He was nostalgic for retro video stores. So he built one in his Silver Lake kitchen

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Chris Rose has warm memories of his time working at We Luv Video, a locally-owned video store in Austin, Texas.

In his early twenties, he completed film school at the University of Texas at Austin and then moved to New York City. There, he eventually became a producer for “The Daily Show.”

Rose, now 41 and working as a writer, director, and producer in Los Angeles, remembers the Austin store carrying a unique mix of unusual items and international films.

He describes it as an amazing, independent video store with a huge selection of films – just about anything you could imagine. They even carried foreign films from places like Britain and Japan that hadn’t been released in the US yet. It was a truly unique spot.

Rose’s thoughtfully curated film categories change from month to month, including his staff picks.

Rose may not be able to go to a video store anymore, but he doesn’t need to travel to rent movies. He’s created his own collection, similar to what the store offered but with his personal touch, right in the kitchen of his small Silver Lake bungalow, which also has a little backyard.

He got the idea for his Kitchen Video – a small, nostalgic shop like the video stores of the past – while he was working on his laptop at the kitchen table.

He recalls his time working at a video store, where they’d often have cheesy Stephen King movies playing in the background while they worked, barely paying attention. He points to “Maximum Overdrive” currently playing on an old Hitachi TV near the refrigerator as an example.

He decided to make working from home more enjoyable by putting movies on in the background. He describes the area beside his kitchen as unused and awkward – too large to be just a kitchen space, but too small to function as a dining room. He felt it needed something to liven it up.

Rose has a collection of VHS tapes – over twenty shelves full! Above the tapes, a bright red sign says “Kitchen Video,” playfully indicating that the room is both a kitchen and a video rental space.

Like We Luv Video and more traditional video rental stores like Blockbuster, Rose handpicks his staff favorites every month. This month’s category is cyberpunk, or “the internet is scary,” he says of the lineup, which includes “The Net,” “Fear Dot Com” and “Johnny Mnemonic.”

He still finds the title of the movie ‘Fear Dot Com’ incredibly funny.

Rose enjoys the thrill of finding unusual and quirky movies for his collection, and his unique personality really shines through in his choices.

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Since it’s become incredibly expensive to buy a home in Southern California, most people in Los Angeles rent. We’d love to see your rental space and hear about the personal touches you’ve added to make it feel like home.

He loves comedies that have a simple, clean look – films like “There’s Something About Mary,” “The Three Amigos,” and “Kung Fu Hustle.”

“It’s a trend,” he says with a chuckle.

Rose also features a category called Burning Hearts, which she playfully calls “messed-up romance movies.” It includes films like “Basic Instinct,” “Moonstruck,” and “Wild at Heart.”

He has a special collection of films he loves, even though critics didn’t like them – including “Con Air,” “Face/Off,” and “Point Break.” For his ‘Film School’ picks, he’s chosen classic, often-assigned movies like “Harold and Maude,” “The Last Picture Show,” and “Chinatown.” He also playfully connects the horror film “Ghost Ship” to the comedy “Encino Man” in a segment called ‘From Ship to Shore,’ featuring Pauly Shore.

He admits that one was the hardest to understand, taking him three hours to solve. He’d aimed for a clear connection between each film – through the director, actor, or writer – but found the effort difficult and, in the end, not worthwhile.

Being from Texas, he naturally dedicated a whole shelf above the kitchen door to his favorite classic films, including “Friday Night Lights,” “Clerks,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Paris, Texas,” and “Tender Mercies.”

Rose doesn’t open his Kitchen Video to everyone, but he loves sharing his videos with friends. He even provides old VCR players so they can borrow videos and watch them at home. He’s become so passionate about it that he’s created his own Kitchen Video merchandise, including hats, aprons, tote bags, and even membership cards – though he admits he might have gone a bit overboard!

He doesn’t just have a membership at one video store. He’s kept his old Blockbuster card from when he was a kid, and remembers how renting movies like “Rushmore,” “Raising Arizona,” and “The Graduate” really broadened his horizons.

Growing up in a small town in Texas, we didn’t have many options for watching movies – it was mostly just whatever was currently showing in theaters. That’s why going to Blockbuster and finding those lesser-known films felt like a real discovery.

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His apartment reflects Rose’s unique style-a blend of the desert-chic aesthetic of Marfa, Texas, and interesting finds from thrift stores.

His bedroom features a row of classic cowboy boots under a collection of felt hats. The living room showcases his love of country music with portraits of Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. He’s also decorated the space with paint-by-number pictures, a cow skull, and a flag he discovered at an antique store in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Leaving New York for L.A. felt like a fresh start, but I brought one thing with me from my old life: a coffee table I’d made from debris salvaged after Hurricane Sandy. It’s a reminder of where I came from, and a pretty cool conversation piece, honestly.

The living room features a mix of artwork, including portraits of Willie Nelson and Hank Williams, paint-by-number pictures, photographs, a cow skull reminiscent of Georgia O’Keeffe’s work, and a Bennington flag.

He describes his style as ‘repressed cowboy,’ explaining that he aims for a polished look but always with a playful, ironic twist, as the band Cactus Lee plays nearby.

But there’s one thing he truly cherishes: a glowing globe that was his grandfather’s. He says he’d rescue it first, even if his apartment was burning down.

Rose has a lot of movies, but he’s selective about which ones he buys, only choosing films he knows he’ll enjoy watching again and again. He actively searches for rare movies online and at places like Whammy in Echo Park, but his most treasured finds are the ones he discovers by chance while traveling between Texas and Los Angeles, browsing in thrift stores and Goodwills.

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Similar to his playful approach in his Kitchen Video, his apartment is filled with references to his favorite films. He pays $2,060 a month for the space, which includes a Pop Art painting of David Byrne (from the movie “True Stories”) and a print of an oil painting by Brandon Bird featuring Harrison Ford and a Sega console, both displayed in the living room.

Rose has recently taken up collecting audio cassettes and enjoys listening to them on an old-fashioned boombox with an antenna.

Rose believes there’s something special about older technology. She explains that the popularity of vinyl records proves this point. While she uses modern streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, she finds a unique satisfaction in the tangible experience of using physical media.

Rose also loves hosting movie nights for his friends in the backyard during the summer. It’s a simple pleasure he really values, especially after spending ten years living in a small studio apartment in New York City. He admits with a laugh, “I even managed to connect my old VCR to a modern projector so I can still watch movies from tapes!”

He usually picks movies for movie night that are both well-known and a little surprising. Recently, he showed the Los Angeles-based film “Swingers” from 1996, and next time, he’s planning to screen Wes Anderson’s debut, “Bottle Rocket.”

That’s not to say there isn’t room for B movies that are “spectacularly wild and bad,” he says.

He recently found a VHS copy of the 1990 film ‘Repo Jake’ and is looking forward to watching it. The movie stars Dan Haggerty, known from ‘Grizzly Adams,’ and the box describes the plot as a fast-paced adventure involving a dangerous criminal, a group of upset car owners, and a cruel pornography operation.

“This could be great for a showing,” the movie lover said, highlighting the fun of finding a film that’s hilariously bad.

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2025-09-22 13:32