Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Hold Steady, Heaven is Whenever

Whenever The Hold Steady is brought up in conversation, someone almost always references their “authenticity” and “gritty realism.”

By April 29, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: The National, High Violet

After struggling through years of anonymity, the mainstream success of Boxer and Alligator anointed the band as the voice of the brooding everyman.

By April 29, 2010

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Rub Some Dirt on It: Can you hear me now?

Admit it: at some point you were seduced by an old iPod commercial.

By April 29, 2010

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Warming Glow: Seriously, I am so damn Lost

I only need to be told to shut the hell up a couple of times before I get the message.

By April 29, 2010

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Psychotronia and D.C.’s B-movie lovers

Romeo Montague scrambles around Verona, searching for the object of his true desire while fleeing the manhunt of a rival bloodthirsty clan.

By April 22, 2010

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Leh’zur Ledger: A descent into chicken madness

A strange power has overcome me, and I fear my time is short before I succumb. With my waning strength, it is incumbent upon me to document my tale, so that it may serve as a warning.

By April 22, 2010

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An unholy, laugh-less Funeral

Let’s get this out of the way first: Death at a Funeral isn’t funny.

By April 22, 2010

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Critical Voices: Josh Ritter, So Runs the World Away

For his seventh studio album, Josh Ritter was faced with a daunting challenge: follow up two of modern folk music’s mini-masterpieces, 2006’s The Animal Years and 2007’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.

By April 22, 2010

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Critical Voices: Dr. Dog, Shame, Shame

Dr. Dog makes some of the most inoffensive music around—straight-up rock ‘n roll that echoes every classic rock reference you want to throw out there—but the Philadelphia band tends to be pretty polarizing.

By April 22, 2010

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Suffer for Fashion: From the Hilltop to Foxfield

Every spring, hundreds of Georgetown students rise early on the last Saturday of April to make the pilgrimage to a small, southern town located about a three-hour bus ride from campus.

By April 22, 2010

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Yr Blues: A music heart-to-heart

So this is my swan song. It’s been four great years writing for The Voice, but the time has come when we must regrettably part ways.

By April 22, 2010

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Nic Cage can still Kick-Ass

Alan Moore’s Watchmen was arguably the first post-modern superhero comic book, looking at the neuroses and psychology of the men and women who choose to don the capes and tights.

By April 16, 2010

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Hot wax and vinyl: Record Store Day

Valentine’s Day is a manufactured holiday created by the Hallmark Corporation. The “Christmas Season” pushes further into November every year. Arbor Day exists solely at the behest of a mysterious multinational pine tree conglomerate.

By April 15, 2010

Leisure

Let’s tame! That! Shrew!

There’s little subtlety to be found in The Taming of the Shrew, Mask and Bauble’s last production of the semester, which opens in Poulton Hall on Thursday night.

By April 15, 2010

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Critical Voices: Method Man, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon, Wu-Massacre

At first glance, it’s tough to tell whether Wu-Massacre is a triumph or a half-baked disappointment.

By April 15, 2010

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Critical Voices: The Tallest Man on Earth, The Wild Hunt

Listening to The Wild Hunt, the sophomore release from indie-folk artist Kristian Matsson’s solo project The Tallest Man on Earth, is puzzling.

By April 15, 2010

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Bottoms Up: Bud Light’s slogan In-ability

“Drinkability” is dead. All I can say is, it’s about time. You know what I’m talking about—at least you do if you’ve watched TV or opened a magazine in the past three years.

By April 15, 2010

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Rub Some Dirt on It: Rethinking the “T” out of G.T.L.

With the weather in D.C. finally beginning to warm up, many of us will be bringing our books and our bikinis to the front lawn to sunbathe and study.

By April 15, 2010

Leisure

Mmm Mmm: Mediterranean meat on M Street

Ed Witt is not an ordinary chef. He is a tattooed, bald force of nature that just so happens to wear a chef’s apron. Yet he does not inspire images of fire and brimstone—his soft, drawling voice and laid-back attitude exist at odds with his shaved head and body ink.

By April 8, 2010

Leisure

Traverse-ing 18th Century lust and innuendo

The Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program’s latest production, the D.C. premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Grace of Mary Traverse, is not for the faint of heart.

By April 8, 2010