That led to unfortunate sequences where he would interrupt some nuanced, evocative moment onscreen to yell into my right ear, for example, "WHY ARE THEY PUNCHING HER?" (I know he thought he was whispering, God love 'im.)
I would try to explain, as succinctly as possible, something like, "THEY DON'T WANT HER THERE," (which, admittedly, probably wasn't that helpful).
I thought he would like it, not because it's a Sundance indie-darling, but because I thought he'd find the depiction the unrelenting poverty and meth-deviled Ozarks to be eerily reminiscent of what's become of my hometown, where he now lives. (Now, as to why I thought that would entertain him, I'm not sure.)
I like dark movies, although over the years, I've developed patience for the fact that not everyone enjoys them as much as I do. I learned that the hard way the time I took an entire row of movie-lovers to see Bad Lieutenant -- and they didn't all leave the theater as movie-lovers. Granted, we all could've done with seeing a little less of Harvey Keitel naked, but beyond that, the reviews were decidedly mixed. Or as Linda put it, "whyyyyyyyyy.... why would someone make that movie?! And whyyyyyy did you make us watch it? Bad lieutenant. Bad! Bad!"
I usually pre-screen a lot of movies for her now and I told her under no circumstances was she to see Winter's Bone. But somehow, the good reviews got the best of her curiosity I guess and she went anyway. This was her text:
"I saw that GREAT movie (your words), and found it dark and haunting (as you said) -- No redeeming value that I could find. Poor girl goes from a barely tolerable situation to worse and then back to bad (funny how back to bad was such a relief!" )
My response was, "I. Told. You. So."
But I have to admit, she has a pretty good future ahead of her as a movie critic, as that's as good a review as I've seen of both the plot and the main character.
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