Film Perfection

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Some hobbies just seem to attract completists. Here is one man's story about the consequences of obsession. Alan Zweig is a long time record collector, to the point that he has sacrificed other goals to make room for his hobby. The most notable of these compromises is his admission that he feels that the fact that he doesn't have a wife or kids is related to his collecting.I've collected different things all my life, so I felt like I could relate to some degree. The movie made me think about the nature of collecting things. Do we do it to fill a void in our lives? Alan makes some very good, very true points about how the mind of the collector works and where it can take you. He tells one story about getting rid of a particular record that he thought he was ready to part with, but has since regretted nearly every day. This is what you go through when you let your interests have too much influence in your life.Some of the different things I've collected: Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers action figures (preschool years); comic books (middle school years); records (high school and college); and downloading Mp3's and Disney collector pins (adulthood). I would also put movies in this category, even though I don't collect them in the traditional sense of buying them and keeping a stack of dvds. Watching them and writing IMDb reviews is along the same lines as what I used to do when I would get a new record or comic, digest it, and then fit it into a system of organization.Each time I have been a serious collector, I decided at some point to get rid of the majority of my collection and only keep what was really special. I was then able to move on to other things. Apparently, the hardcore collectors in this doc have never gone through that "flushing out" process. Also, I have never allowed my hobbies to become so all-consuming that they kept me from other goals, such as getting a degree or getting married. So I guess I have not experienced the depth of obsession that some of the collectors in this movie have lived through. But that doesn't mean I haven't been close. Thank goodness I don't have any regrets as deep as what Alan expresses. But I do wish I had used my time better and prepared more for the future. Seeing a little bit of myself in this sad story helps remind me I have to keep focused on what is really important.

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.

i wish the show had had real audiophiles instead of who they interviewed. i've been at it as long as any of the people shown. i'm a collector and love to play them but the folks interviewed showed no real sense of quality in the way they kept their records or cleaned them and the stereo gear shown is total junk..i invite the shows producers to interview myself so people could see a more sane quality way to enjoy vinyl in the way 99% of the world never knew existed on this medium. my own personal collection is at least 15,000 records 5000 45's and 2000 reel to reels and a sound system that displays their total quality.

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.