CHILDHOOD TRAUMA THEATER: ALIEN AUTOPSY

In honor of our Film Issue we thought we’d resurrect Childhood Trauma Theater,  a fun game in which we force our friends to confront the moving images that left their deepest scars pre-pubes. Alone. While stoned. Let’s find out how it went with Alien Autopsy…

WHEN DRINKING BECOMES ART AND ART BECOMES AN EXCUSE TO DRINK, AKA HOW TO FILM A DRINKING BATTLE

Excessive drinking paired with art has always been deeply entrenched in any city’s culture. Berlin’s best proof is the cinematographic document Berlin Drinking Battle by Rolf S. Wolkenstein and Wolfgang Hogekamp. The film was made in 1989, just one night before the fall of the Berlin wall. Obviously, they managed to somehow document their benders on video (even if that was before the era of digital cameras) rather than being sensationalized as binge drinkers in the tabloids. We wanted to know how they got this show on the road and met up with Rolf S. Wolkenstein to have a sober little chat about schnapps and the 80s film scene.

FILM ISSUE - DEPPS OF THE WORLD

According to the internet, there are currently 11 Johnny Depps living and acting around the world. These foreign Johnnies can generally be described as actors who a) are cool, b) are talented, c) choose quirky roles, d) look good with long hair and stubble, and e) are like, totally dreamy. As a one-off Vice Film Issue special, here they are, all in the one room for the first time ever. It’s kind of like a Miss Universe for softly spoken rebels in denim jackets.

LONDON - SHANE MEADOWS WON’T DEAL WITH HOLLYWOOD

Shane Meadows tells us how, by rejecting some of the more diabolical temptations of the industry, he manages to make so many good British films – something that is very rare.

NEW YORK - GO TO OUR FILM ISSUE PARTY TONIGHT (UPDATE!)

The party for our Film Issue is tonight and if it's anything like the one for our last theme issue, which was all about photographs and people who shoot them, you will want to lissen up. We are holding a special contest for which the winner won't have to wait in line to get in. Whoever emails to this here address the best interview question for this guy (click for more) will get their name on the guest list and thus be able to breeze past everyone else who is scowling and complaining and trying to pull some scam in order to jump ahead. Just to be on the safe side, since there will only be one winner, you should still RSVP here though. UPDATE: Winner announced below.

LONDON - DAVID HOCKNEY'S ROMANTIC BREAKDOWN

Jack Hazan gave David Hockney a breakdown by making a film called A Bigger Splash about him. Simple as that. David didn’t know the cameras were rolling when he showered naked and cuddled Jack into the night, missing his German lover while thinking of tanned, lithe bodies slipping like serpents in the swimming pools of his paintings. He didn’t know. Or at least that’s what he said in the aftermath, pleading ignorance when presented with Jack’s film, a cinematic exploration of Hockney’s formative years.

AUSTRALIA - HELLO DARKNESS HORROR FILM FESTIVAL

I'll never forget the first horror film I saw. I was thirteen and my friend's older brother decided that we should all watch Evil Dead together. I remember thinking it was the most insane thing I'd ever seen and I'll likely never be able to erase the pencil-gouged-in-the-ankle scene from my otherwise pure mind. Way to go writer/director Sam Riami! Anyway, the point is that horror films (even the lazy, shitty ones generally) are awesome and that our friend and all round horror-connoisseur, Rachael Cotra, has curated a festival full of the incredible, thoughtful, scary and strangely beautiful variety that you should definitely get along to see. The launch is happening tonight at the Rooftop Bar at Curtain House with entertainment provided by Das Butcher and DJs Dark Cheese and Rabid Wastoid.

LOS ANGELES - WERNER HERZOG'S SCHOOL UNVEILED!

Rutger Hauer isn't the only one with a fancy film school. If you read our Film Issue interview with Werner Herzog, you might remember his teaser. He refused to reveal the name, stating that it was so good he had to trademark it first lest somebody swipe it from him. Well, we're happy to announce that Werner has announced that his Rogue Film School is open for business. It is not for bespectacled, beret-wearing sycophants who dress in black, as anyone familiar with the man's work might surmise. Instead it's for "those who have travelled on foot, who have worked as bouncers in sex clubs or wardens in a lunatic asylum, for those who are willing to learn about lock-picking or forging shooting permits in countries not favoring their projects."

NETHERLANDS - RUTGER HAUER THINKS HE TWIRLS TOO MUCH

You know who Rutger Hauer is. He's a badass. He's played in over 100 movies, and here's a list of our favourites: Blind Fury, Wedlock, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City and Blade Runner. That's right, Blade fucking Runner. Luckily for film as a genre, Rutger's now spreading his awesomeness around by giving yearly master classes for groups of professionals and students of film at the same time. They're held in the city of Rotterdam, in Rutger's home country the Netherlands. If you're one of the Chosen Ones to attend, you'll not only make a short movie under Rutger Hauer's tutelage, you'll also be given lectures by people like Paul Verhoeven and Roberto Rodriguez, and in the past, Chris Nolan as well. All right, enough name dropping, here's the interview. 

NEW YORK - INTRODUCING THE CREEPY CAM

When Vice told me that some fancy spy store sent them a new tiny hidden camera that screwed into a shirt button and they (the magazine, not the store) wanted me to use it to spy on people, I gave them an unflinching yes. I think I was imagining I was about to get involved in some James Bond-type shit. But then I found out that I was just supposed to go to the park and talk to people and invade their space. I wasn't disappointed though--I'm a lot better at being creepy than I am at espionage.