[caitlin1214]

As ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2'' convenes on the big screen, we give a shout-out to our favorite movies about fearless and feisty young women, including ''Enchanted,'' ''Mean Girls,'' and ''Clueless''

By Lisa Raphael, Gary Susman
Aug 06, 2008

(EW.com)



LITTLE WOMEN (1994)
Louisa May Alcott's classic tale of four sisters gets a fresh, warm retelling in director Gillian Armstrong's remake, thanks in part to lively turns from Winona Ryder as the imaginative Jo, Claire Danes as the tragic Beth, Kirsten Dunst as a bratty Amy, and Christian Bale as dreamy boy-next-door Laurie.



PRETTY IN PINK (1986)
Admit it: You would have chosen Duckie over Blane, right? Right?



ENCHANTED (2007)
Amy Adams and a princey McDreamy prove that fairy tales do come true...kind of. If you're a tween — okay, or a gal at any age with realistic and/or jaded expectations — who's grown out of the Belle, Cinderella, Princess Jasmine phase, this is the flick that proves he might actually be out there. It's just the road to him may not include white horses, dutiful servants, or glass slippers and will hopefully be in 3-D.



ROMEO + JULIET (1996)
You thought you were melodramatic having a two-hour fight with your parents over extending your curfew from midnight to 12:30 a.m. Try being separated from your beau by a family feud and eventually committing suicide just to be with him! The bittersweet love story may be hundreds of years old, but the '90s knew that you could slap Leonardo DiCaprio into any period piece to make it timely and swoon-worthy. This modern Shakespearean spin? Done and done!




TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
In this adaptation of Harper Lee's classic novel, Scout Finch (Mary Badham) is a tomboy enjoying an idyllic small-town childhood who must learn some grown-up lessons fast. Fortunately, when it comes to learning about tolerance, honor, and integrity, there's no better teacher than pa Atticus (Oscar-winner Gregory Peck).

[caitlin1214]

THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
Was it part of the fairy tale fantasy that Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn) would end up with a guy she could order around (''Farm boy!'')? Not that Westley (Cary Elwes) seemed to mind (''As you wish!'').



THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (2005)
Every woman knows that it's near impossible to find perfectly fitting jeans, so maybe the fact that these four best friends bond over a pair that compliments each of them might raise an eyebrow or two. But look beyond the serendipitous denim, and you'll see the more important aspects of this mini chick flick and its 2008 sequel: first heartbreak, diaries and chain letters, daddy issues — all emphasizing a sisterly bond, and thankfully void of misleading Disney princes.



THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
Poor Andy (Anne Hathaway): She worked so hard to emulate and earn the respect of boss-from-hell Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), only to learn that being like her means ruining your personal life and having to screw over other people. Oh, well, at least she got some fabulous clothes and accessories out of the deal.



DIRTY DANCING (1987)
It's every girl's Cinderella-at-the-ball fantasy. Except here, Cinderella (heroine Jennifer Grey) looks like a normal girl, not a princess; she does the mambo with her prince (Patrick Swayze) instead of the waltz; and she's the one who does all the rescuing.

[caitlin1214]

THE PARENT TRAP (1961)
Twins Susan and Sharon get to have fun camping out, doing each other's hair, and — oh, yeah — tricking their divorced parents into reuniting. What's not to like? (By the way, nothing against the perky, charming 11-year-old Lindsay Lohan in the remake, but we'll take the original classic with Hayley Mills, thank you.)




BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002)
In every kiddie sports flick from The Mighty Ducks to Little Giants, there's always one girl on the ragtag team who helps in the unexpected victory. Bend It broke the trend and featured Jess Kaur Bhamra (ER's Parminder Nagra) juggling her dreams of being a professional soccer player with her family's traditional views of a woman's role.



LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006)
Maybe when she's older, child beauty pageant contestant Olive (Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin) will learn what that Rick James song is really about. For now, the important lessons of her road trip are that life is short so you might as well eat all the ice cream you want (even Miss California enjoys ice cream!), and that your family won't leave you out there all alone when you really need them.



FREAKY FRIDAY (2003)
This Disney remake starred Jamie Lee Curtis and LiLo (pre-rehab) as a mother and daughter who switch bodies only to end up in wacky situations. Mom has to relearn the hip teen lingo, daughter Anna has to dodge her future stepfather's groping (because she's in her mother's body, remember? This isn't a Lifetime movie). Freaky Friday is a light-hearted hit perfect for spending some couch time with mom until you're ready to graduate to Steel Magnolias.



LOVE & BASKETBALL (2000)
Never before have these two — love and basketball — gone together so sweetly. Los Angeles teens Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) fall in love on the court and off, bonding over their mutual adoration for the game. Their individual successes and challenges play into their ability to maintain a steady relationship over the years. Have the Kleenex handy for the last part of the film, which dribbles through different points in their futures together and apart.

