I can remember meeting a cute girl and asking her what her favorite movies were. “Armageddon. I cried so hard over that movie. Titanic was great, too.” She suddenly became less cute.

Donadio says it could be gender thing, but I haven’t witnessed that personally. Perhaps guys are less likely to dismiss a girl for her tastes, but more likely to bond with her over common interests. Even macho sports buffs gush when they find a girl they can drink beer with over a football game.

However, I do like how my friend handles the differences. He’s a married film buff, and if his wife wants to see a movie, he’ll make sure he sees it with her (or not at all). Everything else he sees with his buddies. In return, she can do things with her girlfriends that he’s not into, and nobody gets upset. It’s so much better than the stereotypical, “Well, I saw that awful movie you wanted to see, so now we’re going to see a chick flick you’ll hate.”