Here are a couple of movies my wife watched with me and actually said she enjoyed them.

Thor
The Searchers
The Dark Knight
Shooter

My wife enjoyed Men in Black, though she would never have chosen it on her own.

High Noon (1952)
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Rudy (1993)
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996)
The Last Castle (2001)
Miracle (2004)
The Fighter (2010)
True Grit (2010)

Midnight Run is one of the five funniest movies ever made. Suz and I watch it once every year or two.

One of my favorite “guy movies” of all time: The Hunt for Red October.  One of the best Sean Connery lines ever (said inside a nuclear submarine): “Ryan, be careful… Some things in here don’t react too well to bullets.”  If memory serves, there is a grand total of less than 5 minutes where there are any women in the movie anywhere.
—
That being said, I generally don’t like most guy movies, but usually because I find them too intense and I’m just too wussy.  Also, we were just talking about Apocalypse Now last night and both agreed the movie was dumb. (I know, it’s supposed to be like “The Heart of Darkness” but I still thought it an unworthwhile endeavor.)  I did like The Sixth Sense, though.  And yes, I do like chick flicks, but I don’t like most of them anymore because they’re really dumb.  Take “The Vow” for example: now that had the potential to be a really good movie about marriage—and in fact the real story is a great story about marriage—but the writers and producers and everyone screwed it up to make it barely mediocre.
—
My chick flick picks: Return to Me, The Notebook, New In Town, A Good Year.  There are others, but I’m not through my first cup o’ joe yet.

Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet is an all time favorite! Some others:
Zombieland
Valhalla Rising (disclaimer-really gross. Really gross, but amazing imagery and tons of symbolism)
Heat
Boondock Saints

I never have toenail colored ties. I consider myself pretty girly…but these are some of my favorite movies.

I loved “Shaun of the Dead” & “Hot Fuzz.” Both very funny in an over the top, British way.
I hate most “chick flicks.” I see little that’s truly romantic or intelligent.The characters seem to randomly jump in bed with each other & even if there appears to be a “happy ending,” you’re left with the feeling that odds are it won’t last long anyway & the couple will soon be on to new relationships.So, what’s the point? Just a kind of shallow,serial polygamy.

The Great Escape

PS:
Don’t forget “Gran Torino.”

I too generally prefer to watch “guy movies” rather than “chick flicks”. Some that both of us like:

The Prestige, The Hunt for Red October, Tombstone, Braveheart

Does My Cousin Vinny qualify as a guy movie? It’s definitely not a chick flick. Whatever it is, it’s hilarious. :)

I don’t do well with guy movies. In the Venn diagram of our marriage, the overlap between “movies I like” and “movies my husband likes” consists of:

1. Anything starring Albus Dumbledore
2. Anything starring Gandalf
3. Anything based on a Jane Austen novel.

But we did recently both sniffle through _Brave_, so that’s progress.

Oh, and _The Matrix_ - but only the first one. The other two were sadly disappointing.

in no particular order:
Patton
Saving Private Ryan
Raging Bull
Tombstone
Clear and Present Danger
Hunt for Red October
for comic relief…
Midnight Express
My Cousin Vinny

Ronin could be on the list of movies that I’ve seen, liked, and then forgot that I’ve seen.  After watching it for the third time, I said, “wow, this is a really great movie, and it reminds me of something else I’ve seen… oh, this movie.”

I don’t know.  When I think of “guy movies”, I guess I think of the smutty, gross-out humor movies like Van Wilder, Revenge of the Nerds, American Pie, and pretty much anything by Judd Apatow.

I think of Horror, Action, and Sci-Fi movies as being relatively gender neutral in that way that you know that anything that is considered general neutral is more masculine than feminine (as in theory it’s ok for women to wear pants but men not to wear skirts).

And then chick flicks are well…chick flicks.

There are very few movies that my husband I have ever both liked that I can think of off hand:

Dazed and Confused
Zombieland
Pulp Fiction
Smokey and the Bandit

My husband and I tend to like many of the same movies, with a few notable exceptions. He loves and I loathe Slingblade, Pulp Fiction and pretty much anything by Tarantino. On the other hand, we both love Shaun of the Dead, True Grit, 3:10 to Yuma, There Will Be Blood, Alien, pretty much anything from Marvel and really, really bad B-movies.

I LOVE guys movies! :)  That being said, I can also enjoy “chick flicks” for what they’re worth—which admittedly, often isn’t much. ;)  Some guy movies I like, some of which are serious, and some of which are very silly:
“Run, Fat Boy, Run” and just about anything with Simon Pegg
“Cinderella Man”
“Last Action Hero”
“Pride and Glory”
“Traitor”
“U-571”
“School of Rock”
This list is not exhaustive, but I wanted to include movies that hadn’t been mentioned. :)

I am a chick and I LOVE the following guy flicks:
Rudy
Miracle
Hoosiers
The Big Lebowski
Real Steel

High Noon and The Magnificent Seven are both movies I had to be forced by my husband to watch which I now love.

Also, Raising Arizona.

+1 Steven Greydanus.  Midnight Run has to be the best random Netflix streaming move I’ve ever happened upon.

I thought I wouldn’t like Gran Torino, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I usually do like just about anything by Clint Eastwood. Next up on my list is Million Dollar Baby. A couple of chick flicks even my hubby enjoyed for pure entertainment value were Bring it On (the original) and Dan in Real Life. There is one movie we tell all our friends to see with the caveat that, by the end, you’ll be saying two things: 1) I can’t believe I just wasted two hours of my life watching that insanity, and 2) Oh dear Lord, it’s TRUE!!! That movie is Idiocracy.

