Leisure

Reviews and think pieces on music, movies, art, and theater.

Leisure

Critical Voices: Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Back in high school, my precocious self had an idea. I was going to write—for Rolling Stone, no less!—an article on Kanye West and his role as “This Generation’s Beatles.” Although most aspects of the story make 2010 me cringe, I’ve got to hand it to myself: 14-year-old me sure had foresight.

By November 18, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Girls, Broken Dreams Club

Next Monday, indie band Girls will release Broken Dreams Club, their first offering since 2009’s creatively titled Album. The EP’s overarching theme is singer Christopher Owen’s unconventional childhood in the Children of God cult—a group that, according to Owens in FAQ magazine, tried “to raise a generation of kids that were not spoiled at all by the world.”

By November 18, 2010

Leisure

Suffer for Fashion: No more knockoff knickers

Times may get a little tougher for quick-to-market fashion designers this January. Under a new Congress, legislation on unethical practices in the fashion industry might get a second wind, and plagiarists have every reason to be shivering in their knockoff Lanvin boots.

By November 18, 2010

Leisure

Literary Tools: Ironically intellectual

The youthful American literary journal n+1 is known for its social, literary, and political commentary, with a particularly keen eye for theoretical musings. The editors claim to embrace theory, but also reject the way academia prostitutes and exploits worthwhile ideas, and criticize the commodification of culture.

By November 18, 2010

Leisure

For films that are really underground

The building at 2301 M Street does not look like a haven for culture. It’s big, gray, and industrial looking, and flanked by two equally bland office buildings. But if you head down a set of concrete stairs to the sub-sidewalk level, you’ll stumble upon a temple to the art of motion picture: the West End Cinema.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

Four Lions declares a fatwa on your funny bone

What kind of stories does a bumbling, would-be homegrown jihadist tell his son before tucking him in to bed? According to Four Lions, the provocatively dark debut comedy from British satirist Chris Morris, the same children’s stories we all know.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

Int’l ecoNOMics

At noon on a typical weekday, groggy students coming from their morning classes have formed a slow line in front of the Leo’s wrap counter. On Tuesday, in Copley Formal Lounge, however, a full room of students was snaked around the room in line for Moby Dick catering.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

Side A/Side B: Kid Cudi vs. Cee Lo Green

Maligned by East Coast hip-hop classicists but embraced by hipsters and alt-rockers, Kid Cudi’s debut album was part of an important paradigm shift in rap music. Swapping Timberland boots and braggadocio for skinny jeans and emotive introspection, Man on the Moon: The End of Days marked the beginning of a more melodic, emotional era for rap music.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

Rub Some Dirt On It: Teach me how to play

I’m not much of an explorer when it comes to slogging through the University’s course catalog. I know which classes I need to take, I know where to look for them, and I go and get them. For many semesters, this kept me from stumbling across a gem hidden among Georgetown’s other courses: the Leisure and Recreation Education classes.

By November 11, 2010

Leisure

American cuisine from a New York eatery… in D.C.

Who doesn’t love Teddy Roosevelt? He shot bears, he’s on Mount Rushmore, and he had one of American history’s best mustaches. That must be why at the P.J. Clarke’s near the Farragut West Metro stop, the biggest and most prominent of the hundreds of framed, old-timey pictures is a giant painting of our mustachioed 26th president.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Georgetown photographers get exposed

In the three years since its inception, FotoWeek DC has become a photography festival recognized worldwide for its gallery exhibitions all over Washington, D.C. It features speakers, workshops, and a competition with 13 categories, ranging from photojournalism to mobile phone photography—meaning that you could go up against pros from all around the world.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Matt & Kim, Sidewalks

On Sidewalks, Brooklyn drum-‘n-keys duo Matt & Kim stick to the formula of enthusiastic pop tunes with a twinge of youthful nostalgia that they established on their 2009 breakout album, Grand. By singing about concrete, sidewalks, and sleeping on rooftops, these wistful teenagers find joy adrift in an urban landscape.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Elvis Costello, National Ransom

Elvis Costello is a rock legend. He has continued to explore new genres since the late ‘70s, when he first grabbed America’s attention as a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols on Saturday Night Live. Starting as a leader in the New Wave movement, he explored soul, pop, and jazz, with varying degrees of success.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Literary Tools: Comic book of revelations

I love a good end-of-days story. But the doomsday genre, which was once packed with literature like The Stand and Lucifer’s Hammer, lay fallow for the better part of my life, tainted by the hyper-Christian, Rapture-inspired fiction like Left Behind and Kevin Costner-directed schlock like The Postman. Luckily, the apocalypse was saved.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Suffer for Fashion: Have you herd about wool?

As another frigid winter grasps the Hilltop with its icy claw, instead of a cotton, polyester, or synthetic sweater, consider opting for a wool one. Grandma’s often-neglected hand-knitted gifts are becoming increasingly more visible in fashion magazines and on the runway thanks to the public’s rekindled desire to wear wool.

By November 4, 2010

Leisure

Who’s up for a little Gross Indecency

This week, Oscar Wilde is on trial in the Black Box Theater. From Thursday, Oct. 28 to Saturday, Nov. 6, Georgetown’s Nomadic Theatre is staging Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, a play by Moisés Kaufman that portrays the Victorian playwright’s prosecution for homosexual acts with an aristocrat’s son.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

Kinseys preserve culture

At the center of the Kinsey Collection lies a stone. It is no larger than a brick, it is weathered with age, and it seems like it could have come from anywhere. But once you know the history of the stone, it’s significance becomes profound.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

Freud had a sweet beard, too

Considering the kind of notoriety that Zach Galifianakis has gained since The Hangover, it wouldn’t be surprising if his next couple of features were half-assed moneymakers with sub-par supporting casts. But It’s Kind of a Funny Story is not that kind of film.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

What would prep do?

Even if you haven’t heard of the College Prepster, if you go to Georgetown you’re familiar with her style. College Prepster is a blog run by Carly Heitlinger (MSB ’12), a junior with a passion for sharing her love of all things preppy with the world. This fall, Heitlinger expanded to books with her self-published work, The Freshman 50.

By October 28, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Diplo, Blow Your Head, Volume 1: Diplo Presents Dubstep

Adam Wentz, better known as DJ Diplodicus or Diplo, has made a career out of combining the freshest and most exotic styles of dance music from all over the world into his own brand of danceable party music.

By October 28, 2010