Men's Journal editor talks top 50 guy movies
Guy flicks
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Mark Horowitz
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(CNN) -- Talk about a guy thing. Men's Journal has compiled a list of the 50 best guy movies of all time.
"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," the ultimate spaghetti western, made the list, which appears in the December issue of the men's magazine.
Men's Journal Executive Editor Mark Horowitz spoke with CNN Anchor Bill Hemmer in New York on Tuesday about how the list was compiled.
HEMMER: [The] criteria is what for this list?
HOROWITZ: These are movies that guys like, generally that guys can watch in groups, that they remember all the lines [and that] they watch over and over again. It tends to be movies women don't like.
HEMMER: Top three films are?
HOROWITZ: "Dirty Harry," number one. "Godfather," number two. "Scarface," number three.
HEMMER: How did you ever slice the tomato on that one?
HOROWITZ: Well, a lot of people think "Godfather" maybe should have been No. 1. Our feeling was "Godfather" is the kind of movie that can turn up on any list as one of the best movies of all time, period. We wanted a quintessential guy movie. And we felt that "Dirty Harry" edges out "Godfather" because all of his virtues are guy movie virtues.
HEMMER: Were you the one [who] said "Godfather" is number two because it's too good to be No. 1?
HOROWITZ: Yes, I think you could say that.
HEMMER: Here is your top five now: "Terminator," "Die Hard," "Scarface," "Godfather" and "Dirty Harry."
HOROWITZ: Right. A lot of people thought "Caddyshack," [a] Bill Murray movie, should have been No. 1. We argued that.
HEMMER: Let's talk about what did not make the list. "Deer Hunter" -- a lot of people want to know why that did not make the list.
The Meryl Streep rule
HOROWITZ: We were talking about "Deer Hunter." It's got [an] elk hunting scene, it's got Vietnam scenes. It seems like a real guy movie. And one of our editors pointed out that Meryl Streep was in it, and he said, you know what, I don't think a movie with Meryl Streep should be on a guy movie list.
HEMMER: Off the list.
HOROWITZ: And that became a hard and fast rule.
HEMMER: "Pulp Fiction."
HOROWITZ: "Pulp Fiction" ... We have "Reservoir Dogs." We have a little bonus at the end of "Kill Bill." We didn't want to overdo it with Quentin Tarantino.
HEMMER: But that's all about women, "Kill Bill."
HOROWITZ: Yes, but it's also just nonstop fighting, not a lot of dialogue.
HEMMER: "Taxi Driver," De Niro, '76, "Some day a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets." Now if you're a guy, that's one heck of a line. ["Taxi Driver"] didn't even make the list.
HOROWITZ: We had some Martin Scorsese movies. We had a couple of De Niro movies. I sort of felt that "Taxi Driver" is a little too arty maybe.
HEMMER: Tell us, who put together the list?
HOROWITZ: We had the whole staff of Men's Journal plus a lot of our writers and friends and other editors we knew. We just solicited opinions from all over the place.
... There were a lot of good movies that -- there were even some movies that I wanted that didn't make it.
HEMMER: How do you like coming in here and getting hammered for your list?
HOROWITZ: You talk to a guy, and you can talk about "Terminator" or "Dirty Dozen," chances are they've seen it five, six or seven times. A woman might go to one of those movies once, maybe twice tops.
HEMMER: We have a list, our viewers have been writing in. They say "True Lies," "Happy Gilmore," "Patton," "Kelly's Heroes" [and] "Dumb and Dumber" [are] all great films.
HOROWITZ: Right, yes, those are all...
HEMMER: Here is my question. ... "Stripes" is only at number 37. What gives there? I am the little acorn that becomes the oak.
HOROWITZ: You know, I think they're all winners.