Tears of the Sun

“O Brother Where Art Thou”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Grand Illusion”
“About a Boy”-(not sure if it’s a “Guy” film or not.)

The “chick flick” we both liked was “Lars and the Real Girl.”  You read the summary on the box and wonder why on earth you’re going to watch an awful movie like this about a guy and his um, accurate doll - and then it turns out to be a great movie.

You missed your calling as a transsexual.

Guy movies that haven’t already been mentioned:
Memento (2000) and anything else by Christopher Nolan
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Henry V (1989)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Hero (2002)
United 93 (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Chick flicks that aren’t really chick flicks:
The Red Shoes (1948)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
All About Eve (1950)
Once (2007)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Midnight in Paris (2011)

Oh Brother Where Art Thou is hilarious
Braveheart
The Patriot
Anything John Wayne—I esp like The Quiet Man—best fist-fight scene ever and darn she is a true beauty!  !
Cinderella Man
Band of Brothers
Silverado
Maverick
Gladiator—definitely!
Friday Night Lights
Radio
We Are Marshall( think that’s the name)

As you can see, no zombie or scary stuff here—just cowboys, war, and football.

My husband suggests “Red Dawn.” I will add that I personally can’t stand that one unless the “Carnage Counter” (available on the Collector’s Edition) is turned on.  After all, who wouldn’t like knowing how many of the good guys and how many of the Commies have bitten it so far?

Other suggestions that haven’t been made:
The Lives of Others
Fistful of Dollars
The Great Escape
The Guns of Navarrone
Leatherheads
The Italian Job
Iron Man
Sherlock Holmes

I prefer “guy” movies to chick flicks too, with few exceptions.  For example Die Hard is one of my favorites, as is True Lies.  I love Zombieland, Gran Torino, the Dirty Harry movies, the Death Wish movies, Enter the Dragon, and pretty much anything by Tarantino.  Movies like Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, the Dirty Dozen also make my list.  My all time favorite movie(s) are The Lord of the Rings, which I suppose isn’t technically a guy movie, but the battle scenes are epic.  A movie that I grudgingly came to like because it’s one of my husband’s favorites is Death Race.  I never would have thought I could enjoy a movie like that!  We both enjoyed Date Night also, which would be more of a chick flick, but does have some action, and during which we were both rolling on the floor laughing, watching some of our traits as a married couple play out on screen.

I forgot to comment that I agree with you Simcha that L.A. Confidential is an awesome movie.  Strangely, my hubby doesn’t care for it.

My fave chick flick of all time is Steel Magnolias- Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Olympia Dukakis, Darryl Hannah and the lady that makes the movie- Shirlie MacLean. They don’t make them like they used to…Also try Scent of a Woman, Only You, When a Man Loves a Woman (the 90’s was a great decade). Some great Australian movies are Strictly Ballroom and Muriels Wedding (very funny and excellent).

Guys:
Braveheart
Training Day
Rocky
My Cousin Vinney
Goodfellas
Gran Torino
The Punisher
American History X

I’m sure there are more, just can’t remember. Great post Simcha

Die Hard!  Always.
Also,
The Searchers
The Quiet Man
and I second both Braveheart and My Cousin Vinny.
I don’t go in for bloody monster films but I do like me some old-fashioned Night of the Living Dead and the hilariously colored Dawn of the Dead.

Finally, what is a cosmopolitan?  I am assuming it is something you drink and not that horrible magazine I am trying to keep my four sons from seeing at every grocery store checkout line we go through.

The Bourne trilogy!!!

yeah I agree about the chick flicks. there are a few in my collection that I love (The Duchess, Memoirs of a Geisha and Marie Antoinette are my current favs) but most of them are embarrassing to my gender. I always say Cameron Diaz owes me a fraction of her millions for wasting my money, time and brain cells on the crap she churns out.

Last of the Mohicans, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Braveheart, The Patriot, 300.  I would start with 300 if you wanted to facilitate the ultimate man movie weekend for your husband.

Is Labyrinth a chick flick?  If so, you should watch it anyway.  And if those are all guy movies (Sixth Sense?  Really?  You’ve not seen that?  Totally good.), then I pretty much only watch those, too, despite my distinctly non-toenail-colored toenails. 

I loved the Bourne Identity, but not the sequel(s?).  That was a lame, formulaic piece of garbage.

Chick flicks - the Jane Austin Book Club, and Julie and Julia. Warning, watching Julie and Julia will make you want to 1. run out and buy the Julia Child Cookbook, and 2. start a blog.

If Bruce Willis were to make a Die Hard movie every 2 years, I’d be fine with that.

Same with Jason Bourne movies starring Matt Damon.

I have the complete collection of Clint Eastwood movies on DVD (I have forgiven Clint for the Sondra Locke years)

I have to cast my vote for Drive.  You have to be willing to forgive the fact that the soundtrack sounds like it came directly from Robotech, though. But the movie itself is really, really good.  It comes about as close to being a silent movie as I think any modern movie about modern times can be.

I’m a big fan of O Brother Where Art Thou, too.  It’s one of my favorite movies of all times, partially I’m sure because as the mother of 6 girls I can’t help but love those Wharvey/McGill gals.

