With Jason Schwartzman introducing their iPad app, The New Yorker knew they’d have to pull out all the stop when their iPhone iteration hit the store. Luckily having friends in high places means you can call on the likes of Lena Dunham and Jon Hamm a second time around; they put on a fake talk show, and it’s really, really wonderful.
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Vice largely built their name on Dos And Don’ts. A mix of photographer snapped and crowd-sourced images, they highlighted fashion faux pas, the next trends, or just the utterly ridiculous and embarrassing. Sure, half of them are so ludicrous you’ll struggle to stumble upon such a look at even the most out of hand college parties, while most of the rest are just hipster douchebags (this includes pretty much all of the Dos), but there’s something about the horror show mix that just makes you want to turn the page. They make for a funny little hardback book, and with Christmas just a few months away, this will steal a march on the competition to fill a fair few stockings.
Six word stories have gone a little viral of late, though SWSED (Six Work Story Every Day) have been collated a bunch for quite a while. And coupled with some sumptuous illustrations, they’re even more compelling.
Vice used to be the coolest kids on the block. Since launching in 1994 in Canada as Voice of Montreal, they changed their name a couple of years later and soon became the go-to alternative opinion and centre of the hipster world. Show the rest of this post…
You could pick up a free copy in the best bars, shops, clubs and cafes across the world. Style yourselves by their regularly updated Dos & Don’ts. Listen to some of the best bands around on their record label. And watch (admittedly brilliant) original content on their online television network VBS.tv. But in recent times it feels like the magazine has fallen by the way side, and though some of their special issues are worth a look, and their London venue The Old Blue Last is still one of Shoreditch’s hotspots, blind superficiality and an air of subsequent arrogance hasn’t served them well. They’re so edgy they light fashion shoots intentionally badly and give albums a review score of 0 out of 10 despite blatantly not listening to them. Can they pull it all back? Well, if The World According To Vice is an entertaining read, that would certainly help.
Billed as “a definitive collection of the best pieces from the irreverent, risqué and totally compelling magazine”, if you like the magazine, you’ll like the book. The favourite stories from UK editorial team Andy Capper, James Knight and Bruno Bayley, The World According To Vice is effectively a ‘best of…’ of the last few years of publications. From Babes Of The BNP and reports on Athens, Al Qaeda and The Meadows housing estates to interviews with Terry Gilliam, Spike Jonze and the gun-toting 11-year-olds living in some of Merseyside’s rougher areas, at times this book will shock, and very often amaze as Vice‘s dedication to finding a story shines through.
If you’re new to Vice, this is the perfect introduction, and certainly shows the magazine’s best side. There are some great articles, interesting photography, and though the frustrating need to be edgy remains, with the slick production values and gorgeous gold foil on the cover, said problems are mostly forgiven.
The World According To Vice is out November 25th, RRP at £20.
I’m going to be upfront with you, and if you have read many of my film reviews this won’t come as a surprise; I hate 3-D. Show the rest of this post…
The biggest con in the modern film industry, charging a bigger ticket price for technology that regularly harms the cinematic experience and certainly never brings anything new, (yes, that includes Avatar‘s cinematic release), I would happily see the back of the extra dimension and forever sit comfortably in front of regular old 2-D.
James Cameron, however, can’t get enough of it. Developing new technologies purely for Avatar and claiming to give a cinematic experience unparalleled by anything before it, while he’s certainly a forward thinker, his views are at times a little over the top. With Christmas now approaching, and at last some Avatar DVDs with the scent of a special feature, comes a new collector’s edition book. And yes, every page is in 3-D.
More of a guide to Pandora, Avatar‘s characters and the plot the film explores, this isn’t the ‘making of…’ you might have expected it to be, but still makes for a compelling read even if it goes into a little more detail than the film ever demanded. In it’s defense, the 3-D imagery is excellent implemented too. Somewhat subtle, though you’ll need the provided 3-D glasses for every page, creatures jump off every page which will have kids in screams of excitement at each page turn.
With special Avatar playing cards, stickers, pull-outs and posters dotted throughout the book, Avatar: Collector’s Vault Book 3-D is out now, and worth even the £34.99 pricetag.