Leisure

Maya Roth’s Big Love is a lot to love

Big Love just isn’t big enough to conquer all the staples of a social drama—free will, “love thy neighbor” and unrelenting feminism are just a few issues tackled in this revival of an ancient classic. Nevertheless, the performances are captivating, and the script is tinged with enough humor and cynicism to redeem the occasional dragging monologue.

By Madeline Reidy March 15, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices

Low never used to be a surprising band. These pioneers of the minimalist, glacially-paced subset of indie rock called slowcore made a name for themselves, beginning with their early ‘90s debut, by doing exactly what everyone expected: producing album after album of quietly gorgeous songs stealing plays from the Velvet Underground.

By Chris Norton March 15, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices

Album number seven from Andrew Bird finds the midwestern singer-songwriter returning to many of the elements that made his last few albums beloved by his fans. It makes for a good album, and while Armchair Apocrypha can’t quite match 2005’s excellent Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, it nonetheless stands as another remarkable entry in an increasingly varied and impressive oeuvre.

By P.S. Hepburn March 15, 2007

Leisure

You Taste Like A Burger: Red Ginger

Red Ginger is unusually quiet for a Wisconsin Avenue restaurant, but don’t let the empty tables fool you: this Caribbean eatery is everything you could want in a restaurant, and then some.

By Kathryn Brand March 15, 2007

Cartoons

In Poor Taste

By Alexandra Hart March 15, 2007

Voices

Carrying on: One man plays with his Wii

Back in middle school there was always one kid on the baseball team with gangly legs too long for his body and ears too big for his head: that athletic disaster that you didn’t want to see come up to bat, even though you knew that everybody gets to play in Little League. Remember how that kid didn’t really want to get up to bat either? I was that kid, and I excelled more in the field of videogames than on a physical field.

By Michael Bruns March 1, 2007

Leisure

Jack Gilbert says no to Heaven

Jack Gilbert’s collection of poems, “Refusing Heaven”, deserves the second round of attention its paperback reissue has received for its beautiful reflection upon the American poet’s adult life.

By Patrick Yarborough March 1, 2007

Leisure

Indie film: “Love in the Wrong Places”

Besides the frightening presence of Joan Rivers on every entertainment channel, there may be only one thing you can predict about Oscar season. Every actress on the red carpet is thinner than you. You can avoid this strange and recurring phenomenon by exploring the assortment of films offered by the DC Independent Film Fest.

By Madeline Reidy March 1, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: Arcade Fire, Neon Bible, Merge

The music that tugs most at our heartstrings is often the most divisive. In one camp you have those who prefer their music served raw and doused with emotion; in the other you have vicious detractors shouting labels like “emo” and “over the top” with bitter disapproval. The Arcade Fire’s emotive debut, Funeral, won over both camps by shrouding many of its emo leanings in ambiguity and lyrical imagery.

By Traviss Cassidy March 1, 2007

Leisure

Critical Voices: !!!, Myth Takes, Warp

With eight members and an emphasis on rhythm and danceability, !!! (conventionally pronounced “chk-chk-chk”) have sometimes lacked focus. While the band provides the perfect sound track to running really fast or freaking out, the human touch is often lost in the conglomeration of sounds. With Myth Takes !!! realize that those exclamation points can refer to emotion, not just excitement.

By Shira Hecht March 1, 2007