I paint my toenails (I have Fred Flintstone feet and they need it!) but I am also otherwise kind of a failure in the “chick” department.  One of my guilty pleasures, though, that I somehow always end up watching when my husband is out of town, is How Stella Got Her Groove Back.  I’m not willing to analyze what the appeal of that movie is for me, but I can’t help but get a kick out of it.

I’m so pleased Unbreakable is on your list. That is my all time favorite M. Night movie. Signs comes in a close second. I also love Shaun of the Dead, but I’ve had to limit my intake of zombie movies lately as I’ve caught myself lying awake at night actually laying out plans for the Zombie Apocalypse. Oooh and I love Gladiator too. You have good taste in movies.

Anyway, “guy” movies that regularly make the rotation in our house:
The 13th Warrior - based on Michael Crichton’s novel Eaters of the Dead, which was based on Beowulf. I was absolutely not interested in this movie, but my husband made me watch it and now I enjoy it.
Braveheart - I think that speaks for itself, although I still have to close my eyes at certain violent moments.
Miracle - Not being into sports much, and growing up in Arizona where very little hockey is played, I was doubtful about this one. But it is actually a great movie.
Serenity - for our inner sci-fi geek.
O Brother Where Art Thou - this one had to grow on me. I hated it the first few times I saw it. But my husband kept insisting on watching it. And now I like it. Who’da thunk?
Waiting for Guffman - is this a “guy” movie? It’s definitely not a chick flick. When I need a good laugh, this is where I go.
The Shawshank Redemption - This maybe is a “more-than-guy” movie? I will watch this over and over. I have never found a more satisfying ending.

And there are some chick flicks that we watch together, too. Though I would agree with the consensus that many in that category these days are dumb and unrewarding. Our favs are Moulin Rouge, The Notebook and the always wonderful original BBC Pride and Prejudice. Which usually takes a few nights to finish, but so worth it.

Since I haven’t seen everything on your lists, we’ll be checking them out!

Not movies per se, but The Walking Dead and The Killing were very good miniseries my wife and I enjoyed. Hell on Wheels was also very good but I can’t get her to watch it… yet! :)

Army of Darkness.  Bruce Campbell, skeleton zombies, swords, guns, witches and chainsaws.  What’s not to like?  Hail to the king, baby!

My bride will rarely join me on my guy flicks adventures, but when she does venture into that testosterone filled journey there are a few we both loved:
Definitely the Bourne trilogy
both Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr.
Braveheart
The Patriot
Glory (with Matthew Broderick is awesome)
She will not join me for anything really scary althought he film Fallen with Denzel Washington is haunting but fantastic
I am still trying to convince her that all things comic book is not to be missed but she does not share that sentiment.
She has convinced me of a few films that never appealed to me, but i gave a chance:
The GodFather (1 & 2)
Maverick
and 2 that have become favourites of us both, Count of Monte Christo (Jim Caveziel) and Minority Report!

Oh, yeah.  and two “Un-“s:
Unbreakable (football movie)
Unstoppable (like Speed, but good, and with trains!)

Does the Avengers count as a guy movie? I was surprised to enjoy this. But then a latte from the lobby helped…

I seldom watch movies (don’t even have a TV), but in exchange for doing my laundry, I will have “movie night” with my (grown) nephew.  He likes the Marvel/DC genre so I watch that type of guy flick and usually enjoy them. But my favorite of those is “The A Team.” It has lots of action and lots of explosions, but also lots of humor: the rescue of Murdock from the asylum in Germany is classic.

Where, oh where, oh where, in all these lists is ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, surely the epitome of the spaghetti western guy movie?

I laughed when Jack froze to death at the end of TITANIC.  I do like a movie with a happy ending.

BTW, never, ever confuse a movie about Viet-Nam with any sort of reality.

Band of Brothers: Good to know that a couple of you mentioned this.  Truly about brotherhood.
On the Waterfront is excellent, tough priest-Malden, simple guy-Brando, and blonde-Eva Marie Saint.

I have four boys, and am seriously outnumbered in the DVD department around here.  I think we have a total of three “chick movies”: Pride and Prejudice (the A&E version), Jane Eyre, and When Harry Met Sally…

And my husband really likes Pride and Prejudice anyway.  So we watch a lot—no, really, a LOT—of guy movies.  Currently a favorite around here is Captain America: The First Avenger.  Of course Thor is excellent too, but Cap is #1 in my book. Also lots and lots of Star Trek.  And we just started exposing our young ones to the wonderfulness of “The A-Team” (the show, although the movie was fun to watch), and “MacGyver.”

*My husband may want to declare you “venerable” for this*.  Yes, I’m somewhat a recovering girly girl-daughter-of-a-sorority-beauty-queen who found religion.  My pearl pink toenails are presently in need of a touch-up.  My daughter will happily do this for me, but force me to watch Glee on Hulu, or some terrible sitcom about two spoiled awful daughters, that makes us both laugh.  Growing up, my entirely lovely Mum did things like never let me watch TV, but for some reason, buy me extremely fashionable items, including a leather mini skirt which I met my future husband in, and which he still remembers. (I have confessed this already).  Her nickname at my Dad’s frat house was “the EO” (the exotic one)so who could blame her?  Yes, the sins of the parents are visited upon the children.  When my daughter is particularly distraught, her big sister pulls out the trump card and says “Let’s do *make up*! Once, when I was a bit desperate I made her brother promise to put lipstick on her when she was screaming “don’t leave Mommy!”  It worked like a charm.  I may need to confess this.
Here is my short list for chick movies, because my memory smudges a bit at the edges:
My Mother’s Castle
My Father’s Glory
Babette’s Feast
Life is Beautiful
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Anything Jane Austen
Malena
I confess I liked Bridesmaids (the big crude bridesmaid was over the top)
Midnight in Paris
The Intouchables
some Woody Allen, can’t remember which
Moonlight Kingdom
The veil
The King’s Speech
The only film that I hated so much that I walked out, was “Blue Velvet”.
The Artist was overrated…
Oh, and one last plug for high heels.  The wearing of them can be an act of charity.  Tsubo brand is amazing, and as comfy as flats. Really.

