Adjust Your Tracking – Review
One of the integral rules of Geekdom is that if you have 52.3% of any collection, you must complete it. ADJUST YOUR TRACKING is, at its heart, a love-letter to this.
Taking a chronological approach the movie, the film-makers use interviews to tell the story of VHS, from the initial release, through the explosion of local video stores, the homogenisation of Blockbuster and the eventual replacement by DVD and Blu-Ray. Despite their obvious love for the subculture and its members, sticking to this format means the film never slips into blind fannish self-praise or an inside joke. The interviewers seem to cover all ages but are sadly restricted to white men. I’m not sure if this is reflective of the collecting culture itself or the film-makers circle itself.
Ultimately your enjoyment of ADJUST YOUR TRACKING depends on your age greatly. Those of us that grew up in the 70s-90s and remember the VHS era will find a lot in this film to please, with memories of dusty old rental shops and chunky tape boxes. The love the interviewees have for this medium is writ large across all their segements, from discussion of the smell of finding old VHS to a recent ebay bidding war for a copy of TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE
I would have loved to see a bit more variety in the interviewees, there are collectors outside the horror and adult genres but they didn’t get much of a look in, also some women/POC would have given it a better mix. Despite these small grumbles, I loved this film, its passion and the dedicated geekdom it espouses. I would heartily recommend it to any who cares about movies, who considers themselves a geek or was born before the advent of DVD
I now make stuff for Kaiju Industries. You're welcome.
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