Today, the summer movie season kicks off as The Avengers assembles and mounts afull-scale assault on the retina. Guys will continue to get their fill of action heroesthis summer with hotly anticipated blockbusters like Prometheus, The AmazingSpider-Man, TheDark Knight Rises, Total Recall and The Bourne Legacy. In a unique bit of counterprogramming, the popular Austin theater chain Alamo Drafthouse announced its ownlineup of summer movies -- from 1982. There, guys can catch original prints of somemajor classics, including E.T., Rocky III, Star Trek II,Conan the Barbarian, Tron, The Road Warrior and TheThing. All will screen on the weekends that they originally premiered exactly 30years ago. Looking back on some of these titles, you can’t help butnotice how the movies -- and the men in them -- have changed. The fact is guys havechanged drastically in the last 30 years, with their styles and tastes, and guy moviesfollowed suit. Here are five ways the manliest movies today look nothing like the manliestmovies from our childhood. 1. What, No Superheroes?

With Spider-Man, Batman and eachand every Avenger coming to theaters this summer, the first thing you’ll noticeabout the summer of ’82 is how Marvel and DC had yet to infiltrate the multiplexesback then. While the men in ’82 movies were far from ordinary, they certainlydidn’t rely on superpowers or great big inheritances (as in the case of Tony Starkand Bruce Wayne) to kick ass. Instead, you had stoic loners like ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian, Mel Gibson’s Mad Max in The RoadWarrior and Harrison Ford’s Deckard in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpieceBlade Runner. It’s easy to blame the studios for lack ofimagination. But the fact is guys today show up in droves for every comic book adventurewhile the studios simply cater to our tastes. While comic book sales decline, the movieskeep getting more popular, mainly because men today can’t get enough of heroes withsecret identities and superpowers. Our recent fascination could have a lot to do with thetimes we’re living in. Looking back on history, comic books themselveswere most popular during times of war. The golden age of comic books coincided with WWII,giving birth to Captain America. The silver age started up during Vietnam while Americawas in a state of civil unrest. The X-Men popped up right around that time, slylycriticizing racial issues. Today, we’re in the post-9/11 era, with Afghanistan andIraq still making headlines, so men are once again returning to superheroes for hope. This is why ChristopherNolan made The Dark Knight an allegory for the War on Terror and why Iron Manbattles baddies in the Middle East. In 2006’s underappreciated SupermanReturns, Bryan Singer slyly conjures up a plot where the Man of Steel returns from afive-year hiatus. Basically, as soon as Superman leaves Earth, 9/11 and the Iraq Warhappen. When he returns five years after 9/11, he symbolically stops a plane from crashinginto a stadium full of people enjoying America’s favorite pastime, baseball. In anera in which few heroes can exist, comic books offer a timeless resolution. Seems that menneed to look to such icons now more than ever. 2. Where the Ladies At?

The Avengers has BlackWidow, The Dark Knight Rises has Catwoman and Prometheus has NoomiRapace picking up the strong female role that Sigourney Weaver started in the originalAlien. There are a lot more women kicking ass in today’s blockbusters.Apparently these movies aren’t just about the guys anymore, despite what we holddear. Not that the movies from 1982 were all-balls parties, but women were limited tohelpless supporting roles or eye candy. It’s not like Adrian jumps into the ringwith Rocky to throw in a few jabs on Mr. T. The fact is guys today are moretolerant of the idea of women on top -- take that any way you please. With more and morewomen abandoning their traditional roles and competing with men for the same jobs, themodern man has come to accept that Scarlett Johansson could be just as deadly in stilettosas Conan was with his saber. Continue Reading

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