Kevin Pereira Can’t Read: What Is an “Action Chick Flick”?

Attack of the Show! host Kevin Pereira

“Either Kevin’s Teleprompter Read ‘Action Chick Flick’ Instead of ‘Action Flick Chick’ or AOTS Host Kevin Pereira Made a Simple Mistake the First Time He Mentioned the Action Flick Chick'” would have made for a post title that was both unwieldy and wishy-washy.

Right after Kevin Pereira’s obscene microphone gag (pun intended – if you know the “gag”) in last week’s Thursday episode of the G4TV series Attack of the Show!, Kevin announced what was coming up later: “And we’ll visit a member of the AOTS Viewer Army. Action Chick Flick Katrina Hill will show us the Dallas Comic-Con and some droids.”

And so we had to buy the domain http://www.actionchickflick.com to set it up as a redirect to http://www.actionflickchick.com. Thanks a heap, Kevin… (Seriously, no big deal. We should have done that long ago.) After our Chick’s segment covering Dallas Comic-Con ended, co-host Olivia Munn looked amused by the dirtyminded droid and Kevin thanked Katrina. He called the piece “so cool,” so you should continue to love him to whatever degree you already did or didn’t.

After a friend on twitter pointed out Kevin’s “Action Chick Flick” mistake, other tweeters asked the Action Flick Chick what an “action chick flick” would be.

@tommysalami: @actionchick So are there any Action “chick flicks”?

The Chick turned it around and asked her twitter legion. If it means “flick starring an action chick,” that’s not so hard to decide, but if it’s a hybrid mix of action flick + chick flick, that’s a mite tougher question, and it looks like that’s what @tommysalami was asking.

Some joke answers followed. Those were fun and we’d love to see more.

@CleverUserName: Action Chick Flick = Steel Magnolias of Flaming Death?
@wyldride: Fried Green Berets.
@CleverUserName: Sleepless Ninja in Seattle?

Decide for yourself how serious any of these were.

@mskyler: If Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was made into a movie, THAT would be a cool Action Chick Flick !
*Response – @Al_Shrew: I’d go see it
@johnrackham: Terminator?
* Response – @pipboy2009: How the hell can Terminator be a chick flick? Just because it has a romance sub-plot? In that case, Sin City is a chick flick
@Trader_Bob: Ok I got it. Bride of Chucky!

What would an action/chick flick need – sex, violence, and a call the next day?

Here are suggestions people have offered. Remember, this isn’t about how good any of them are, nor is it about how high any would rank on the Action Flick Chick’s 5-kaboom scale. It’s about the simple question of which movies count as action chick flicks. Some of these mean “action chick” flicks but the conversation focused more on action “chick flicks” (action flick + chick flick). However, which definition some tweeters meant was unclear often enough that we’re not even going to try to sort them out. See what you think.
Movies nominated most frequently:

The Fifth Element – The Long Kiss Goodnight

More movies receiving multiple mentions:

Aliens – Cutthroat Island – Kill Bill 1 + 2 – – Romancing the Stone films – Thelma and Louise – Top Gun – True Romance (@kingbry7: “Is it actiony enough though?”)

Two-tweeter nominations:

Aeon Flux – Armageddon – Death Proof – G.I. Jane – La Femme Nikita – Lara Croft, Tomb Raider – Tank Girl – True Lies

Single-tweeter nominations:

Adventures in Babysitting – Backdraft– Banditas – Braveheart – Come Drink With Me – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Domino – Gloria (Gena Rowlands version) – Irreversible – Mr. & Mrs.Smith – King Kong (@neiltring: “yeah. Well the remake is action(y). There’s guns. Running. Big ass ape.”); The Ninth Gate (@Mauvais_Fille : “action flick + chick flick + horror flick?”; response by @basilc: “Ninth Gate is so not a chick flick. It’s hardly even an action flick. I probably enjoyed it more than I should’ve though.“) – Once Upon A Time In The West – Pearl Harbor – Rear Window (@dimensionofmind: “suspense yes but most of the action stuff was Grace Kelly’s gig : )”) – Resident Evil – The River Wild (@jasonkren: “It’s got love, guns, a dog, KevinBacon. What more do u need?”) – Roadhouse – Set It Off – Shaun of The Dead – Tombstone – 12 Monkeys – Ultraviolet – Underworld

Some suggested journeying eastward to look for action/chick flicks.

