Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: Weezer, Hurley

Few bands are more frustrating than Weezer. They produced two of the best records of the last fifteen years, Weezer and the early emo classic Pinkerton, but recent, unfortunate efforts have reduced the band to a parody of itself. Their last few successful songs have been candy-coated, sugar pop anthems.

By September 16, 2010

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Critical Voices: The Walkmen, Lisbon

The Walkmen are proof that past failures do not prohibit future successes. But the thing is, you can never predict whether the band’s next album will be an instant classic or an ignored flop. After two lackluster albums, A Hundred Miles Off and Pussy Cats Starring The Walkmen, the band turned around and released 2008’s killer You & Me.

By September 16, 2010

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Warming Glow: Kicking TV up a notch

Blame it on Colonel Sanders. Blame it on the kiddie play areas at McDonald’s with the multicolored ball pits. Blame it on the good ol’ American attitude that bigger is always better, and so supersize is the only option. Whatever the culprit, the unavoidable fact remains: obesity in the United States is an epidemic.

By September 16, 2010

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Rub Some Dirt On It: Show me your tats

I cannot understand why anyone would pay money to have someone puncture their skin with tiny needles that stab at the speed of 100 times per second using a machine that sounds like a dental drill and stabs like a sewing machine, and then fill the resulting wounds with ink.

By September 16, 2010

Leisure

TGIF: The Friday Music Series makes its return

There was more music to hear on campus than Third Eye Blind last semester, yet some of the most talented acts came and went unnoticed by much of the student body. There were classical Brazilian guitarists and representatives of the Washington National Orchestra, Grammy-winning horn combos and Obama-approved gospel choirs.

By September 9, 2010

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The nerd herd swarms for indie comics

This Saturday is the start of the Small Press Expo, one of the largest exhibitions devoted to independent comics and graphic novels on the East Coast. Jeff Alexander, the expo’s executive director, gave us an insider’s tour of his own personal Fortress of Solitude.

By September 9, 2010

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Danny Trejo: Mexican badass

In 1982, First Blood made its debut, the first of a parade of Rambo films that have become synonymous with gratuitous violence in our pop-culture lexicon. But do you know how many people were killed in First Blood? Just one.

By September 9, 2010

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Critical Voices: Screaming Females, Castle Talk

What do you get when you put a charismatic female singer in front of a three-piece punk outfit that sounds like the bastard child of the Pixies and Blondie? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Well, sure. But also the New Brunswick, N.J.-based Screaming Females.

By September 9, 2010

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Critical Voices: Helmet, Seeing Eye Dog

Helmet is a band that has always broken the rules. When it formed in 1989 in New York City, Helmet was heavy and dissonant enough to win the fickle approval of the metal and post-hardcore scene, yet melodic enough to fit in with Seattle’s grunge rockers.

By September 9, 2010

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Literary Tools: Stranger than “faction”

Glenn Beck is a man of many talents. He draws millions of people to their radios every day. He gets millions more to tune into his Fox News show. And he wrote a terrible novel that hit the stands this July and immediately jumped to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List.

By September 9, 2010

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Suffer for Fashion: The many styles of leadership

Does the suit make the man, or does the man make the suit? When it comes to our world leaders, I’d like to think that they’re the ones making their clothes look good, but too often a statesman in the wrong ensemble leaves constituents holding their noses on both sides of the isle.

By September 9, 2010

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I now pronounce you Joe and Jane

In Oct. 2005, Elizabeth Grimm (GRD ’10) and Jacques Arsenault (COL ’01, GRD ’07) were married in Dahlgren Chapel. It was a beautiful, intimate ceremony with friends and family, followed by a reception in Copely Formal Lounge. As the night wore on, a group of uninvited guests joined the party.

By September 2, 2010

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How Gandhi got her groove back

The music on Rhythm & Culture’s new compilation, The Sound of Rhythm and Culture, would be hard to locate in a big box record store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart. Would you look under Electronic or World?

By September 2, 2010

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Look at this effing author

Twenty-seven-year-old Brooklyn author Tao Lin has been labeled a “hipster author” since his first book, a collection of poetry, was published in 2006. This (let’s be honest, slightly derogatory) pigeonholing was not completely unwarranted.

By September 2, 2010

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Animal Aussies

Drugs, guns, and bank robberies abound in Animal Kingdom. But don’t expect an action film. Animal Kingdom, the debut film from director David Michôd, is a slow-burning drama that just happens to involve action tropes.

By September 2, 2010

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Critical Voices: Interpol, Interpol

Interviews with members of Interpol preceding the release of their self-titled fourth studio effort may have caused some confusion about the album’s sound. Frontman Paul Banks alluded to something grand and orchestral, while drummer Sam Fogarino saw the album as a reminiscent of their 2002, debut and fan favorite, Turn on The Bright Lights.

By September 2, 2010

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Critical Voices: Hostage Calm, Hostage Calm

Most album releases live and die around the blogosphere buzz they generate, so when Hostage Calm missed their July release date this summer, things looked grim.

By September 2, 2010

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Rub Some Dirt on It: Not your grandma’s vaccine

In 2006, young women around the country were bombarded by TV commercials, billboards, and glossy magazine ads urging them to be “one less”—as in one less woman to contract human papillomavirus. The method? Gardasil, a new vaccine manufactured by Merck.

By September 2, 2010

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Warming Glow: Shut up, Ryan Seacrest

Georgetown, it’s time for a pop quiz. Take out a pen, eyes on your own paper—you know the drill. Your question is: Who won this year’s Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series?

By September 2, 2010

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20 years later, East German artists break through

A pair of inviting hands extends from a body, perched above a disordered sea of line and color. Close by, a man falls backwards, plunging downwards towards certain demise.

By August 27, 2010