the 10th power. Love Actually is a multi-protagonist romantic comedy in which each storyline centers around the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas. It's tough to pick out which romance is the most moving, but one stands out in particular. The cue card scene will live in infamy as being simultaneously the happiest and saddest moment in chick flick history.

6. Beauty and the Beast

Every great chick flick has some basis in the Disney movie catalogue. The princess tradition has brought us stereotypical role models such as Ariel and Jasmine - but Beauty and the Beast star Belle broke the mold. She was the first Disney princess that actually showed some semblance of intelligence, with her nose nuzzled in a book instead of the large chest of Gaston. Although the Beast ended up being an unattractive disappointment, the romance between the two proved that love is truly blind.

5. Sleepless in Seattle

To think, there is a chick flick on this list in which the main characters don't even meet until the last scene of the movie. But that doesn't stop Sleepless in Seattle from being one of the best love stories of all time. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan had an undeniable chemistry. Hanks tugged at our heartstrings as the single father of the precocious young Jonah, and Ryan cemented her "girl next door" status following her famous orgasm in When Harry Met Sally.

4. Dirty Dancing

Back when big hair and acid-washed jeans were all the rage, one movie reigned supreme: Dirty Dancing. Every relationship needs a good dance, but the one between Baby and Johnny was based upon a series of great dances. Baby was the spoiled rich kid looking to rebel against her parents. Johnny was the white trash dance teacher trying to earn a living. Together they made sweet music, and continue to dance into the hearts of girls everywhere with each new discovery.

3. Pretty Woman

It was a twist on Cinderella, the ultimate fairy tale. A young maiden is stripped of everything and forced to work as a maid in her own home until her Prince Charming comes to take her away. The story has been remade in various forms with various success (Hilary Duff, we're looking at you). Ironically, the most successful remake occurred in 1990, when the character of Cinderella was given the job of prostitute. More importantly, Pretty Woman put Julia Roberts on the map with her first Oscar nomination.

2. The Notebook

It made us cry. It made us laugh. But let's be honest, it mostly made us cry. Nicholas Sparks's weepy masterpiece The Notebook has everything we could ask for. Summer love montages, an awkward sexual encounter, a torrid teenage affair broken apart by cruel parents, and an eventual reconciliation - it's all right there. But the true genius of The Notebook doesn't lie in its focus on the younger Noah and Ally, but the storyline of the trials of their elder years.

1. Titanic

It was the right place at the right time. Thirteen-year-old girls were looking for something to be obsessed with, and in walked Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Titanic transcended anything the world had ever seen. DiCaprio's picture was plastered on the walls of teenage girls everywhere. Winslet proved she has mainstream appeal as well as serious acting chops. And then there's Celine Dion and the juggernaut that was "My Heart Will Go On."

Honorable Mentions: Sweet Home Alabama, My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill, Serendipity, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days