@xconway: There are a lot of Hong Kong action films that seem to verge on chick flick territory, don’t you think?
@jun6lee: Hindi flicks have that nailed .. so many cross-genre films 🙂

Some nominated by actor rather than by specific film.

@TorrianThane: for action flick + chick flick, my wife’d say “anything with Jason Statham or Vin Diesel” for reasons only women can articulate
@TJSlipperman: #actionchickflicks cont’d – basically any action film Keira Knightley was in (incl all 3 POTCs and King Arthur) might also work
@pyrosis: If the movie stars Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, or Diane Keaton, it’s probably
@kingbry7: One day, Ryan Reynolds will make the perfect action/chick flick hybrid.
@actionchick : lol – with him as the action chick?
@mskyler: Yes please!!
@kingbry7: Ha, didn’t know a chick had to be the lead, but sure. He’ll do all the parts, like Dr. Strangelove.

Kevin Pereira as Wonder Woman

Every twitter discussion regarding action heroines inevitably leads to consideration of a movie that hasn’t been made and has lingered in development hell for a long, long time (Wonder Woman).

@basilc: @actionchick My action/chick flick nomination: http://bit.ly/e7qZQ
@dimensionofmind : @actionchick It’s criminal there’s not enough Action Flicks with Chicks, c’mon Warners & DC Entertainment make Wonder Woman already!

Recently on that issue:

@dcumoviepage Will Wonder Woman Finally Get Her Own Movie Now? http://bit.ly/GnCnl by @io9

The nomination of the genre-spanning Night of the Comet led to some discussion regarding “chick flick” criteria. @kingbry7 suggested that a “generic mother” must like the film before it can even be considered (“No mom likes Kill Bill or T2″). Presented with this criterion, people whose mothers love Fight Club and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre made it clear that this has to be an exclusionary criterion only: It might help rule out some that are not chick flicks but cannot identify which ones are. Either that, or people then have to fight it out over the qualifications for being a “generic mother.”

When the topic came up again, it became more heated.

@midnightmovies: i define ‘chick flick’ by a) it’s pink dvd cover (they’re always pink) or b) a truly awful film aimed at stupid women
@Chuck_st_chuck: there are some I like
@mariancall: Chick Flicks are about two people wanting to have, but not actually having, a relationship. (Relationship need not be romantic)
@midnightmovies: but I don’t think that Buffalo 66 or Lonesome Jim are ‘chick flicks’ – wanting a relationship is too broad
@kidsis: The moniker “Chick Flick” is misogynistic…it’s used now to mean ANY film with a female protagonist.
@kidsis: Last thing we need is female journalists validating CF with rules like it comes in pink DVD covers. The term is BS, period.

And it got more heated than that, raising issues that go far beyond teasing Kevin Pereira over his juxtaposing a couple of words, including the possibility that the mere existence of the term chick flick may prompt studio execs to cast female leads in fewer non-chick flicks.  Once the conversation veered into the “misogynistic” issue, @actionchick made sure those involved were okay with including that part in this post. (You don’t really have to get permission for quoting discussion from a public forum, but still….) Incidentally, that issue also came up last weekend during our chatroom interview with actress Cindy Morgan (Tron, Caddyshack), the transcript from which we’ll post here later this weekend.

Notice how many of the movies named in these lists star the same actress.

Milla Jovovich. “Yo-vo-vitch.” Action chick all around.

Returning to what prompted all of this, we’ll finish with a couple of the diverse remarks which tweeters made Kevin’s “Action Chick Flick” minor mix-up.

@EyepatchGirl: My lust for Kevin is now diminished.
@FreelanceLance: I think your twitter username probably tripped him up. I think of you as actionchick, maybe he does too.

Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, two French maid costumes, and one giant pie.

Nominators of the various movies listed above: @boynamedart, @akorengold, @alanpdx, @AyeQue, @BobbyBless219, @BunnyNut, @chuck_st_chuck, @Clarabela, @ClericJeriko, @CLNFRQHR, @danfaust, @EricsTXGal, @FreddysFingers, @FreelanceLance, @Gianavel, @girlsgonemad, @JeffAbbott, @joelcrary, @johnrackham, @Justincalvert, @kidsis, @kingbry7‘s mom, @MichaelSuggs, @mikeavila, @mskyler, @mspixieriot, @opinionatedant, @pipboy2009, @pzomb, @Quixote74, @roaring_tulips, @SecretAgentEric, @Solshine7, @TJSlipperman, @TodjAE, @tommysalami, @Trader_Bob, @willowpolson

Thanks, everyone!

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