[caitlin1214]

NATIONAL VELVET (1944)
Still the ultimate girl-and-her-horse movie.



HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL (2006)
Like a modern day Romeo & Juliet — but with singing and dancing instead of suicide. Class smarty-pants Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) proves that you can do it all: Get straight A's, gain the respect of your pimply peers, and nab a canoodle with the high school basketball captain. Sure, no one's high school is that fun or nice to theater geeks, but Gab inspires the tots tuning into Disney to go against the grain and ignore peer pressure in the face of true love.



THE VILLAGE (2004)
M. Night Shyamalan's thriller was panned by reviewers, but leading lady Bryce Dallas Howard got critics' thumbs up as daring villager Ivy Walker. In most scary(ish) films, it's always the girls that end up ignorant and sweet, slashed on the side of a road. Although Ivy is blind — physically a damsel in distress — she is the only one who makes it out of the village and through the trees to pick up medicine for her hubby-to-be.



13 GOING ON 30 (2004)
Fueled by a round of Seven Minutes in Heaven gone horribly wrong, 13-year-old Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) uses her birthday wish to fast forward into her 30s. To her surprise, there's no trace of the sweet, shy, and unpopular teen in her nasty and conniving future self. The lesson here for little girls: Be careful what you wish for and never forget where you came from. The lesson for casting directors: Mark Ruffalo makes a damn good love interest.

[caitlin1214]

MEAN GIRLS (2004)
Sometimes female bonding is merely the calm before the storm. A really bitchy, catty, bleach-blonde storm of pink polo shirts and short skirts that'll ruin your reputation and steal your boyfriend. Proving that, hey, girls are funny too, Tina Fey wrote the screenplay for this high school flick that made all of us cringe, commiserate, laugh, adopt the word ''fugly'' into our vernacular, and rethink that snarky LiveJournal post about our arch nemesis.



BRING IT ON (2000)
Ignore the following three straight-to-DVD sequels, it's the original that deserves the win. Or, I guess, at least a second-place trophy. For all those boys and assorted haters who think that cheerleading isn't a sport, Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union prove that this high school extracurricular is more than just pom-poms and pigtails. It's also handsprings, round offs, and catfights.



CLUELESS (1995)
Before the name paris hilton and the phrase ''that's hot'' were ever a part of our day-to-day vocabulary, it was all about Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and ''as if.'' The gaudy '90s excess and jumper/knee-high outfits may seem a little dated now, but the plight of a teenage girl with a heart of gold and a credit card of platinum is far from buggin'. And Paul Rudd? Especially as the self righteous ex-step brother-turned-love interest — he won't go out of style in any decade.



THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001)
Every girl can fall in love with the princess lifestyle and all of those billowing ball gowns, blinged-out tiaras, and dances that make prom look like a bore. That includes a frizzy-haired unpopular tomboy like Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) who proves she can drink tea (pinky up) with the rest of them. After some intensive princess training, tweezing, primping, and posture-perfecting, the once gawky Mia transforms into a swan for her grandmother, the Queen (Julie Andrews), in this fractured fairytale.



ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING (1987)
Suburban babysitter Elisabeth Shue manages to find peril, action, and romance in the big, scary city, even with her young charges in tow the whole time. All well and good, but girls, please don't try this at home.

[caitlin1214]

LABYRINTH (1986)
Ever wish you could get rid of your bratty little brother? Be careful what you wish for, as Jennifer Connelly learns. Still, she does get to meet David Bowie and some cool puppet creatures.



AKEELAH AND THE BEE (2006)
A girl needs a will of iron and nerves of steel, not just to become a spelling champ, but also to stand up to grown-ups as imposing as Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. So C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S, Akeelah (Keke Palmer).



THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1995)
This unsung children's movie from Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) should have been a bigger hit. Liesel Matthews is enchanting as the heroine of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, a girl who makes boarding school existence bearable for herself and the other girls via a rich fantasy life.



LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)
Come to Tokyo! Visit beautiful shrines! Meet a cool, older, funny movie star in the hotel bar, share your feelings of ambivalence with him, and take him out for karaoke with your pals! Learn from him, at last, a secret which you will tell no one (not even the audience). Call the Coppola-Johansson-Murray travel agency today to book your trip!



HAIRSPRAY (2007)
Set in Baltimore in the early '60s, this remake — John Waters wrote and directed the original which starred a pleasantly plump Ricki Lake — came back to life on the big screen high-kicking and singing with a dragged-out John Travolta on the alto parts. Every gal should get behind Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky) in her quest to advocate for civil rights, improve how the media portray women's bodies, and make out with Zac Efron.

[bluemoon]

Surprised that Legally Blonde isn't on this list.