There are two ways to install the VLC media player. You can install VLC using the Ubuntu software center (VLC 1.1.11) or you can install the latest version (VLC 1.1.12) using the n-muench ppa for vlc.
To install VLC 1.1.12 open a terminal window (press SuperKey and type: terminal) and copy+paste the following lines:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n-muench/vlc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc mozilla-plugin-vlc
To start VLC press SuperKey and type: vlc
VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols. Read more about VLC