Watching old movies: 'There Will Be Blood'

I know I’m stating the obvious, but it’s been an agonizingly long winter. In our 28 years of living in the Flathead, I can’t remember another winter when our long, rural driveway has been made impassable so many times by drifting snow. (We may have to take out a loan to pay our snowplowing bill if this keeps up).

Being housebound inevitably leads to TV-watching, and old movies in particular. But don’t conjure up any cutesy images of me and my hubby cuddled up on the coach with a bag of popcorn and a blanket. Our tastes in movies couldn’t be more different.

It wasn’t too far into our marriage when my husband put it this way: “I like movies where people die a quick, violent death. You like movies where people die a long, slow, mournful death.” He’s into action movies with spectacular visual effects; I favor “chick flicks.”

Way, way back in the day, he tried to watch “Steel Magnolias” with me, but had to exit the room as Sally Fields launched into a tearful performance as her diabetic daughter passes away. He’d rather see people fall off a building and plunge to their death, or get blown up, and if there’s a car-chase scene, all the better. I don’t get the point of chase scenes, and they go on way too long.

We have differences of opinion on actors, too. I adore Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. He can’t stand either of them. Who doesn’t like Tom Hanks? He thought “Cast Away,” in which Hanks is stranded on a deserted island, wasn’t worth his time, and he even scoffed at “Forrest Gump.” Both films were classics, in my opinion.

Last weekend I was watching Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins,” a movie based on the true story of a New York socialite who aspires to be an opera singer but is a lousy vocalist.

My husband was in the other room reading a book, but surfaced long enough to inquire about “that awful screeching” he’d been listening to for the last hour. I assured him it takes real talent to purposely sing off key like Florence Foster Jenkins; he rolled his eyes and went back to his book.

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her spouse in the movie department. A coworker told me when she and her husband can’t decide what to watch on TV, he always jokingly suggests “There Will Be Blood,” a drama about a ruthless oil prospector.

So here’s what me and mine do agree on. We both like Clint Eastwood, although there are only so many times a person can watch “Dirty Harry.” Robin Williams, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Robert DeNiro and Morgan Freeman are generally mutually acceptable male actors, while Scarlett Johansson, Julia Roberts, Charlize Theron and Michelle Pfeiffer seem to top hubby’s favorites on the female spectrum...hmmm... I can pretty much watch any movie, about anything, though I’m not a fan of fantasy or superhero flicks.

Our movie-watching standoff hopefully won’t last much longer. Once the weather turns nice we typically turn our backs on TV in favor of outdoor activities. The movie we’d both like to see right now: “There Will Be Spring!”

News editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.