Vice Magazine is known for covering stories in the most disturbing parts of the world. In this documentary, the Vice crew set out to Chernobyl, Pakistan, Paraguay, Rio, Beirut, Congo, and Bulgaria to document their search for guns, radiation bombs, drug dealing dancers, five legged bears, and dinosaurs.

PLO BOY SCOUTS IN BEIRUT
The footy for this starts off pretty nice. Little kids trying to skateboard in the streets, and then cuts to Shane Smith, Vice Co-Founder talking about a group called Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade thats main function is getting kids to go to Israel and blow themselves up. There, it's well respected to blow ones self up for his/her country. As disturbing as that seems, the children have learned songs for their dedication on suicide bombing.

Take note on the lyrics three children sing about killing all Israelians while their parents sit next to them and clap.

Note to self: Don't ever move to Beirut.

BULGARIAN DIRTY BOMBS
“So that’s how you set off a DIRTY BOMB made out of cessiam or some radioactive material. In New York it wouldn’t kill that many people, maybe a couple thousand people but it would erradiate all of Manhattan.”
-SHANE SMITH (more...)

On November 2, Canadian acts Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy played a show many people have mixed feelings about including myself.  The first act shall now and forever remain nameless because it was this act that inspired nothing but drunken frustration. Basically, the act consisted of a solo singer/songwriter singing a Dave Matthews style song and just when the audience thinks the first song is over, he samples the chord progression in his laptop and adds layers that could have easily been created by a four-year-old using Garage Band. After about forty-five minutes of this earshattering mess, it all stops and the crowd has a chance to regroup and gather their thoughts. 
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American Gangster is one of those films that when you first hear the details of the project you think the film is destined for greatness. The producer Brian Grazer and screenwriter Stephen Zaillian both have Oscars for their past work. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, the very talented director who has had a tremendous amount of success in many different genres. Including a previous trip into the crime drama genre with Black Rain, a tense and entertaining film about an American cop investigating a personal case in Japan. American Gangster also stars two of the most popular and talented actors currently working in American cinema, Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Given the talent behind American Gangster anything other than a modern masterpiece could be considered a disappointment.
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Synopsis:

The movie starts off with central character, Zia (played marvelously by Patrick Fugit), who slits his wrists because of his girlfriend and ends up stuck in purgatory with fellow suicide commiters. He now lives and makes pizza in a world much like ours, except nobody smiles and the colors run vague. He pals up with Eugene, who's failed rock career led him to commit the funniest suicide in the film, and soon discovers his girlfriend killed herself weeks after his funeral. They then embark on a road trip to find her. Hilarity ensues.

Chase thinks!:

Casting Directors do not get enough credit, so I am going start by saying thank you to Shannon Makhanian for casting Tom Waits in this film. His performance as Kneller was nothing less than brilliant.

Goran Dukic perfectly adapted Etgar Keret’s short story, “Kneller’s Happy Campers,” without flaw. This dark comedy has everything any successful dark comedy should: a good story (see above), a sidekick (played by Shea Whigham who completely stole the show), a well constructed soundtrack (mixed with Joy Division and Tom Waits with hilarious bits from
There are movies that make me laugh and movies that have me on the edge of my seat. And then there are movies that make me feel something different. There's something it does in the pit of my stomach or maybe my heart. It's like pride swelling up inside or a feeling of joy that makes everything seem ok. Those are the movies that stick with me. Wristcutters: A Love Story is that kind of movie.

It's a movie about life, not death. Please go see it.

Wristcutters opened nationwide today, and is only playing at AMC Cityplace off Haskell and 75 in Dallas. No partying this weekend just Wristcutting.

After dropping out of high school and then college after the first day, you may feel like your life has no direction. You'd be right if you weren't Zach Condon, which you're not, but he is. What Condon did in this situation was go to Europe and live for a while and come back to his home town in New Mexico to introduce his version of Balkan gypsy music via his recording name, Beirut.

In his second full length album, The Flying Club Cup, Condon reveals a wide gamut of influences in addition to the heavy-footed Eastern European waltzes that brought him fame (of sorts). The Flying Club Cup stands on the original Balkan foundation, but also makes stops in other areas of the world, including Brazil.

This new album released October 9, 2007 on Ba Da Bing! Records shows Condon in a more musically mature light both in his voice and his song structure of which the song Nantes is a perfect example. There's still plenty of folkish drinking songs, so get drunk and go buy this album. Finally, something you won't regret after a night of heavy drinking!

All too often in the indie music scene, artists will attempt to outdo each other's quirkiness or wit, which ends up to be musical ideas with no substance or meaning. Then there's the 2007 Sub Pop release, Cease to Begin by Band of Horses, which calls back to the old days of when artists were only concerned with making good music. Cease to Begin is one of those front-to-back albums that is not afraid to elaborate on where indie has been as well as show where it could go.

Using ethereal guitar melodies and vocal lines reminiscent of The Shins, vocalist/guitarist Ben Bridwell takes listeners on a beautifully landscaped journey clocking in at just over thirty minutes of quality tracks. Highlights include Is There a Ghost, No One's Gonna Love You and The General Specific for sheer beauty and unifying qualities that make up Cease to Begin.

This is one of the important indie albums that reminds us all of why we fell in love with this music in the first place, and gives an optimistic look into the future of indie music. Cease to Begin combines fantastic story telling and strong musical gestures to create a fully loaded album as a worthy follow up to Everything All the Time.

Since I’m the horror guy/MAN of the website I decided to do a top 5 horror movie countdown in honor of the holiest of holidays, Halloween. However, many top lists suffer from being too long. So this list will only consist of the top 5 horror films of all time. There will be a new movie added everyday until Halloween. Without further delay, I give you the five films I love more than my future children.



