Vinyl

Watched this and did not get the film I was expecting. Its called Vinyl and it talks about being a film about record collecting but its just as much, if not more, about the film maker himself.

Having just watched another documentary that felt very fake, false and constructed what you get here feels completely honest and thats what makes it interesting and involving. I think many of us are collectors of one thing or another and will certainly relate to some of the people in the film.

Very well edited too, while you might want to see and hear more about the records in this film, that is not what the film is ultimately about.

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!

Excellent, excellent film about record collectors from the perspective of a film maker AND record collector. What's so unique about Alan Zweig's documentation, is that he includes his own person in it, sometimes filming a location and himself in a mirror, or speaking directly to the audience about his private and personal thoughts. The other record collectors portrayed in this 110 minutes movie are beyond belief; can you imagine someone seriously claiming to collect EVERY song ever made? Or being able to tell the tracklists of ALL of his ten-thousands of albums by heart? "Vinyl"will blow your mind beyond the subject of sheer record collecting. It's a study on human obsessions in general.

Vinyl does deliver on its promise of delving deeply into the psyche of record collectors and their hobby/habit/obsession. What I didn't expect (and regretted slightly) was the filmmakers constant maudlin monologues on his state of mind. While funny, and occasionally actually making sense, and even sometimes referring to record collecting they got very distracting. I just wished he would shut up after a while so we could get back to the real stars.

And what a motley collection of obsessives are gathered in this hour and a half. Ranging from the guy who wants to collect every song ever produced, to the gal who stands by in comatose shock as her baby jumps all over her vinyl collection, emitting satisfying crunching sounds as her posterior meets its target.

Offering real insights into what could be described as an affliction, Vinyl covers a lot in its time and while proffing up many belly laughs perhaps gets a bit too serious about its subject matter. Satisfying nonetheless.

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.