Monday, November 20, 2006
we will vacation, you can be my parasol
I caught the ResFest screening of the VICE Guide to Travel last night thanks Vice's lovely promo people, who hooked me up with passes so I didn't have to wait in line for an hour to get in.
I'll start by saying that I have (like most people, I assume) a love/hate relationship with VICE Magazine, in that I'd be lying if I said that the mag didn't make me laugh, but I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't think a lot of the writers are - at least in their print personas - the kind of hipper-than-thou people that you kind of want to slap in the face. Take that for what you will, because I'm sure people have said the same thing about me (not that I make them laugh, nor that I'm hip, but that they'd like to smack me). With that in mind, even if you lean more towards the slapping than the laughing, you might want to check this out.
The film works because, by in large, it takes the Vice dudes (and one Vice lady) out of their element. Being able to make some humourous wisecracks when talking about where to score cheap drinks in Vancouver is one thing, but going to the City of God (Rio's worst favela) is an entirely different story. Shane Smith sums things up by stating "basically, the world is fucked," and the VICE Guide to Travel goes to great lengths to show you that that statement is true. That's not to say there's not a balance between the shocking, the appalling, the funny, and even the somewhat heartening. In fact, a healthy balance between light/dark and serious/funny is one of the movie's strengths.
"Highlights" included Suroosh Alvi touring the world's largest illegal arms market in Pakistan, Shane Smith finding a guy in Bulgaria who allegedly sold a French journalist a warhead, and Pella Kagerman accompanying Smith to Chernoby, but I found myself entertained for the duration.
There's a bizarre Pop Matters review that contends that the DVD fails because "while they spotlight the problems, they don't offer any solutions" and that "as much as the editors would like to believe otherwise, this movie will have little impact on the course of history." Clearly this guy hasn't read Vice before, as "impacting the course of history" certainly isn't their MO.
Regardless of what you think of the magazine (or it's associated media empire), if you can separate yourself from the belief that it strives to be anything more than an entertainment piece, and as long as you're not the type who's easily offended, you'll probably enjoy the VICE Guide to Travel. If you happen to be the type of person who pretends to be offended by such un-PC escapades, you'll still probably snicker when no one is looking. And, if you happen to be the type of person who is actually offended by such things, you're probably a bit of a bore.
Of Montreal is at Richard's on February 7th. If you haven't acquired Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? through illicit channels (it's due out for real in January), you can cop two .mp3s from PFork.
Also via PFork, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are at Richard's on January 18th. You may or may not recall that Janet Weiss is now behind the kit for the Jicks, replacing John Moen, who left to drum for the Decemberists. No offense to John, but that's a hell of an upgrade.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? are at the Ukranian Hall on December 1st for an all-ager with Love and Mathematics, Run Chico Run, and Sean Wesley Wood.
Fun 100, Hot Loins, International Falls, and Pink Reason are at the Other Space (on top of the Media Club) for an all-ager on Wednesday. It's the first of biweekly all-ages shows at the Other Space, which also boasts are bar with ID. Truly, fun for all ages.
now playing: the Icarus Line - Best Two Out of Three
we will vacation, you can be my parasol
I caught the ResFest screening of the VICE Guide to Travel last night thanks Vice's lovely promo people, who hooked me up with passes so I didn't have to wait in line for an hour to get in.
I'll start by saying that I have (like most people, I assume) a love/hate relationship with VICE Magazine, in that I'd be lying if I said that the mag didn't make me laugh, but I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't think a lot of the writers are - at least in their print personas - the kind of hipper-than-thou people that you kind of want to slap in the face. Take that for what you will, because I'm sure people have said the same thing about me (not that I make them laugh, nor that I'm hip, but that they'd like to smack me). With that in mind, even if you lean more towards the slapping than the laughing, you might want to check this out.
The film works because, by in large, it takes the Vice dudes (and one Vice lady) out of their element. Being able to make some humourous wisecracks when talking about where to score cheap drinks in Vancouver is one thing, but going to the City of God (Rio's worst favela) is an entirely different story. Shane Smith sums things up by stating "basically, the world is fucked," and the VICE Guide to Travel goes to great lengths to show you that that statement is true. That's not to say there's not a balance between the shocking, the appalling, the funny, and even the somewhat heartening. In fact, a healthy balance between light/dark and serious/funny is one of the movie's strengths.
"Highlights" included Suroosh Alvi touring the world's largest illegal arms market in Pakistan, Shane Smith finding a guy in Bulgaria who allegedly sold a French journalist a warhead, and Pella Kagerman accompanying Smith to Chernoby, but I found myself entertained for the duration.
There's a bizarre Pop Matters review that contends that the DVD fails because "while they spotlight the problems, they don't offer any solutions" and that "as much as the editors would like to believe otherwise, this movie will have little impact on the course of history." Clearly this guy hasn't read Vice before, as "impacting the course of history" certainly isn't their MO.
Regardless of what you think of the magazine (or it's associated media empire), if you can separate yourself from the belief that it strives to be anything more than an entertainment piece, and as long as you're not the type who's easily offended, you'll probably enjoy the VICE Guide to Travel. If you happen to be the type of person who pretends to be offended by such un-PC escapades, you'll still probably snicker when no one is looking. And, if you happen to be the type of person who is actually offended by such things, you're probably a bit of a bore.
Of Montreal is at Richard's on February 7th. If you haven't acquired Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? through illicit channels (it's due out for real in January), you can cop two .mp3s from PFork.
Also via PFork, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are at Richard's on January 18th. You may or may not recall that Janet Weiss is now behind the kit for the Jicks, replacing John Moen, who left to drum for the Decemberists. No offense to John, but that's a hell of an upgrade.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? are at the Ukranian Hall on December 1st for an all-ager with Love and Mathematics, Run Chico Run, and Sean Wesley Wood.
Fun 100, Hot Loins, International Falls, and Pink Reason are at the Other Space (on top of the Media Club) for an all-ager on Wednesday. It's the first of biweekly all-ages shows at the Other Space, which also boasts are bar with ID. Truly, fun for all ages.
now playing: the Icarus Line - Best Two Out of Three
2 Comments:
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By 
, at
3:36 a.m.
loved this video.
By , at
11:10 a.m.
