And yes, you’ll notice that movies like The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas, etc, are not on this list.  Why?  Well, if I told you, I’d have to kill you, so fo’get abat it.

In any case, here’s a list of great guy movies that I recommend to the manliest of men.

Warning: Watching these movies may cause you to want to eat meat, drink beer, burp real loud, and/or kick butt.  (Is “butt” a manly word? – I don’t think so… but my parents sometimes read this blog so I gotta keep it a bit tame – now how manly is that?).

10.  Back to the Future

- alright, this list starts out with a movie that is not necessarily a guy’s movie, but don’t let that stop you from reading on. Trust me, it gets more manly as you get further on.  I’m including this in my list of manly movies because my wife doesn’t like it, which makes it a manly movie from my perspective.  Anyways, a Dolorean turned into a time machine is manly, isn’t it?

Memorable quote: “When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you’re going to see some serious shit.”

9.  Memento

- this movie will eat your mind, digest it, and regurgitate it.  If you have seen it already, watch. It. Now.  This movie takes you into the life and mind of someone with no long term memory who is trying to hunt down his wife’s killer.  And the whole story is told backwards to boot.

Memorable quote: Lenny: “These tracks are just a few days old.”  Teddy: “What are you, Pocahontas?”

8. The Matrix

- the first Matrix has all the makings of a great guy movie – martial arts, big ass guns, wicked special effects, a totally mental plot line, and… Keanu Reeves?  Anyways, the first Matrix is wicked, unfortunately the other two were less than wicked (I mean, what was up with that part in part 2 where he made her heart start beating again?

Memorable quote:  “If you’d told us the truth, we would’ve told you to shove that red pill right up your ass.”

7. Wanted

- A dude who breaks out of his cubicle job to become an assassin.  Angelina Jolie bends bullets and kicks some serious ass.  Nuff said.

Memorable quote: “It’s my anorexic boss’ birthday.  This means there’s a certain amount of inter-office pressure to stand around the conference table, eating crappy food and pretending to worship her.  Acting for five minutes like Janice doesn’t make all our lives miserable is the hardest work I’ll do all day.”

6. Terminator II

- A manly movie list would not be complete without at least one movie from good ol’ Arnie.  And I’m not talking about “Twins” or “Junior.”  Although nowadays seeing liquid metal reform into a robot is not a big deal, at the time Terminator II came out it was really ground-breaking stuff.

Memorable quote: John Connor:  “Jesus, you were gonna kill that guy.”  The Terminator:  “Of course; I’m a terminator”

5. Old School

- This movie is just plain hilarious and will take you back to your crazy college days.  Beer funnelling, mud-wrestling, and streaking, all the ingredients are there.

Memorable quote: “We’re going streaking!”

4. Entourage

- Okay, this isn’t a movie, but its about making movies, so it kinda counts.  Vince, E, Drama, Turtle and Ari are total guys guys.  Period.

Memorable quote: Ari talking about going to Australia to shoot a film:  “We are gonna get drunk with Russell Crowe and we’re gonna head-butt some goddamn kangaroos.”

3. The Usual Suspects

- After this movie I had a man-crush on Kevin Spacey and wanted to see all his films.  The ending blew my mind to pieces, put it back together, and melted it.

Memorable quote: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

2. Fight Club

- Meatloaf gets his butt kicked in a fight.  That’s reason enough to watch it right there.

Memorable quote: “When you have insomnia, you’re never really asleep… and you’re never really awake.”  (Editor’s note:  Sounds like my life!).

1. Swingers

- This list would not be complete without Las Vegas, Glen Garry, Jazz Clubs, Video Games, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.  This one has it all.  And it’s money, baby.

Memorable quote: “I want you to remember this face, here.  Okay?  This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.”

Hope you enjoyed it.  What are your top 10 guy movies?  What movie would you add to this list?

1) Using swaddling and white noise techniques, combined with placing the baby along your arm on its side (holding his/her head in your hand) to trigger the calming reflex, works really well. These techniques are described really well and in detail on the “Happiest Baby on the Block” DVD by Dr. Karp. See my post on this DVD for further details.
2) Swaddling and white noise combined with carrying the baby upright with his/her head close to your chest/heart also works really well. This works especially well for me if I use techniques to keep myself calm and relaxed at the same time. See my post on my “Aha” moment.
3) Carrying our baby around in our sling works really well, and it is similar to point 2 above, because when she is wrapped in the sling, it is similar to being swaddled. She is nice and cosy and often falls asleep after we walk around with her in the sling for awhile. I did this earlier today when I went out with her and my son again, and I was pleasantly pleased because she fell asleep quite quickly and slept the entire time (about two hours). Gave me a chance to pick up and enjoy a chocolate blended creme frappucino, while my boy enjoyed a donut (chocolate of course… think he takes after me)!
4) We have an elliptical trainer, and my wife has found that carrying our daughter in the sling while riding the elliptical trainer works really well. The sound of the trainer, combined with the flowing, rhythmic motion, had a very calming effect. My wife was happy because she gets to exercise at the same time! (compare this to me, who takes the opportunity to go get chocolate)!
5) Choosing the right colours can have a calming effect – it has been found that blues and greens are the most calming colours, while yellows tend to cause fussiness. So if you are trying to calm a fussy baby, move out of a yellow room and into a blue or green one! Notice that our sling is also blue!
6) Making sure the baby has burped or trying to help the baby to burp can help to relieve the fussiness. Always burp the baby after feeding him/her. This can be done by holding the baby upright to your chest or over your shoulder and gently patting his/her back.
7) Checking the diaper is a good idea too, of course… sometimes a clean diaper can make the difference between a fussy baby and a calm baby.
Hope you found something you can use! Take care for now, time for some rest for me!
Join the jam and tell us how you calm your crying or fussy baby!