I'm having a problem that the VLC version in Debian/Jessie closes after about a second when trying to play .wmv files. I don't think it's VLC's fault entirely because Dragon Player does the same thing.
VLC will usually start to play the file - I can see the video and hear some audio - before it closes. This happens even with files that VLC used to play so it's not a problem with the file.
KMplayer, Kaffeine and Totem don't have this problem.