Vinyl

I was lucky enough to see both the uncut version of the film and the finished product at the Welsh Premier in Wrexham. I must say how proud I am to be from North Wales which is where most of the filming took place, indeed the ending scene takes place in Rhuddlan Castle at a rock gig I attended.

This film is a proper British film based on a true story of what happened to Mike Peters of The Alarm and front man for Big Country in 2004.

Light hearted, funny, entertaining, a real feel good film and one of those films you will want to buy so that you can watch it again.

Some great actors in the film and good music too.

Definitely a hit in my eyes.

This is a low budget British film with ageing actors still showing that they can rock it.

It is inspired by true events from 2004, when Mike Peters of the Welsh rock group The Alarm released a single under the pseudonym of a teenage band called The Poppy Fields.

Peters plays a cameo in this film and The Alarm provide songs for the film.

Phil Daniels and Keith Allen are fellow band members who reunite after a funeral of a fellow rock star. The band fell out 20 years earlier in acrimonious circumstances. They start jamming while drunk and discover they still produce good music.

They look to get a record deal but get knocked back for being yesterday's men. The record executives want young bands with attitude and a teenage fan base.

Daniels gets the idea of getting some youngsters to form a band and mime their songs and hit the charts.

However Allen distrusts him and is an obstacle to this scheme. One of the teenage band member is a talented musician and might have history with Daniels.

Also it seems no one had a good look at the record contract the fake band signed.

The film starts of brightly, Daniels still has a lot of oomph in him. The latter part of the film loses its momentum when it goes for some melodrama. The film is short enough to have a feel good factor and great acting from the veterans.

I managed to catch Vinyl at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Wasn't expecting much from it as I'd not read anything about it and didn't recognize any of the cast. But I was so happy that I saw it. It was such a pleasant surprise. And it was based on a true story which made it feel even more charming. It follows an old British rock group trying to break back in to the music scene with no luck. So they audition and create a younger group who mime to their songs and become successful. The songs are great especially the main song, I guarantee you'll be singing it for days after you see it. A real crowd pleaser. Would love to see it again. Hope it comes out soon.

Wow, it was great to catch up with Phil Daniels after all these years! Living in the USA, I literally hadn't seen him in anything since I ventured into a Mpls. theater in late '79 for my initial viewing of "Quadrophenia". Oh, I'd heard him 'rapping' on Blur's "Parklife" and as the lead voice in "Chicken Run", but it was my first actual Phil sighting since the 70's! And I've got to say, he can still bring it as a lead actor. We're roughly the same age, so please keep it going, Phil. It's nice to see there's still hope for the over 55 crowd when you're getting plum roles, even if I'm still sitting here at this god-awful desk.

As for the movie, I'm going with a six rating. I was unfamiliar with Mike Peters' 2004 hoax where he released a song under a pseudonym, but I'm glad he was able to pull one over on the music industry which ultimately led to this film. And I always liked The Alarm, even if they were slagged off as short-lived "U2 wannabes" in the states.

Plenty of laughs in this file which is loosely based on a true story (and full of in-jokes for those in the know). It could easily have fallen into the trap of being predictable but it doesn't. It comes over as fresh, quirky and fun. The serious moments are very natural, not forced, the music is good and the young band are very easy on the eye for the younger viewers. For the rest of us, there's Phil Daniels as the ever-optimistic Johnny Jones and Keith Allen, looking typically curmudgeonly as Minto, plus some well-aimed swipes at the contemporary record industry. Very much in the tradition of Very Annie Mary or The Full Monty.