Start The New Year Out With A Resolution To Watch These Movies
There are great movies, and there are great guy movies. Every guy movie is great, but not every great movie is a guy movie. The Titanic, Thelma And Louise, Ghost... All great movies, but not guy movies by any stretch of the imagination.
Here is my list of one hundred movies every guy will want to see before he dies.
The list is presented in four installments of twenty-five movies each. In the end, I’ll reveal my number one guy movie of all time. I look forward to hearing from you about where I am right and wrong and some of your favorite guy movies.
In alphabetical order, here are numbers fifty-one through seventy-five.
51. Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who leads his band of elite Americans, including the Jew Bear, on a trip to Europe to kill Nazis. “And cousin, business is a boomin’!”
52. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) - My all-time favorite Christmas movie. Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter, and Henry Travers as Clarence. This one is an American treasure.
53. Jaws (1975) - This movie single-handedly turned the world on to sharks.
54. The Killers (1964) - Two hit men walk into a diner looking for a man called "the Swede." Based in part on Ernest Hemingway's short story, The Killers. Hemingway didn't usually like film adaptations of his work, but he admired this one. This movie was a critical success and is a film-noir classic.
55. L.A. Confidential (1997) - An excellent neo-noir crime movie set in 1950s Los Angeles. Stars Russel Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Bassinger, and Danny Devito.
56. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - Set in 1757, during the French and Indian War. Based on John Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel, The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757. Three Mohican warriors assist a British officer who is escorting two young women through the wilderness to reunite with their father. A great movie.
57. The Longest Day (1962) - An epic production detailing the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy. Check this cast out, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Eddie Albert, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, and more.
58. The Longest Yard (1974) - A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards. Starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, Eddie Albert as Warden Hazen, James Hampton as Caretaker, and Joe Kapp as Walking Boss. Forget that silly 2005 remake with Adam Sandler. Opt for the original instead.
59. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - I’ve never known a man that doesn’t like this movie, or a woman besides my daughter, Savannah, that does like it. It’s a dry humor classic, and I find something else to laugh about every time I watch it. “Bow to your sensei.”
60. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) - Chevy Chase made some funny movies in the Eighties. None were better than this one. Special appearance by Christie Brinkley.
61. Paper Moon (1973) - Set in the 1930s and filmed in black and white. An itinerant con artist (played by Ryan O’Neal) is tasked with transporting an orphaned girl (played by his daughter, Tatum O’Neal) to her aunt’s house a couple of hundred miles away. The unlikely bond they form is touching. I love road trip movies, and this one is a classic.
62. The Patriot (2000) - Set during the American Revolution and starring Mel Gibson. The scene where Mel wipes out half the British army with a tomahawk makes this one worth watching.
63. Patton (1970) - I remember going to The Ranch Drive-In to see this with my parents. I fell asleep within two minutes. George C. Scott, starring as General George Patton, delivers the performance of a lifetime. Watch the opening scene, then Google the transcript of what he really said.
64. Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982) - If you watched this movie in the Eighties while you were under the influence, you were able to capture the meaning of its metaphors. It’s too late to do that now, of course, but watch it anyway, then read about what it all means.
65. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) - John Candy and Steve Martin are brilliant in this comedy about two guys just trying to get home for Christmas.
66. Planet of The Apes (1968) - “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”
67. Platoon (1986) - Oliver Stone’s semi-autobiographical account of the war in Vietnam won four academy awards, including Best Picture. Featuring an all-star cast.
68. Poltergeist (1982) - Ghosts come out of the television and snatch away a five-year-old girl while tree limbs break through a bedroom window and try to grab her older brother. JoBeth Williams stars in this horror classic.
69. The Pride of the Yankees (1942) - Even tough guys like us tear up when Lou Ghering calls himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
70. Psycho (1960) - Produced and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and Janet Leigh as Marion Crane. Filmed in black and white on a shoestring budget, this is Hitchcock's most famous work. A classic!
71. Pulp Fiction (1994) - A cult classic. Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are unforgettable. My personal first, second, or third favorite movie. It depends on how I’m feeling at the time.
72. Raging Bull (1980) - The story of boxing champion Jake Lamotta. Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro.
73. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) - Juvenile delinquents James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood star in an early attempt to document the moral decay of American youth. It was James Dean's biggest role, but he died a month before the film was released. Thurston Howell III plays the part of Dean's dad.
74. The Red Badge of Courage (1951) - The fourth greatest Civil War movie ever made. Starring bonafide hero Audie Murphy as coward Henry Fleming. Based on Stephen Crane's 1895 novel of the same name. There is a 1974 made-for-television version starring John Boy Walton that isn't bad.
75. Rocky (1976) - One of the greatest guy movies ever made. Journeyman slugger, Rocky Balboa, gets a shot at the Heavyweight Champion of The World, Apollo Creed. "Yo, Adrian!"
Check back tomorrow for numbers 51-75
Check out William Friedkin's remake of Wages of Fear, titled "Sorcerer". It takes about half an hour to put all the pieces into place, then takes off. Starring Roy Schieder in his toughest role ever.
very good list but one clear one missing for me, Monty Python and The Holy Grail.