Vinyl (2000)

the audience applauded

Sorry, this movie sucks

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Pretty damned near brilliant. Director Zweig interviews, nay - psycho-analyzes, and CROSS-EXAMINES - record collectors in an effort to understand the roots of his own obsessiveness, loneliness and feelings of self-loathing. Among the collectors he's interviews are Harvey Pekar, Guy Madden and Bruce La Bruce, though nobody is identified in the film. Make no mistake, some of the collectors put under his microscope are quite sick, more hoarders than collectors, allowing their obsessions to paint their lives into a frighteningly cluttered corner. Though - as a collector myself - it could be rather painful to watch at times, and though the directors soul-searching occasionally wanders a bit too far, this is really a MUST SEE for any collector!

Alan blows a lot of time on this film lamenting that he wishes he'd spent his life being a family man rather than being some guy on his own buying a lot of records. I don't want to judge too harshly, but it seems to me that a possible reason the guy has lucked out is he is both whiny and domineering judging from the way he conducts interviews, he doesn't seem to like other people in his life talking much or getting too much attention, again going by his interviewing style and how the film is edited.The collectors interviewed all seem charming, relatively happy and very quirky to me and some had cool anecdotes. I would have enjoyed this film far more if that's what comprised the whole film, rather than the 'I'm in a hobby that's for freaks/ help me I think I have OCD/ what have I done with my life' ramblings. Also the scene where Alan tries to scam on a female collector by trying to seduce her with an elevator muzak version of Over the Rainbow is as others have pointed out, very creepy.Daniel Richler and Don McKellar look like they have great collections, it would be great if they were in the film for more than 30 seconds each.

Why do people always tell you what they wish a film had been or what they would have done or what there should have been more of or less of? "There should have been more audiophiles". "There should have been less of the filmmaker". "It would have been better if my uncle was in it". etc etc blah blah blah. Me and my friends love this movie and we rent it whenever we can find it. I think the reason some people don't get it is because they want it to be ONLY about record collecting and while it is about that, it's about a lot more too. I'm not a record collector myself, although some of my friends are and I wouldn't have wanted it to be some celebration of record collecting. If you want a movie about audiophiles, make it yourself. Skimming through the reviews on IMDb, it seems like the most vocal reviewers are usually the ones who have the most complaints. And sometimes those complaints are entertaining but it shouldn't give you the wrong impression of this very unique and very cool flick. Oh and by the way, one of my friends told me that reviewer "Ivan Haffenden" is actually in the movie and so his comments should be ignored more than most.

I really enjoyed Ivan Haffenden's portrayal of Zack X. McBuick MCMLIX--and found his performance as strong, nay, stronger, than that of James Coburn playing Britt in The Magnificent Seven (1960). Take the following line, for example: "Nobody throws my mint copy of Like Long Hair by Paul Revere & the Raiders at me and says it originally came out on Jerden. Nobody." The tension is palpable.The discussions of the relative merits of analog versus digital provided new insight into the rich and complex world of mindless polemic.Also worthy of note were the many antique cars and musical instruments that dotted this cinematic landscape. I was especially taken by the 1965 Studebaker Lark (the built-in vanity kit was an innovative feature!) and what appeared to be a Mellotron MkII of similar vintage.Overall, I give this picture high marks both for content and neat stuff.