My love for movies

It’s so nice to be able to write about my love for movies again. Even though I go to the movies regularly and watch a lot of movies at home, I don’t post about them that often.

It all started in black and white. My brother had one of those big old TV sets in his room. If the antenna was pointed in the right direction, you could get BRT, and maybe even BRT2? But that was about it. It was on that little set that I discovered my love for film. I just had to put up with the snow on the screen.

We got a VCR at home pretty quickly. We won one in a raffle. My first girlfriend introduced me to the video store on Rooigemlaan, and I immediately became a customer. I rode 20 kilometers there and back for the videocassettes. I also became a customer at the video store in De Pinte.

Over the years, several other video stores were added, such as the video store in Nazareth, Roxy Center (Ghent), and Videodrome (Ghent). When the films also became available in libraries, it was even more of a treat. 

My love for films has only grown over the years. Although I can’t watch as many films now as I did in my younger years. Going to the movies is always a treat. Once, I wanted to leave the theater early during the monstrosity that was “Fifty Shades.”

I have organized a number of movie nights myself and enjoy sharing my love for this wonderful medium. The spark with my current wife actually started during a movie night where I showed the film “Le tout nouveau testament.” The film is particularly funny and original.

When I am in a city with a film museum, I always make sure to visit it. One recommendation is the Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam. 

I also try to go to the cinema when I travel. Every arthouse cinema has a different atmosphere. In Croydon (near London), we went to The David Lean Cinema, a small theater in a community center. By chance, they were showing a Belgian film called Rosalie.

As a film buff, I was naturally very pleased when the Cinéville pass was introduced. It gives you unlimited access to affiliated cinemas for a monthly fee of €22.50 in Belgium. 

Out of respect for the filmmakers, I have never tried to watch films on an illegal website. I was lucky enough to appear in Felix Van Groeningen’s film Belgica, which made me respect filmmakers even more.

I’m not a big streaming user because, thanks to my work at De Krook, I still have access to a lot of DVDs. 

Curious about my favorite movies? I created a board on Pinterest with my favorite movies. There are now 134 movies on it. Bugonia is the newest addition to the board. Fantastic film by the brilliant Yorgos Lanthimos.

In 2016, I wrote a short article entitled “Ode to video stores” on this blog. Feel free to read it.

© Dieter Bruyneel

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)