Oh, and:
Waitress
Priceless

I don’t recommend the film the Lady from Shanghai, however I recommend watching the Lady from Shanghai while listening to Peter Bogdanovich’s commentary on it.  It becomes a really neat documentary about Orson Welles.  I also recommend the documentary My Best Fiend, Werner Herzog’s film about his working relationship with Klaus Kinski.  The Ghost Ship is a nifty Val Lewton produced film. Actually, I do recommend the Lady from Shanghai, but I recommend it even more with Peter Bogdanovich’s commentary.  Bogdanovich and Welles were friends and you really get a sense of the affection and respect that Bogdanovich felt for Welles.

Note:  by The Ghost Ship I am talking about the 1943 RKO Radio Pictures film.  Apologies for posting twice in a row.

No Country for Old Men. Amazing.

Usually action films rule the day at our house.  I rarely watch “chick flicks” although I do own When Harry Met Sally.  I have been trying to acquaint my husband to old movies- specifically those starring Cary Grant and Gregory Peck.  One evening this spring I put in “An Affair to Remember.”  My husband loved it.  When I said I was shocked, he said he enjoyed the dialogue.

Ha, my favorite movies by far are Star Wars, yes all six, which are forever billed as guys’ movies. (Really? Have you SEEN Amidala’s wardrobe?)

In general, I like to say I enjoy movies and shows about saving the world. :~D What I guess that really means is that I want to see a hero who is fighting to overcome a challenge for the benefit of others. I like to see difficult choices and sacrifices that are worth it. And redemption, LOVE the redemption stories. Most often, these are found in the action genres - spies, sci-fi, dystopias, fantasy, crime mysteries, etc. Once in a while you find a good chick-flick that has this, but usually it’s not done very well.

As for recommendations, most of my entertainment lately has been going through various TV series, courtesy of Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon. Recent favorites include:

Chuck
Burn Notice
Fringe (definite check on the save the world aspect!)
Sherlock (BBC, particularly loved John Watson)
Eureka
Castle
White Collar
Grimm (this is particularly fun with the mix of fantasy and crime drama)

One movie I saw recently that I’ll say didn’t seem to strike the right note was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Maybe I was just too doped on cold medicine, but it didn’t seem to hang together very well, and took way too long to find the main plotline. So I don’t recommend that one for a summer flick!

Wait wait wait… .
A lot of commenters are assigning “guy movies” to movies that are universally appealing.
It’s like you’re all saying there are ‘chick flicks’ and ‘good movies’  and there’s nothing in-between!  That’s so insulting!!
For example: what is it about The Sixth Sense that makes it a Guy Movie?  That’s just a universally good, enjoyable film! There’s nothing GUY about it. No explosions. No gratuitous sex. No car chases.  It’s just a well-told story.
.
And Hooisers and Miracle on Ice…  um.. those are SPORTS movies. That doesn’t make them GUY movies. That’s like saying A League of Their Own is a chick flick!!  Field of Dreams is a borderline Sports/Guy movie.
.
Even Heathers and Mean Girls aren’t exactly chick flicks… because they hold universal appeal.
Same for When Harry Met Sally.
Honestly, right now I can’t even think of a ‘chick flick’... oh okay… Legally Blonde, My Best Friend’s Wedding…

But I would argue Bridget Jones holds universal appeal.
.
.
Please don’t suggest that any movie with merit is thereby a guy movie.
I’ve always thought it’s pretty clear which ones are Chick Flicks, which ones are Dick Flicks and which ones hold universal appeal.
Chick flicks deal with emotions, love and probably a wedding.
Dick Flicks have explosions, car chases and scantily clad women
and there will have to be other categories for otherwise universally appealing films with merit.

oops… I meant Miracle.  not miracle on Ice.

Marion Bridge - thoughtful, profound, not sappy, chick flick, some great religious symbolism and undertones, has some great funny moments

I think The Princess Bride happily marries both genres. And Sleepless in Seattle might be one of the best sumer date movies ever made.

Ronin - Robert DeNiro
Red - Bruce Willis
Fifteen Minutes - Robert DeNiro
Man on Fire - Danzel Washington
Blow Out - (Brian DePalma - dir.)
Con Air - Nicolas Cage
Snake Eyes - Nicolas Cage
The Dancer Upstairs - directed by John Malkovich
The Man Who Knew Too Little - Bill Murray
———————————————————-
Shop Girl - Steve Martin
About a Boy - Hugh Grant
You Can Count on Me - Mark Ruffalo
Once -

I know you’ve watched Midnight Run, because I remember you brought it home at the same time as Johnny Sticchino (spelling?), and I was allowed to watch Johnny Sticchino, and it was my first r-rated movie.

I really don’t get Road House.  Even with the throat-ripping.

I like everything I’ve ever seen written by Wes Anderson. I like No Country for Old Men. I like a recent film about two estranged mixed-martial arts fighting brothers and their dad.

