I am a man. I’m not a woman, and I’m not a boy anymore. I am a man, and it is noticeable in several areas of my life. The movie-watching experience is one of those areas. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a macho man who can only watch action movies and slapstick comedies. I cried watching Terms of Endearment and I loved Thelma & Louise, but I often find myself at odds with a woman over our opinions of a movie.

This week’s movie watching held the same dichotomy. I decided to see Watchmen with my wife, my mother and my step-father. My wife is a fixture next to me at most movies, so this was obvious, but I decided to go with my mother since she was also a fan of the comic book. One day, years ago, she decided to see what it was that I had been reading so intently, and I showed her the Watchmen comic. She read it, and agreed with me that it was the best comic either of us had ever read. Completely original, and actually thought provoking! My wife and my step-father on the other hand had never read a page of the book. My wife, in fact, was so oblivious that she actually turned to me as the lights dimmed and asked, “So, what’s this movie about anyway?” All she knew was that I was very excited. Three hours later, it was time to talk about what we had just seen. Let’s start with what we all could agree on:

1. The opening sequence and first 10 minutes of the movie were great!

2. The music in the movie was well used and innovative in the same way that Star Wars was when it became the first Sci-Fi movie with a score that didn’t try to sound futuristic.

3. The movie was too long and dragged in places.

4. The Star Trek promo before the movie was amazing, and may be the greatest movie promo EVER!

Here’s where we split into gender groups. I liked it, and so did my step-father. Both women did not. I felt that while some of the acting was uneven, it was, for the most part, a pleasurable experience, and if you’re a fan of the book, you’ll be relatively happy with the movie (obviously the movie cannot ever be what the book was, and one should NEVER expect a movie to be what the book was).

My wife regretted even seeing it and said that she should have left after the first 10 minutes. I realized that we were divided in ways that go deeper than the movie itself. My wife has never read a comic book in her life. I still feel them pulling at me like a drug that I avoid by simply living one day at a time. I have no problem discussing the faults of human nature by using an alternative universe as a metaphor. My wife does not see the need.

This divide between us can be seen in many movies that I like and she does not (Tropic Thunder, Airplane!, The Quantum of Solace, etc.) I don’t know if this is a product of upbringing or hormones, but I see the divide every day in my work, as well as the rest of our lives. I know this isn’t exactly breaking news, that men and women can differ on their opinions of movies, but it did influence which movies I recommend you see this week. I’m going manly! Smokey pool halls, mafia murders and knockouts can be enjoyed by a woman, but for men, they play out fantasies we carry with us all the way to the end of our mid-life crises…

Let’s start in the theaters…Nothing! Nada! I cannot in good conscience recommend any new movie that’s out there. Sorry! But there is good news on the television front:

1. Rocky (TCM, Sat. 8p) If you haven’t seen it, somehow, for whatever reason, this movie is a must. Sylvester Stallone has the uncanny ability to tap into the American psyche, find its inferiority complex, and make a movie that says “everything will be alright” and even when we lose, we win! If you haven’t seen it in a while, re-live the glory and try to catch all the subtle one-liners.

2. Raging Bull (IFC, Sun. 8p) Sticking with the boxing theme, Raging Bullis a brutal masterpiece showcasing DeNiro’s and Pesci’s best acting as well as classic Scorcese direction.

3. Girlfight (HBO Signature, Tues. 5p) It’s called beating a dead horse. One more boxing movie, but this time the boxer is a girl, Michelle Rodriguez (Lost, The Fast and the Furious), and her debut performance in this low budget indy won her acclaim, and earned the movie top prizes at Sundance.

4. The Hustler (5StarMax, Wed. 830a) This is a classic, with great performances by Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. Two pool hall hustlers who hustle each other is the story, but it’s obviously deeper than that. The movie won 2 out of its 9 Academy Award nominations, and birthed a sequel 25 years later (The Color of Money, for which Newman was awarded Best Actor, many feel belatedly for his performance in The Hustler) as well as many homages (Pool Hall Junkies, etc.).

5. Gomorrah (IFC on Demand and in Theaters) The last movie that I recommend is actually out in theaters, but you can watch it on IFC on Demand. It is an Italian Mafia movie (yes, subtitles) that won numerous prizes at Cannes and the like. It is brutal, but based on true events.

Cinema this Week appears every Friday.

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