If you’re anything like me, your movie Queue is 60% movies you want to watch, 20% movies your significant other wants to watch, 10% movies you both want to watch, and 10% movies you feel smarter for having in your Queue. With those odds, it’s not every day you have a movie at home that you are both psyched to see. This is my current state of affairs. For the past two weeks, our coffee table has been the resting place for The Help and Death Wish 3. I think it’s fairly obvious whose pick is whose. I really want to watch my movie, and my husband really wants to watch his, but we’ve been married long enough to know neither of us is willing to sit pleasantly through two hours of the other’s choice. This leads me to today’s topic: movies you won’t have to bribe your other half to watch with you.
First up is Contagion. We rented this a few weeks ago with fairly high expectations, and it didn’t disappoint. The all-star cast provides enough eye candy for both parties. The plot is thrilling with twists and turns, but not overly violent or disturbing. Themes of romance, family values, conspiracy, foreign relations, and politics are enough to satisfy everyone. One of my favorite things about this movie was after it was over, we engaged in intelligent conversation about it for more than five minutes. This is always a good thing for us married folk.
Another movie we saw recently and both thoroughly liked was Horrible Bosses, a raunchy comedy that spirals out of control (in the best way possible). Again, the ensemble cast is stellar, and my husband had no complaints that Jennifer Aniston traded in her title of America’s Sweetheart for a racy, sex-crazed dentist. The premise is easy to buy into — a group of friends who hate their bosses and daydream of a stress-free workplace. It was funny without being silly and kept us laughing until the end. While we didn’t have hours of deep conversations about this one afterward, we enjoyed it enough to want to see it again.
Finally there are those nights when we’re too tired or lazy to try something new. We turn to a standby, a tried-and-true classic which won’t disappoint. The one we most recently watched was Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford is always a win-win. Then you factor in Steven Spielberg and the fact that it’s an 80s movie and boom — you’re golden. Add a bowl (well, two) of popcorn and you’re guaranteed a satisfied couple of hours for the both of you.
As to the question of what to do with Death Wish 3… it makes a pretty good coaster.
