Tracking Noise Goes West
A brief visit to Vinegar Syndrome's new pop-up shop in Denver
Last week, my dog and I (Matt) were on a road trip from Chicago to LA when we found ourselves passing through Colorado. I’d planned on spending the night in Denver but there was a crypto convention in town and all the hotels were booked, so instead we made the trek up to Boulder, potential future home of the Sundance Film Festival. As I planned our route for the following day, I realized we weren’t far from Vinegar Syndrome’s brick-and-mortar store in Lakeside, CO. They’d recently moved locations and hadn’t officially reopened yet, but I saw on their Instagram that they were having a pop-up on Thursday, so I decided to pay them a visit.
The next day, I arrived at a nondescript storefront inside a shopping center with a Ross Dress for Less and a Planet Fitness. At first, I thought I’d made a wrong turn until I noticed a sign with the Vinegar Syndrome logo and breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside, I was immediately greeted by a friendly woman named Theresa. After some light chit-chat, I asked if she’d mind me snapping some photos for the Substack and she said no, not at all, as long as I promised to tag them on IG. “Just make us look good,” she added. She wasn’t totally happy with the decor, as it’s only temporary until their new place is finished, but her caveat was totally unnecessary. After taking a quick look around, I’d already died and gone to physical media heaven.
On the counter in front of me were stacks of recent releases like The Substance, Nosferatu, Longlegs and Arrow Video’s new Cruising 4K limited edition box set. Behind me was an old TV playing There’s Something About Mary surrounded by vintage movie posters, stacks of used DVDs and VHS tapes, and some branded swag for The Archive (the store’s previous incarnation).
To my left was a kiosk filled with all of Vinegar Syndrome’s March new releases, including a VHS copy of Trey Parker’s first movie, Cannibal! The Musical, which (according to Wikipedia) he directed while he was a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Small world!
Across from this was a table filled with stacks of “out of print” releases, two of which — Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort and Kristoffer Borgli’s Sick of Myself — I would’ve grabbed if I didn’t already own them, as well as a row of shelves featuring just about every Vinegar Syndrome release you can imagine. At this point, I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be an expensive trip and grabbed one of the shopping baskets by the front door. I figured it might be a minute until I’m back in Colorado so why not go crazy and support a local business?
As I headed deeper inside, I breezed through the usual new and used bins, finding a couple random gems, like this 4K UHD of To Live and Die in L.A. (with rare slipcover!) and an out-of-print copy of Arrow’s True Romance 4K limited edition box set.
But what impressed me even more was the depth of their Laserdisc selection. Look at these titles. There’s hardly a bad one in the bunch. Although to be fair, I’ve never seen Pippin or Children of the Corn and I’m not sure if Species holds up. But still…
At the very back was a giant bookshelf which had some of my favorite finds of the day. I spotted the seminal Hollywood tome Down and Dirty Pictures, Peter Biskind’s chronicle of the 80s and 90s indie scene (which also contains a way-too-flattering-in-hindsight portrayal of Harvey Weinstein) and a novelization of Paul Schrader’s Hardcore written by his brother, Leonard Schrader, that I didn’t even know existed. They also had some cool vintage movie tie-in editions of the novels that spawned Kramer vs. Kramer, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and the legendary book-to-screen adaptation, Cocktail, as well as some old fanzines I’d never heard of before.
There was a massive vinyl section as well but it was almost time for me to get back on the road, so I hauled my heavy basket back up to the counter. Aside from some 4K copies of The Substance (one of my favorite films from last year) and The Terminator (a modern classic), all of my purchases were VS releases, such as:
SLIVER 4K Limited Edition Slipcase ($44.99) — An iconically cheesy 90s erotic thriller based on the novel by Ira Levin (author of Rosemary’s Baby), starring Sharon Stone and written by Joe Esztherhas (both hot off of Basic Instinct), produced by Hollywood legend Robert Evans (Chinatown, Marathon Man) and lensed by master cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, McCabe and Mrs. Miller… the list goes on). With such an insane pedigree there’s no way this film could miss… right?! Well, I recently watched it for the first time and to say the film doesn’t totally work would be an understatement. That said, it’s still a fun watch and the new box art designed by Adam Maida is absolutely stunning. This 4K remaster also features a (somewhat controversial) new look approved by director Philip Noyce (Dead Calm, Patriot Games) who claims that this version hews much closer to his original vision.
