Best Birthday Movies: Funny, Romantic, and Action-Packed Movies About Birthdays

It's my 33rd birthday today (14 April), so I allow myself an off day to not kill too many brain cells and just enjoy this windy day. Here's an article originally written by Aida Ekberg of Yahoo! Contributor Network on Jan 2, 2010.

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When it comes to birthday movies, the movies that have birthday themes are often much more exciting than what happens to us on our special day. This is a look at some of the best birthday movies out there, including deadly birthday movies, funny films about birthdays gone wrong, and movies about bad birthday presents. So whether you're in the mood for love, action, or a good laugh for your birthday, there's sure to be some movies on this list that will help you laugh that added number to your age away:




Sixteen Candles - Perhaps not many sixteen-year-olds are watching one of the best movies about that all-important birthday, since this is now a "classic", but those that grew up with it will enjoy reminiscing about their days of young love, mortifying moments, and the awkwardness of becoming a young adult. And regardless of its age, it's still one of the best funny birthday movies for girls feeling forgotten on their special day, and one that will make you feel as if the years have melted away. (Or at least all the awkward high school moments will make you feel better about being older.)

Logan's Run - This is one of the best birthday movies for those turning the dreaded 3-0, as it focuses on a future where that age is considered old. In fact, it's considered old enough for the lives of the inhabitants of the futuristic, overpopulated world to be terminated. This action-packed sci-fi thriller may be considered cheesy by today's standards, but it's definitely one of the birthday movies here that will make you feel better about your big day, considering the fact you don't have to worry about someone killing you because you're a certain age (until Sarah Palin's "death panels" are created, of course).

Sleeping Beauty - This is one of the most romantic tales about turning 16 you'll ever see, a sweet teenage love story that took place long before 'Twilight' became all the rage. So for girls that will always be beautiful sleeping princesses lying in wait for true love's kiss, this is one of the best birthday movies for you, and one that may have you dreaming that your own Prince Charming will sweep you away on your birthday.

The Game - If you've ever hated a birthday gift, then this is one of the birthday movies here that might make you feel a little better about your returnable, unwanted presents. In the movie, a wealthy businessman is given an unusual gift: a game that interacts in strange (and dangerous) ways with his real life. So is his birthday gift really just a fun real-life puzzle, or something far more sinister? When it comes to movies about bad gifts, this one really takes the birthday cake, and it'll make you really value every bad board game or video game you've received as birthday gifts.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - If I could have any birthday gift I wanted, I might just ask for Elizabeth Taylor's looks from one of her best movies. But since I'm sure that birthday wish will never be granted, I'll just have to settle for watching one of the classic movies featuring a birthday on this list. Her character and her husband are about to celebrate the birthday of "Big Daddy", whose big fortune she hopes to inherit. However, her husband's alcoholism and stubbornness seem to be putting a strain on the festivities, and "the Cat" has a little work to do before she can get her big fat juicy mouse. If you're looking for sexy movies with great acting performances for your birthday matinee, this is one of the best birthday movies for a classic film lover.

13 Going on 30 - This is one of the best birthday movies for gals turning 13 or 30, as well as for lovers of romantic comedies and funny movies. It's about what happens when a 13-year-old-girl finds herself as a thirty-year-old overnight, with no recollection of the past 17 years. However, when the 13-year-old finds out that the things she thought that mattered as a teen aren't so important to her when she's living in a grown-up world, will she be able to change things? This is one of the best birthday movies for girls looking for a fresh outlook on life, and one that's great for watching to reminisce about those wonderful and terrible teenage years.

New Moon - Poor Bella gets the worst 18th birthday present possible in one of the most popular movies of 2009: vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen calls their relationship off. And so her birthday party ultimately turns her life upside down, as she spends every waking moment dreaming of the guy that left her alone and depressed. But this does lead to a great birthday present: a friendship with another good-looking guy (who happens to be a werewolf). So for the romance-loving gals out there, this is one of the best birthday movies for you, but one that might make you wish that your 18th birthday would lead to so much excitement and adventure.

Liar Liar - This is one of the funny birthday movies on this list, about a birthday wish that goes terribly (and hilariously) wrong. It's about a lawyer (played by Jim Carrey) that lies constantly, at both work and at home. His son starts to get tired of him not telling the truth, and makes a special birthday wish that his dad no longer be able to lie. But when his wish comes true, it turns his dad's life upside down. Matters are made worse by the fact that he has a big case coming up, a divorce proceeding that will involve lots of lying. So will the truth ruin his life, or set him free? This is one of the wackiest funny birthday movies on this list, and one that will definitely make you thankful for the gift of being able to lie (so don't be afraid to shave a few years off if you want to!).

Taken - And here's another of the action-packed birthday movies on this list. An ex-CIA agent buys his teenage daughter a new karaoke machine for her birthday, a gift that is upstaged by her stepfather's present of what every girl dreams of getting for her birthday: a horse. Later a job as a bodyguard for a famous singer lends him another opportunity to impress his daughter, as the singer agrees to help him further his daughter's music career. But his happy news is once again ruined by something else: his ex-wife's attempts at getting him to give consent for their daughter to travel to Paris. Here, however, things turn sinister when his daughter is abducted, prompting him to give her the best birthday gift possible by saving her life. This is one of the birthday movies here that doesn't center as much on the birthday, although it is a great action movie and one that will make you value keeping your teens at home for their birthday parties.

City Slickers - This is another of the funny movies here that starts out with a birthday, in this case the birthday of a guy going through a midlife crisis that receives a trip to a cattle drive as a birthday gift. Of course hilarity ensues as the aging "city slicker" friends that endure this journey together learn how hard life outside their midlife crisis can be, bonding and learning plenty of life lessons along the trail, amidst many funny and painful moments. It's definitely one of the funniest birthday movies on this list, and, in the end, it ends up being about one of the best birthday presents ever.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - This is one of the best birthday movies for kids, about a boy that receives the best 11th birthday present a kid could ever dream of: an invitation to Hogwarts, a school for young wizards. And so some of the most popular family movies of the past decade begins with a very important birthday, and the story continues with many more movies, birthdays, and surprising events in the life of Harry Potter. When it comes to birthday movies for kids, this is definitely one of the best for putting on to make them calm down after too much birthday cake.






So from birthday movies for the young and old; those that love romance and those that love to laugh; adrenaline junkies or fantasy film lovers, there's sure to be some birthday movies on this list for everyone that undergoes an inevitable number change, whether they're happy about tacking on that extra year or not.