Serpico (Al Pacinos best)
John Wayne (Rooster Cogburn)
Michael Collins (with Liam Neeson)
Some Mothers Son

Where, O where is the James Bond? Talk about your macho flicks! I am the oldest child and when my father and I were having trouble talking when I was 13, he started taking me to movies, beginning with “The Living Daylights.” I still love that movie, but maybe it’s because it helped heal our relationship. My daughter is now 5 and I can’t wait for the teen years! (Yes, I’m lying.) So:
Dr. No
Goldfinger
From Russia, With Love
Living Daylights
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace

For the record, my father spoiled me for life. My husband doesn’t like all these “guy” flicks, so I have to go to the theatre BY MYSELF to see things like “Wrath of the Titans” and “Safe.”

Oh, and my idea of a great Valentine’s Day movie is “Romeo Must Die” or “The Replacement Killers.” I don’t think there’s hope for me.

Why has no one mentioned Spinal Tap????

Humor: “The Man Who Knew too Little” - an hilarious farce about a clueless vacationer in England who is mistaken for a spy.

Humor/Action” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” - Brad/Angelina combine in a crazy relationship they call marriage while being unknowing spies for rival groups. Hilarious, with all the bangs & booms, guns and destruction you could want. (Not the greatest regarding what marriage should be, though.)

My wife and I enjoy watching “Boondock Saints” together, though it is not something she would ever have watched by herself. Strong Catholic themes in it, too.

+1 Signs

Field of Dreams, The Natural

My wife and I both truly enjoy both Sherlock Holmes films, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight.  We have both watched and really enjoyed Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan, and Braveheart, but due to the violence (and the fact that we have them in VHS, not DVD) we don’t watch them often.

My wife is turned off by most chick-flicks because they downplay marriage, and they aren’t really all that funny.  Although we did enjoy Leap Year.  That was good.

Absolute must:

All 3 of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies. I haven’t even seen the third one and I am recommending it.

Check out a movie ABOUT A MAN WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE SOMEONE COULD SACRIFICE HIS LIFE FOR ANOTHER PERSON!

The Ninth Configuration…...........Starring Stacy Keach (1980)

and thanks to both you and your husband, but especially you as a woman for understanding that MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT!  MEN ARE NOT ACTUALLY WOMEN WITH DIFFERENT BODY PARTS!

Lethal Weapon anyone? Top Gun? I think “chicks” dig them too.

Sorry, but the Lethal Weapon movies are kinda terrible, and Top Gun, much like all Tom Cruise, is pretty much gay camp masquerading as an action movie. Volley ball scene, anyone?

Let’s get serious, the best movie for Catholic couples is Hard Boiled starring Chow Yun Fat. Ultra-violence for the men, and a finale involving the heroes rescuing babies for the ladies.

I feel obligated to through my own two cents in here. 
Monty Python (and the quest for the Holy Grail)  A movie that is hilarious if you watch it with the right people.  Ideal spot would be a college male dorm. I saw it the first time with both parents and my younger brother, and I swear I missed most of the words.
Man of the House, with Tommy Lee Jones.  In fact, any comedy starring Jones is a must see (MIB,MIIB…)
All Movies based off of a Tom Clancy novel
RED
The Passion (realising that this is probably an all around)
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (or anything else w/ Eastwood)
the Crocodile Dundee Trilogy
————-
I may lose my man card for this, but the books for Twilight (given to me and my brother without arousing our suspicions) were not the chick books that the movies were.  Add them to the list of books wrecked by their movies.

I think most of the suggestions are “all around appealing” rather than guy films, but I too think Toenail is a lovely color for toenails. Don’t take my word on anything.
~
Movies I love but will not commit to calling “guy films”: Braveheart; Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (I’m sorry, but the scene at the rental car, with the f-bomb being thrown 30 times by Steve Martin at the attendant, has the funniest one-liner ever. “Well sir, you’re f***ed”); The Italian Job; True Grit; The Usual Suspects; Kill Bill (yes violent, but also a parody. NOT for teens); The Shawshank Redemption; the entire Die Hard series; X-men; I Am Legend; Reign Over Me (high school boys behind me were crying and laughing along with the rest of us); Renaissance Man (this one is RIGHT up Simcha’s alley with all of the Shakespeare); and of course, War of the Roses.

Old but funny - The Gods Must Be Crazy
Really old and silly - I Was a Male War Bride (A favorite of my dad.  Apparently not all guy films have to be violent.)

3:10 to Yuma—even though I don’t typically favor westerns, and Leon: the Professional is a huge favorite of mine.  Maybe it can’t even be considered a guy film b/c it’s got a girl power message.  :)

Simcha, you should also add:

Braveheart
the Bourne trilogy
The Patriot

and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V.  (I especially love the scene where Brian Blessed as Exeter stalks into the French court in full plate armor and growls at the French king and his advisers like a slightly annoyed lion.

And I highly recommend the woefully unknown and unappreciated (in America) British series MI-5/Spooks.

Although I liked Drive, practically every scene resembles the sauna scene in Eastern Promises. Not one for the squeamish. Still, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it since first viewing and have been wondering about the film’s moral integrity. The main character is staunchly amoral, even though he is defending innocents against people who are much, much worse than he is. I wish Mr. Greydanus had tackled it, though I doubt he’d enjoy it.

