UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Drew Barrymore is Drew Barry-less when it comes to modern technology.

"It's like running on a frickin' treadmill, you can't get off," the bubbly, 33-year-old actress said of our tech-obsessed, instant-communication, high-def world. "It's exhausting."

Barrymore was at the Television Critics Association tour to discuss her new HBO made-for-TV movie Grey Gardens when she was asked what she likes to do in her spare time.

"Watch TV, I love watching television, like Project Runway or Top Chef," Barrymore said. "But I never want to (appear) on something I love, because then it takes the escapism away."

It was at this point that someone asked innocently if Barrymore has an expensive state-of-the-art TV to indulge her favourite pastime. Suddenly, Barrymore was engaged in a good-natured anti-technology rant.

"I have an old, big, tube television," Barrymore said. "I hate flat-screens. I love VHS. I will not have a television if it doesn't have a VHS player. I'm like, 'High-def what?' I don't want any of that. I like grain.

"I still shoot only on film. I have no digital cameras. Film, film, film. I shot my film that I directed (an upcoming movie titled Whip It!) on a format that doesn't even exist any more, we had to go and find it.

"I'm really of the old school. I think there's an art to it. Did I say fart? I meant art."

Not coincidentally, Barrymore's tech-phobia is shared by the character she plays in the film He's Just Not That Into You, which will be in theatres on Feb. 6.

"I miss Radio Shack," said Barrymore, who admitted she just got an iPhone but has no idea how to work it. "First of all, I love Radio Shack. I think for me that's as high-tech as I go. I mean it. Because they still have tape, I love tape, cassette tapes, they're the greatest.

"Like when you got a message on a tape, you could save it. Do you remember when you finally could call in to check your messages? I miss those days.

"It's too fast now. I think it's very difficult on relationships -- at least I'm not having a very easy time. I don't get it. I like patience. It doesn't have to be so quippy all the time."

Barrymore, who has been famous since her unforgettable role in E.T. in 1982, stars alongside Jessica Lange in Grey Gardens, which will air in the spring. It's based on a 1976 documentary of the same name about "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Beale, mother-and-daughter eccentrics -- and relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier -- who went from riches to rags and lived in isolation and squalor in a dilapidated mansion in East Hampton, N.Y.

Often when Big Edie and Little Edie are discussed, the words "charming" and "unusual" and "loving" are spoken. But gee, Drew, your affection for the Beales notwithstanding, weren't they just, uh, kinda nuts?

"Are ya kidding? Oh my God, I think they're madder than a hatter," Barrymore said.

"But the thing about portraying them for Jessica and I was, they were not just crazy, they were not just depressed, they were not just angry. They had a real point of view. They had a real love for each other. It was a decision to close out the world.

"It was important for us to walk that fine line, and make sure they didn't seem bitter or feeling sorry for themselves, because they don't come off that way in the documentary. That's not who they were."

And we're betting the Beales weren't big techies, either.

"(Technology) is the worst," Barrymore reiterated. "I hate it."

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