Uncovering Hidden Gems: A Trip Down VHS Memory Lane
In an age where the film industry is consistently on the hunt for the next potential reboot, they may have stumbled upon a goldmine in the form of an emporium filled with some of the most unexplored VHS tapes ever produced. This unlikely source was not exactly the draw for Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, co-stars of Caught Stealing, to visit Kim’s Video Underground at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Manhattan, but their rummaging may have possibly uncovered a future Gymkata remake for Butler.
Kim’s Video has a bit of a sentimental feeling for New Yorkers of a particular era, as it was once a portal into the bizarre landscape of the movie cosmos. With various outlets scattered across lower Manhattan, this video rental store was a hallmark of the city’s scenery during the 90s and early 2000s. Given its nostalgic aura, it was selected to be depicted in the 90s-inspired crime drama.
An interesting fact is that the retail shop was emulated in paying tribute by replicating its distinct Avenue A facade as part of the set design for the film. Kravitz, a native New Yorker, used to be a regular patron of Kim’s. During her scan of the collection at Kim’s Video Underground, she reminisced, ‘I felt like I lived there.’
When it came to their picks, Butler and Kravitz initiated their exploration with one of the relatively well-known choices: Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, featuring Griffin Dunne, who also shares screen space in Caught Stealing. Butler praised, ‘This movie is stellar. It was the first one we discussed when planning [Caught Stealing]. Such an entertaining Scorsese piece.’
Kravitz jumped in with her admiration, ‘(The movie) is excellent. Its screwball comedy is something else. Griffin is hilariously superb in it.’ They also mentioned watching Brian De Palma’s suspense thriller Blow Out from 1981 during the production of Caught Stealing while also giving a nod to Jackie Chan films, Kevin Smith’s Tusk, and Darren Aronofsky’s directorial debut, Pi.
When perusing, they also discovered a variety of unusual low-budget movies such as Gymkata, a martial arts movie from 1985 featuring Kurt Thomas, an Olympic gymnast, and The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, a TV movie starring a young John Travolta as a teen with an extremely delicate immune system, necessitating his living inside a bubble-like incubator.
Kravitz, picking up the latter, jokingly suggested Butler should consider remaking it. The trip back to this nostalgic world provoked warm-hearted memories of the era of VHS tapes and visiting video rental stores. Kravitz shared her fond recollections of watching rented movies time and again within the three- to five-day rental period.
‘The pressure of returning the movie ensured it was watched multiples times,’ she noted. Butler added his thoughts on the unique decision-making process forced by a physical visit to a movie rental shop.
‘The trip compelled you to settle on a specific choice,’ he explained. ‘Now, we find ourselves spending hours browsing through a streaming platform without watching anything. The transition from physical to digital has truly changed the dynamics of movie watching.’