Very surprised no one has mentioned one of my favorites- Master and Commander.
Another Russell Crowe favorite along with Gladiator and L.A. Confidential.

The Great Escape and The Bridge On the River Kwai, for sure.

Just a word to the wise for anyone considering the New Woody Allen movie, To Rome with Love, for their date night tonight.  Think again. It may be set in Rome, which makes the heart sigh, but there’s clearly no love.  In fact it reminded me why I want to take those silly horn rimmed glasses off and stomp on them.  There wasn’t much to the last film, except it was a little fun to spend a fanciful evening in Paris,(and Owen Wilson is great) but “Rome” was just creepy and lecherous.  Surprise!  I wonder why. (not)

Ooooh! I know I’m a day late but I have: six brothers; a husband; two sons; and a male cat, so I’m super qualified to add my two cents.
District 9.
My college age son promised he would sit next to me for two whole hours if I rented it with him. I grudgingly agreed and it was AWESOME. Like, still thinking about it the next day, awesome.

Interesting to see the various definitions of guy movies and chick flicks (I especially like TRS’s comments in this regard). Surely it’s not simply that Story with Female Protagonist = Chick Flick, and Story with Male Protagonist = Guy Flick, even if Hollywood tends to tag films that way. To me, chick flicks and guy flicks are both categories that represent predictable, cliched, lowest-common-denominator films—“Twenty-Seven Dresses,” say, “Transformers,” “G.I. Joe”—and I try to avoid both. But just because a movie has violence, does that mean women won’t see it? (No.) Just because a movie has a romance, does that mean men won’t see it? (Well, maybe.)
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Thankfully, my hubby and I have (or have grown to have) fairly similar taste in movies, so agreeing on what to watch isn’t too difficult. Sure, he probably wouldn’t have watched “Sense & Sensibility” on his own, but now he loves a good period drama almost as much as I do. And he introduced me to the awesomeness of Jackie Chan, especially “The Legend of Drunken Master,” which is both hilarious and kung-fu fantastic.
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Simcha, I love your posts… but oh dear, “Unbreakable”? Really? At the end, when Character X (just in case: spoiler alert!) says, “They called me… Mr. Glass,” did you seriously not burst out laughing? We saw that in the theater and the whole audience was chuckling. I’m pretty sure that was not Shamaylan’s intent. Still, this was a fun post. :) Maybe we’ll watch “Midnight Run” tonight!

Mary V. I LOVED District 9!!  I even went to the MOVIE THEATER to see it.  My two fave genres: Scifi,  and Blowing Things Up For Fun. (With BTUFF one of two reasons I will see one in the theater, the other being the Spectacularly Beautiful genre of movie.)

District 9 even has a “suitable moral” at the end!
I second your recommendation.  Highly bloody, though, FYI to those who haven’t seen it.

evan,
i felt very strongly to post in agreement with:
Memento (one of my husband’s favs)
Pan’s Labrynth (awesome)
the diving bell and the butterfly(i like true stories)

i’d like to add:
Lords of Dogtown
The Wrestler

chick flick:
The Waitress

Man On Fire

Gee, nobody’s mentioned many of the WWII genre:  Patton (one of the 5 best of all time in my book), The Longest Day, Sink the Bismark, Big Red 1, The Enemy Below, 12 O’Clock High.  All super-strong, ethical, tough-as-nails, often real, historical men, surrounded by explosions, mortal risk, and showing the human side of the enemy.

finally…had to scroll down all the way to Lea S” to see BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI….the Ive-been-hit-between-the-eyes-with-a-2 X 4 face of understanding of the true meaning of what he has done on Alec Guiness near the end of the movie is priceless

and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ... for the music alone

Erica mentioned “The LIves of Others.” Excellent, excellent, excellent.
And “The Wire” (HBO series)is available on DVD.

Someone suggested Serenity which I wholeheartedly back - but you MUST watch the firefly series first.  And then proclaim them to be the finest marriage of acting, writing, and awesomeness every to grace television.  And then you will weep that it was cut too short.  Ok, only if you are postpartum in the hospital, and forced to watch lesser things or be faced with watching the series again for the fourth time.  Which… I did.

Also, if you like brave heart, you will probably like Last of the Mohicans, which has romance and gory battles. And my favorite soundtrack ever.  Also, I assume you must have seen The Misson and Romero because they are wonderfully Catholic movies, but i can’t rattle off favorites without mentioning them - which makes me wonder if my husband has seen them…

Oh, I can wholeheartedly recommend it, but if you like pulp fiction you will probably enjoy lock, stock and two smoking barrels. and fifth Element.

And for chick flicks I second About A Boy, baz Luhrman’s stuff (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge, and “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet” - though I fell in love with that before getting really tired of Leo Dicaprio, so I’m not sure if you can erase titanic and enjoy him again.  But if you can, also try Marvin’s Room, which is great, moving, funny, wise and all that syrupy stuff.  But good!), August Rush

How can you go past the Bourne trilogy?  When I was studying at a mission school, the girls would have St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross days and the boys had Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati days ... and after watching Bourne one day a fellow mission schooler said, “We should rename it Jason Bourne day.”

Three strong summer recommendations:
Cinderella Man
The Young Victoria
True Grit (recent version)

All three are exceedingly excellent. All extremely well done. And perhaps most importantly, all 3 should be quite enjoyable to both of you. In fact, having seen just about every single movie on the above lists, I would still put these thee at the very top.

