BY: Kiko Martinez | January 10, 2020 | 8:08 AM
Although the 2019 “retro comedy” VHYes is shot entirely on VHS and Betamax, there’s no need to unearth your old VHS player from the basement and try to remember how to fix the tracking. The film’s homemade look is supposed to be part of its overall appeal.
Set in the 1980s, VHYes follows Ralph (Mason McNulty), a 12-year-old who gets a video camcorder for Christmas and mistakenly records over his parents’ wedding tape. Ralph likes making video parodies of TV shows and infomercials with his best friend Josh (Rahm Braslaw), but he also likes to record late-night shows on cable he’s not supposed to watch. Bom-chicka-wah-wah.
The mishmash of content becomes VHYes.
It is directed by Jack Henry Robbins (Ghostmates), whose famous Hollywood parents, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, make cameos in his low-res opus. The unconventional coming-of-age film will screen as part of the “Fantastic Fest Presents” series at Alamo Drafthouses across the country and will be followed by a livestream Q&A with the filmmakers, cast and also daddy Robbins.
$12.25, Sunday, Jan. 12, 8 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse Park North, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 677-8500, drafthouse.com/san-antonio.
