Cool Topic Here's my Top Ten, rules are simple...1 a decade 1 a genre
It's a Gift (1934)....but really any WC Fields film
Fields work is hilarious...his boozing gambling wisecracks and just generally misanthropic nature is what every man should aspire to. If I'm picking a comedy I would go with It's A Gift but all of his work is solid.
Pride of the Yankees(1942)
40's have a lot of good options but I was thinking about sports movies and while later decades had perhaps better options I think for pure sports you gotta go with Pride of the Yankees. Plus you want Gary Cooper on a man's list.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Moving onto to the 50's courtroom dramas don't get much better than 12 Angry Men.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
I know a lot of people think you gotta go with John Wayne when it comes to westerns...but which one to pick? But if you go Peckinpah and the 60's you got really one option. The Wild Bunch.
Hardcore (1979)
1970's had a lot of good options but I was thinking that didn't have a horror film and when thinking of masculinity what is the most horrifying thing a man can experience...losing his daughter to drugs and porn.
Outland (1981)
One of the best remakes of all-time, Outland tells the High Noon story in space.Connery is so good in this I think more people need to check it out.
Con Air (1997)
Con Air is a great action film, a high concept premise exercised with humor and an ensemble cast. Likely the most masculine 90's action film so Con Air gets the pick.
Zodiac (2007)
Drama is a little tricky because what makes a manly Drama film. Well a futile hunt for a Serial killer which moves through several different individuals.
Lone Survivor (2013)
This was a close one, Mark Wahlberg and Josh Brolin have some pretty good entries for this last decade. Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, Everest, Only the Brave...but I felt like I needed a war film..so I went with Lone Survivor.
Another Round (2020)
And if you are going to finish it up...go with the closing option of Another Round (2020). A foreign film that is also a bromance and this is the bar...that some other film will need to pass.