PHASE IV 4K Limited Edition Slipcase ($44.99) — The only feature film ever directed by Saul Bass, the Academy Award-winning graphic artist who (with his wife Elaine Bass) designed title sequences for dozens of classic films, as illustrated in this video. I watched the first ten minutes on my iPad about a month ago, but I was so blown away by what I’d seen that I had to stop watching and buy this 4K version so I can watch it properly on my big screen at home. All I know about the plot is that it has something to do with deadly hyperintelligent ants (?!) but the trippy visuals and groundbreaking visual effects still look incredible almost 50 years later.
NAVY SEALS 4K Limited Edition Deluxe Set ($44.99) — Another film I haven’t seen before, but the cast alone makes this worth the price of admission — Bill Paxton (Aliens, Twister, One False Move), Charlie Sheen (Platoon), Michael Biehn (The Terminator) and Dennis Haysbert (Heat). Dismissed by critics as a Top Gun knock-off upon release and lampooned by Kevin Smith’s Clerks for being “intellectually devoid,” the film does have its fans, like Kenneth Brown of Blu-ray.com who claims it’s “better than Top Gun.” I can’t wait to judge it for myself, but any movie where Bill Paxton plays a military sniper nicknamed “God” can’t be all bad.
VIRTUOSITY 4K Limited Edition Deluxe Set ($46.99) — This film is so bonkers that it almost defies description, but I’ll give it a shot: Set in a near-future Los Angeles, Denzel Washington plays an ex-cop serving time for murder who is tasked with hunting down a rogue computer program-slash-serial killer named SID trapped in the body of Russell Crowe, who not only chews the scenery but can heal himself by touching glass. A fascinating WTF-were-they-smoking precursor to classic sci-fi films like The Matrix, this film was way ahead of its time and a must-watch for fans of 90s cyberpunk like Demolition Man or Strange Days.
CONGO 4K Limited Edition Deluxe Set ($44.99) — I remember being disappointed by this film when I was a kid, and I liked just about everything back then. I was a huge Michael Crichton fan and worshipped at the altar of Jurassic Park so I’d read the book in advance, but for whatever reason it wasn’t hitting for 11-year-old me. When Vinegar Syndrome announced this beautiful box set, I was a little confused. That movie? Really? But then I looked at the credits — directed by Frank Marshall (Spielberg’s longtime producing partner), shot by Allen Daviau (E.T.) with music by Jerry Goldsmith (Chinatown, Alien, Basic Instinct), a script by John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck, Doubt, Joe Versus the Volcano), and performances by Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson, Delroy Lindo and Tim Curry??? That’s a damn Murderers’ Row of talent right there. Maybe it’s time to give Congo another shot.
THIEVES LIKE US Limited Edition ($39.99) — Based on the novel by Edward Anderson, which was also the basis for another great film (Nicholas Ray’s They Live By Night), this is one of my all-time favorite Robert Altman movies. The last time I bought this was on DVD so I figured it was time for me to upgrade. Featuring yet another heartbreakingly realistic performance by Shelley Duvall, a script by Joan Tewkesberry (Nashville) and costumes by Polly Platt (the subject of this season of Karina Longworth’s essential You Must Remember This podcast), it plays like a shaggier, more minor key version of Bonnie and Clyde, so if any of that sounds appealing to you, be sure to check it out.
Before I left, I asked Theresa when the new store would be officially open and she said she didn’t have an exact date quite yet, but that they’d be doing pop-ups like this one weekly. So if you live in the area, be sure to follow their official Instagram account for updates and swing by if you can. Everything I mentioned in this post can be purchased via the official Vinegar Syndrome website or by DM-ing @vinegarsyndromedenver on IG.
Finally, I discovered on my way out that this nondescript shopping center I found myself in also happened to be home of iconic family Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita, immortalized in this classic episode of South Park as well as this documentary about Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s quest to renovate this local landmark. I couldn’t leave town without grabbing a few (admittedly not great) pics of me and my dog, Freddie, like a couple of gringos.
That’s all for now. See you next time!
— Matt & Dave