Many people feel Bill Paxton is just a second rate leading man and a first rate character actor, but there is much more to the man. For instance, Bill Paxton directed this criminally overlooked horror film.

Frailty is a combination of a great B-movie script and A-film production values, including Matthew McConaughey as the lead. The film constantly takes chances that always work in the end and contains some very memorable images, including the scene where the angel comes down from Heaven to give execution orders to Mr. Meiks. As a horror movie, Frailty doesn’t contain a lot of jolting scares, but that is not its game. Frailty slowly gets under your skin and is intelligently creepy.

Some people believe in the myth of the werewolf; a mystical creature that is a man during the day but turns into a ferocious half man half wolf creature when there is a full moon. Some people also believe in the myth that there has never been a good werewolf movie made. I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty that the second myth is false. There are at least two good werewolf movies and one them is The Howling, the number 4 selection in this horror countdown.
The Howling was written by John Sayles; the indie darling behind Lone Star and Men with Guns. Sales involvement is evident in the fact that The Howling has smarter more developed characters than those that usually appear in horror films. Sayles talent is also obvious in the fact that the film has some clever things to say about cults and lust.
The Howling also has great transformation scenes, some nice nods to past horror films, and suspenseful hunting/chase sequences. However, the main reason The Howling is so dear to the horror heart is because of the horribly fantastic ending. I will just say that it revolves around a live newscast. If you are one of the people that believe in the myth that there has never been a solid werewolf movie, I demand that you watch The Howling.Evil Dead 2 may be classified as a sequel, but it is really more of a remake of the first film, containing the same premise and similar set up as the original. However, despite being a remake there are many fresh and bloody great moments to be found in Evil Dead 2.The film consists of one blood laced sequence after another. Giving the viewer laughing dead animals, bloody chainsaws, and a dancing headless girlfriend.
Besides the gallons of blood and chainsaw induced dismemberments, there is also a large amount of laughs to be found in Evil Dead 2. The film’s joke friendly attitude lets the viewer know they’re suppose to have fun with the film and to just sit back and enjoy the carnage.
Evil Dead 2 does showcase some great horror scenes and moments. Although, the film’s humor is what ultimately elevates the film over its predecessor and what makes it a truly great film.

Every once in a while you will find yourself at the video store looking at a movie that you’ve never heard of but looks like it could be a solid film. You don’t know anything about the film other than the quick synopsis on the back and that it probably wasn’t released at the theaters, which is not a good sign. You debate whether or not to take the risk with your $3.99. The worst that can happen? You’re out a few bucks and two hours of your life. The best? You discover a true treasure made even better by the fact that you were expecting almost nothing from the film. The latter is the case with the gloomy horror gem Cemetery Man.
Even though Cemetery Man was never released in American theaters and took several years to even make it out on DVD, there are couple elements that add validity to the film even before first viewing. The film was directed by Michele Soavi; the protégé of Italian horror director and icon Dario Argento. Cemetery Man also stars Rupert Everett, who was already a fairly respected actor when the film was made
Rupert’s chance worked out because the film is fantastically bleak and bloody. The filmmaker’s love for blood is evident by many gruesomely great scenes, including a memorable battle between the lead and his recently deceased love by the pond. At times, Cemetery Man uses its horror premise to say some meaning full things about life and love. The film contains multiple love stories that involve the deceased and the living and all of them containing a decent amount of heartache and horror. Cemetery Man does a fine job of blending humor, horror and drama all together to create a unique cinematic experience, while never losing sight of its nihilistic vision.

Sorry Exorcist, I know you are use to being number one on any horror countdown, or at least top three, but not this list, not this time. The Exorcist is more of a drama about a mom dealing with her daughter’s severe condition with moments heavy on shock value scattered along the way. Number one deservedly belongs to the frighteningly realistic Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
A film that is a brutal and gruesome exercise in horror; shot with a documentary style, making the audience feel even more uneasy about the images on the screen. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre boats an iconic villain and startling moments of true terror. When Sally is running in the woods from Leatherface you truly believe this woman is running for her life. Watch this scene then another chase scene in a horror film and you will understand why this film is number one.

Neil Gaiman's highly-acclaimed book,Coraline, is two parts Tim Burton, two parts Roald Dahl, and one part Lewis Carroll. Stir in your most frightening childhood nightmares, and you're starting to get the idea.

Pick up this short, brilliant read aloud story for Halloween. You'll find yourself sympathizing with young Coraline when her disinterested, preoccupied parents send her away to count windows and doors. One door is not what it seems.

The first time Coraline ventures through it and enters the "other world," you will find her mirrored parents delightful. They're invested in Coraline. She's the center of their world, and they want her to stay forever. Over time, the other world reveals itself to be a menacing, frightful place; her other mother's dark button eyes and papery skin allude to their darker side.
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Jason Schwartzman, co-writer and star of the film The Darjeeling Limited visited the Angelika Film Center in Dallas on Tuesday for a special screening of the film.

It was the same movie theatre I had sat in time and time before. The same movie I saw a week ago. The same short film I downloaded on iTunes.

The lights dimmed and the movie started. I laughed at the same parts, plus some. The guy in front laughed the hardest. He knew who was going to be there. I wondered if he was just sucking up. Probably.

The movie was over and most everyone applauded. The lights began to fill the room.

"Blah, blah, blah. I work for The Quick. Blah, blah, blah. Without further-ado, Mr. Jason Schwartzman." More applause.

"Hi, I'm Jason."
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