And one more, once you get though those three that I simply very highly recommend:
Get Low (Robert Di Niro and Bill Murray)
Simply filmmaking at it’s absolute very best.

The Great Escape and O Brother Where Art Thou definitely.  We also enjoy the oldies:

To Catch a Thief
Rear Window
Casablanca

We also both enjoyed Enchanted April.  One thinks this is going to be a chick flick where the ladies tell their husbands where to get off but becomes a charming reaffirmation of marriage.  Beautifully filmed in Italy.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Great idea! DH and I spend most of the time looking at the netflix que and find we waste all the time we had to watch a movie actually look for a movie. :sigh:

I love that you put up Shaun of the Dead. I don’t enjoy british humore but that movie was good.

Ok, some movies we have enjoyed together (in any category)
Office Space
The Office (original british version- ok it’s a TV series)
There is anothger move with the guy from Shaun of that dead that’s ok, can’t remember it now, but look him up in IMDB

And for the reflective time: THE WAY!  Amazing movie just out a couple years ago about a pilgrimage site through Europe. It’s so well done- the cinematography, the sound, the writing is fatastic! It’s art. It was very ironic that it came out around the time that Courageous did. They both were leading in the same direction- turn toward God. But Courageous is kinda like a belting praise and worship tune and The Way is like a quiet hum a mother is singing to her little baby.

Chick flick- I like Sandra Bullock butI think that has a lot to do with her NOT being Julia Roberts, heh. The Net was decent, if you can get over the terribly defunct technology (including calling it the Net), I loved the Blind Side, and gleefully admit I liked Miss Congeniality.

A good chick flick is Return to Me, 27 dresses. (Katherine heigl has been in some good movies)

The best combination is to read Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ and then watch ‘Apocalypse Now’

I’m surprised that Clear and Present Danger was mentioned, and not Patriot Games, another (and much better, imho) Jack Ryan movie.
Enemy of the State (really really really good!!!!!! You must watch this movie!)
The Untouchables (Elliot Ness takes down Al Capone)
The Net (great action movie starting Sandra Bullock)
Limitless
Bladerunner(director’s cut)

Nice post!  I am more like you than most other women as well.  I chose a male-dominated career (computer science), and enjoy male-dominated hobbies (dungeons & dragons, miniature figure painting).  I too prefer my toenails “toenail”-colored, and don’t even own a pair of high heels (shudder!).  I never wear makeup, either.

My husband and I enjoy a good guy movie now and then, but I prefer dialog over action.  It has to be good dialog, though, not what most chick flicks offer.  And I refuse to watch any movie starring Jennifer Lopez.  She’s such a terrible actress.  She makes me cringe.

Your MUST see Sixth Sense.  It drives home so many truths about the the Church triumphant, militant and suffering.  SEE IT PLEASE!!!

My husband and I are always looking for good couple movies…enough blood/guts/exploding for him and enough interesting dialogue and character development for me.  I’d second everyone’s nominations of Midnight Run, The Sixth Sense, and the recent True Grit (I’ve never seen the John Wayne original).  I’d also suggest The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, Michael Clayton (really good), the Bourne trilogy (especially The Bourne Identity), The Departed, Fargo, and The Matador (great, great movie…hilarious and poignant, too).  My husband also admits to having really liked The King’s Speech, Frost/Nixon, and The Hoax.

Nice to see a decent blog for a change. Not that I read blogs (I really don’t because I think that mostly they are really stupid). But yours caught my eye. And I am glad I read it. That’s a good movie list. Here’s one to add to it.
PULP FICTION. Comical genius interwoven into a dark mystery amidst line after line of great dialogue. Not too many bad parts (save one, and you’ll know which one). But this is a very, very good movie.

“The Tree of Life” ?
I’m thinking it’s a guy movie because my son was the only other person I know that liked it.
:)

First: I think “Million Dollar Baby” is an un-Catholic movie and can’t recommend it for men or women.

I can’t resist watching “Tora! Tora! Tora” or “The Dirty Dozen” over and over, despite them being “guy flicks” and me not being a guy.

Great guy movies:

Max Manus Man of War: (seriously that’s the name of it) awesome movie about members of the Norwegian Resistance in WWII. One of the few movies I had no complaints with at all at the end of the movie, not a single thing I would tweak or change. Contains: war/violence
Kontrol: Possibly an allegory, but maybe it’s just about ticket-inspectors on the metro in Budapest? Dark and fascinating. Contains: Murders/violence
Gettysburg: Just rewatched it recently and it’s still epic.
7 Samurai: The story that Magnificent Seven was based on, and better by far! Although it is Kurosawa so it’s not short.
Serenity: although its status as a strictly speaking ‘guy movie’ is in question…
Zulu: awesome movie and my all-time favourite as a single girl on Valentine’s Day.
Snatch: Hilarious British crime movie. Contains: Violence/villainy

Chick movies: I second ‘Lars and the Real Girl’!

I can’t believe no one has mentioned:
1. The Usual Suspects and,
2. The Untouchables.

Add those to the list.

I paint my toes…dirty feet and all.
Love a good chick flick w/ my teen girls (Try Leap Year)
and also revel in the unbridled violence of a good action film with the boys.
Why limit ourselves to one genre….we’re catholic…“the fullness of cinema.”
:)

Field of Dreams, Cinderella Man, The King’s Speech, Gladiator, The Patriot, Moneyball, Braveheart, Chariots of Fire, Rudy, Fred Clause( I couldn’t believe how much we liked this one.  Big surprise!) Big Night

Red River, Casablanca, On the Waterfront and Vanishing Point.  What? I am shocked!  No one has mentioned The Incredible Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Um, The Avengers.

