The Vice Guide to Travel

Taking a very different approach to travelogues, The Vice Guide to Travel—the first of a planned series taking Vice Magazine correspondents all over the world to visit the planet's weirdest and most dangerous places—offers an hour-shy collection of featurettes. Locations visited include a pygmy village in the Congo (where the correspondent hopes to glimpse a dinosaur rumored to live in the jungle), the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl, the slums of Rio, and the illegal arms markets of Pakistan (think: Discovery Channel with a black-comedy edge and you've got an idea of the general tone here, although one particularly chilling segment looks at a PLO-run boys club aimed at training the suicide bombers of tomorrow). While the correspondents are generally Vice staffers, there are cameo appearances by various pop-culture figures, including erstwhile Jackass Johnny Knoxville, comedian David Cross (of the HBO-aired Mr. Show fame, seen here in a bonus segment shot in China), and filmmaker Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation). Bound within a related hardcover book (with photos and info), DVD extras include additional brief sequences. All in all, this is a hit-and-miss affair (the segments are too short to offer any real depth) that should still be considered a strong optional purchase for larger or more eclectic travel collections. Aud: P. (E. Hulse)