Wonder Watchlist

The beautiful thing about the internet has always been the ability to be social, connecting us with people from all around the world. My new interview series, More Than Movies, aims to highlight some of the people I’ve met through many hours spent online. Being active in the film community introduced me to more than just new films; it introduced me to the people who champion these movies. From those who post fun facts, physical media finds, or even their reviews, getting to know someone through the films they enjoy lets you really see who they are. Each new installment of More Than Movies is my way of using my platform to help introduce film lovers to one another.

Today I’d like to introduce Van Watches Movies, someone whose passion for physical media and the movie-going experience is infectious. If you’re active within the film space on Twitter, there’s no doubt you’ve seen his posts, from his daily countdown to Avatar: Fire and Ash to his Blu-Ray and Burritos. Each day, his posts add to the conversation in uniquely positive ways, using his humor and format knowledge to engage those who interact with him. Get to know him with his answers below and see what helped shape him into the cinephile he is today.

Megan Loucks: We’ve been following one another for some time, both sharing a love for film, especially physical media. But I’ve never heard you talk about your journey into this world. What sparked your passion for cinema? Was it a certain movie, or was it someone in your life?

Van Watches Movies: “You know it’s interesting because I’ve always just really been into movies, even as a kid as long as I could remember. I almost wish there was a specific movie that gave me some “Eureka!” moment, but I’ve just always been enamored with it. And my parents of course were always so supportive. When I think back to my childhood and why I was so into film, I can’t help but think of why I was watching it. Growing up I had pretty bad asthma, the tiniest things would set it off and cause a flare up in my lungs. I was sick a lot as a kid, because of that. I couldn’t play sports, and even when I tried I was just absolutely awful at them. So I spent a lot of time in front of the TV, or a giant movie screen at the movies. It was mostly my mom who took me to the movies just because he worked so much, but when I was about five though my dad took me to see Spider Man 2, and it was a pretty formidable memory for me.”

ML: Are there any cinema trips you remember as a child that were particularly formative to you?

VWM: “It was mostly my mom who took me to the movies just because my dad worked so much, but when I was about five my dad took me to see Spider Man 2, and it was a pretty formidable memory for me.”

ML: Do you remember your first piece of physical media that made you want to keep collecting? How old were you? And did you think that it would stick with you?

VWM: “I’m sure that there were other movies that came before this one that really were the start of my collection, but the oldest piece of physical media that I own is a copy of Spider Man (2002) on VHS. It doesn’t even have the sleeve it came with anymore, but I hold it pretty close to my heart. I’d like to think it became the introduction to my hobby.”

ML: You’ve cultivated quite a lot of attention over the internet for your posts, and I have got to admit, your burritos and Blu-ray posts have got to be my favorite. Did you think when you posted your first burrito and Blu-ray that it would garner that much attention? Also, what’s your go to taco bell order?

VWM: “You know it’s interesting because to this day I feel like I’m constantly meeting people who I look up to or even just random people in public who know me as the Blu-Rays and Burritos guy. I even flew to Indiana to watch One Battle After Another on IMAX 70mm, and one of the first people I talked to while I was waiting in that theater’s lobby recognized me from that, so it is a lot of fun. To answer your question, though, no. I never thought it would garner any of the attention it did, but that’s just kind of the game when it comes to social media and getting yourself out there. For whatever reason, virality is found in little, small pockets that sometimes go beyond even a little niche community.

As for my order, I tend to try out a lot of different things, BUT when I get a Blu-Ray with it it will always be a beefy 5-layer burrito with easy sour cream with a Baja Blast!”

ML: What is your favorite part of film? I know it’s a loaded question, but beyond the entertainment, what is it about film that makes you such a passionate cinephile?

VWM: “That is absolutely a loaded question, but there is just absolutely so much out there. In a strange way, I’ve always seen film and the medium as a whole as a machine that drives empathy. It demands it from us as viewers, to put ourselves in a position that fully understands why something is being reflected to us on screen. The way I see it great art is a product of who and what we are.”

ML: If someone were to ask you what 5 films are essential viewings to truly get to know you, what would they be?

VWM: “1. Donnie Darko (2001) is at the absolute top of my list. It’s just been one of those movies I just keep coming back to. I found it when I was a teenager and I remember it being one of the first movies I didn’t completely understand and being fine with that. I didn’t want someone else’s interpretation, I just wanted to decipher it for myself. It was a pretty big step for me, I think.

2. La Chimera (2023) I just found this to be a really beautiful film about loss and coping with that. How we deal with grief and how that can be portrayed on screen. I found the whole thing very moving and I think about it nearly everyday. Absolutely gorgeous film all around.

3. Magnolia (1999) I think this was just another instance of just finding the right film at the right time, and I’m also just a massive fan of Paul Thomas Anderson now. From the ages of 16 to about 21 years old, I worked as a projectionist at a movie theatre. At age 16 though I was beginning to finally make some money and naturally much of that would go towards building my physical media collection. Eventually I took a Blu-ray player to that job and after hours I would stick around to watch whatever I bought that week in one of our theaters. This was a film I stuck around until nearly 4 am to watch. It stuck with me.

4. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) This is kind of a strange one for me because I wouldn’t consider myself a religious person, but I did grow up with it. I was raised Catholic and I spent most of my childhood life in that world. My family are all still very much in that space, but I’ve distanced myself for a number of reasons. I struggle with the concept of faith and what that means for me. Strangely though, this film gives me a sense of comfort and understanding about the whole thing. I consider myself more of an agnostic now, but I really just do love the themes and concepts explored in this film. Even more so understanding all of the controversy behind it upon release.

5. Call Me By Your Name (2017) There’s so much behind what this film means to me, but at its core, it helped me come to terms with something I struggled with in my upbringing. I love the tone and gentle nature it has to offer, along with just incredible writing and gorgeous visuals.”

ML: Film often allows us to see the world from different perspectives, even bringing us into other worlds, if there was a filmmaker making a movie about your life and your struggles, who would you pick? And why?

VWM: “Chloe Zhao, and I want it to be known this is something I have thought about for a long time. I live in a pretty major city now, and I do love living here immensely, but for a very long time, I grew up in rural Oklahoma with not much city to look at. I grew up around farms, horses, and cattle, and fields that go on for miles. Admittedly, I hated where I lived growing up. It wasn’t until I moved across the country that I began to even miss what home looked like. I remember seeing The Rider and just thinking about how gorgeous that film looked, and tonally how it felt. I knew that feeling of sitting around the fire with my friends, or being at rodeos, even riding horses with my cousins. She took what felt like home to me and made me fall in love with it, even when I didn’t see it in front of me. Even when examining her later works, I find myself defending Eternals quite a bit; there’s just so much humanity in her work.”

ML: Not only are your burrito posts so fun to see, but you started doing an Avatar series of posts on your page. Where you post every day leading up to the film’s release, a picture of you watching the trailer in different locations. What made you want to start that series? What did you think after finally being able to see the film, and were you always a big Avatar fan?

VWM: “That’s such a funny thing to me, but to be honest it was all for the love of the game. I loved Avatar: The Way of Water way more than I expected to and I just felt myself anticipating Avatar: Fire and Ash forever. Finally when the trailer dropped, I just remember watching it over and over and analyzing certain shots, trying to put together the pieces. At one point, a friend of mine said something along the lines of “watching it every day until it comes out”, and that just went straight to my head. Admittedly, I think I was trying to make it go viral in the hopes that someone at Disney would see it and do something crazy, but alas, I stuck with it, and it felt just as rewarding.

Since its release, I can confidently say I loved the film, and I’m incredibly proud of all the work everyone put into making it happen. It truly takes a village to make any film! As far as my relationship to the franchise as a whole, I would say mostly yes, I was always a fan for the most part. I saw the film in 2009, and I just watched that thing on repeat. In the decade that past I kind of very slowly forgot about it, and began to re-think things. I hadn’t revisited it in years, and then one day I just chose to go back and watch it, and it was like I was 12 years old again.”

ML: In a world of streaming, and digital media where no one truly ever owns what they buy, why is physical media so important? What are some of your favorite pieces in your collection? 

VWM: “I’ve been collecting movies for as long as I can remember. It started with DVD, and then eventually I grew my Blu-ray collection and replaced what DVD’S I did have, which was a huge task as well. But as a whole for me there’s a lot of reasons I do it. The biggest is I just want to show support for the film industry in whatever way I can and to me this is my small way of giving back. A filmmaker and a crew put so much work into these 2-3 hours sitting on my shelf. If I ever made a movie that you could buy with 2 clicks on amazon I’d love to know someone owns it and paid to support it. I also just really dislike streaming, I would very much rather just pay for what I watch and have it readily available and in a much better quality. Censorship is also a thing, maybe not as big of a concern, but things are constantly being altered or removed from streaming services.
I have so many titles it’s almost hard to pick here:

• First and foremost I have an incredible 4K copy of Donnie Darko that Arrow Video put out. Incredible restoration. About two years ago though I was able to see the movie on 35mm with Richard Kelly in
  attendance. He was kind enough to sign my copy and take a photo with me, so that
  means quite a bit to me.
• A VHS copy of The Godfather signed by Francis Ford Coppola at a screening of
  Megalopolis with him in attendance.
• A 4K edition of Andrej Zulawski’s On The Silver Globe, this was put out by Mondovision and just as a whole is a really great set with a lot of supplemental material. The restoration of the film is just astounding work.”

ML: I’m someone who believes movies are much more than just movies, but to close us out, what do movies mean to you?

VWM: “It’s everything to me. I find it hard to even put into words, but that feeling of watching a moving image is unbeatable. A good movie, a bad movie, any movie. It’s the exploration of being able to find yourself in stories that aren’t yours. I feel as though I’ve learned about myself and the world just by experiencing this art form one film at a time.”

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Thank you for reading the first installment of More Than Movies. See you in the next one!