End of story.

Top 25:
Seven Samurai
Dersu Uzala
The Wild Bunch
The Killer Elite
Rollerball
Ronin
Sexy Beast
The Big Lebowski
The Limey
Deliverance
The Longest Yard
Redbelt
Scent of a Woman
American Gangster
Gladiator
Master and Commander
Enter the Dragon
It Might Get Loud
Payback
Road Warrior
Above the Law
French Connection II
King of New York
Last of the Mohicans
Heat

A few patterns:
Directors: Sam Peckinpah(2), Akira Kurusawa(2), Michael Mann(2), Ridley Scott(2)
Actors: Robert DeNiro(2), James Caan(2), Russell Crowe(3), Mel Gibson(2), Burt Reynolds(2), Al Pacino(2)

What do you say, Steven D. Greydanus: a Guy Movie marathon?

Sorry,one more.One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen:
“An Everlasting Piece”
Irish film about 2 guys, one Catholic & one Protestant,  selling men’s hairpieces in the North of Ireland during the “Troubles.” Some language-not for young kids, but a very sweet, funny film.

Add Shane, Pale Rider, True Grit (I’ve only seen the Wayne version…), and The Man w/ No Name trilogy…I second 2/3 of the list! Too many movies to count but James Bond, the Westerns, and most of the war movies need mention.

Here are a few more Guy Flicks you forgot, haven’t seen, or didn’t have space for:

Purple Hearts - A love story set in Vietnam
Red Dawn
Scaramouche - Daring do just before the French Rev.
and, of course:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - The Disney 1954 version - all others are disasters.

Surprised no one mentioned High Plains Drifter yet (one of the best surrealist westerns evah!).  Fist Full of Dollars already mentioned, but A few Dollars More should go along with it.

My one guilty pleasure chick flick - When Harry Met Sally.

Most of Woody Allen is toxic, but some of his older stuff (Bananas, Love and Death) was pretty good.

Three things:

1) Emma. Great movie for men and women.
2) Lord of the Rings
3) In re the movies being listed: this is what Catholics are watching? Some movies are OK, but a number of them, why are we watching movies with a hefty amount of swearing, senseless or gratuitous violence, impure talk and immodest outfits? We’re more susceptible to being influenced by these things than we realize. Sometimes there is swearing—can’t totally avoid that one it seems. But other things…maybe we should ask, “If Jesus and Mary were here, would I be watching this?” I know, sometimes the story is great, and we put up with a few minor things here and there. But we should ask ourselves, “Do the negative elements really outweigh the good story? Do I want to put this stuff in my mind and memory? Is it worth it? Does it contribute to my goal, in some realistic way, of becoming a saint?”

A Bridge Too Far needs a mention.  The heroism of men in a tragic epic setting is portrayed in some of the best “war movie” producing.  “A patently foolish gambit by an over-rated field marshal and approved by supranational politics prolongs the war after much misery and wasted sacrifice,” could be the headline.  It shows that the bigger the organization (government, transnational government), the worse the result.  Positively, it shows that man is the most remarkable creation, capable of hope beyond reason when the greater purpose has been lost and only the local and personal remains.

I kind of get hooked on “guy movies.” Chick flicks too (“Simply Ballroomm,” people, watch it!) Some are entirely savory. “Rudy!” And “Chariots of Fire” and LOTR I can watch any day of the week. “Captains Courageous” with Spencer Tracy. Watch it people! It’s brilliant! I adore “Lawrence of Arabia” and mostly because it turned me into a Lawrence-obsessed mess but also taught me just how much better the real man was than that beautiful tragical movie. Also, a blow-you-away film: Empire of the Sun. See what Chrisitan Bale could do at 14! He’ll knock you flat. Love movies. Love movies….

I’ve seen all the movies you listed except Eastern Promises…and I don’t consider them to be ‘guy movies’ at all.  Some of the ones you listed at the top are just classics.  Gone with the Wind and The Philadelphia Story are classics but that doesn’t make them ‘guy movies’  I found it rather odd anyone would call The Godfather or Jaws guy movies.  Never heard them called that in my life…they’re classics. If you’re into movies, then you watch the classics regardless of what they’re about.  Die Hard I can see being called a ‘guy movie’ I guess but I liked it.  There’s no way just because it’s a superhero movie it’s a guy movie, especially sometimes like The Avengers or Iron Man or Batman.  No way.  Everyone enjoys those.  I mean…Gladiator is a guy movie??  Is Lord of the Rings a guy movie just because it has wars and fighting??  Cripes. 

Here is my list of good movies from a girl:

Fight Club
Man from Nowhere
A Clockwork Orange
28 Days Later
Hero
The Departed
Drive
Thunderheart
Kalifornia
Aliens
The Professional
Kill Bill 1 and 2
True Romance
Grosse Point Blank
Seven
The Mummy
Boondock Saints
Old Boy

‘Girlie’ movies you might want to give a chance:

Say Anything
Sixteen Candles
Return to Me
The Wedding Singer
Bridget Jone’s Diary
Sense and Sensibility
Heathers
Becoming Jane
Love Actually
Young Victoria
The Queen
Untamed Heart
Two Weeks Notice
The Painted Veil
Oscar and Lucinda
The Princess Bride
Pillow Talk
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

just registered here and wanna say hi you all.

cheers