Leisure

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

Leisure

Rub Some Dirt on It: Studying, one nap at a time

For most college students, sleep looks like a poor substitute compared to caffeine. Sleeping wastes precious time,

By February 4, 2010

Leisure

Archaeology photography: Can you dig it?

The Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo Gallery is trying to shed its perception as the odd room you might glance at while swiping your GoCard on the way into the LXR courtyard. The banners outside of Walsh announcing its new exhibition, The Creative Photograph in Archaeology, seem to herald the transformation of the space from an afterthought into a legitimate showcase of artistic works.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Lez’hur Ledger: Please don’t sue us, Scientologists

I need to work on my mind thrusts. Yesterday, I learned that the negativity in my life is the result of my weak dynamic thrusts, which are the product of my overly dominant reactive mind storing engrams.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Charles Darwin, devolved

“You’ve killed God, Sir.” When Thomas Huxley uses such grave terms to condemn the work of his fellow biologist Charles Darwin in Creation, director Jon Amiel sends a clear message to the audience: this Darwin biopic is rife with drama.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Extra-bore-dinary

As an intergalactic smuggler-cum-fighter pilot and a whip-wielding explorer, Harrison Ford cemented his status as the biggest badass of modern cinema decades ago.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Critical Voices: Surfer Blood, Astro Coast

Surfer Blood sounds too “indie” to fill the Strokes’ shoes—that’s a spot best left for Free Energy—but they could be the Shins for a new generation.

By January 28, 2010

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Critical Voices: Kanye West, Storytellers

Kanye West’s episode of Storytellers originally aired in February 2008, immediately following an embarrassing time in his career.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Yr Blues: DJing is a game of fundamentals

“Do you have any Taylor Swift?!” It’s a daunting question for a bearded 22-year-old, especially when shouted in the dark, point blank, while DJing a Georgetown party.

By January 28, 2010

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Suffer for Fashion: Fashion abroad, at home

When my buddy Ben came back from his study abroad program in Egypt, he presented me with a traditional Egyptian dishdasha that he bought for me in Alexandria.

By January 28, 2010

Leisure

Please stop watching Two and a Half Men

If FX is willing to take a chance on animated spy parody Archer, I’m willing to try at least a few episodes. While its highly stylized animation may take some getting used to, the show plays like a smuttier Get Smart—the original series, not the Steve Carell abomination of an adapted movie.

By the January 21, 2010

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Cera-iously twee

Nick is lonely, lovelorn, awkward, and very much a virgin. When his mother and her boyfriend take him on vacation, he falls desperately for Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), a girl who lives with her very Christian parents...

By January 21, 2010

Leisure

Real monsters of meta

The concept of art within art—like a painting of a painting—can often be difficult to grasp. It is not always easy to determine where the the art ends and the frame begins. In The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play...

By January 21, 2010

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Critical Voices: Vampire Weekend, Contra

Vampire Weekend came out of nowhere in 2008, writing songs about the Oxford comma, ripping stylistic quirks from Paul Simon, and generating not only an astounding amount of hype, but also haters who found them too uninspiring...

By January 21, 2010

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Critical Voices: Spoon, Transference

Seven LPs deep and one thing is abundantly clear: Spoon has the paradoxical gift of consistent inconsistency, a sense of “progression” without dilution. Transference, the Austin band’s fifth album in a decade, has the all the trimmings of a Spoon record...

By January 21, 2010

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Bottom’s Up: Chuck the Chuck, cheapo

There’s nothing worse than being predictable. That’s why I shrink from serving Charles Shaw, or two-buck Chuck, as the bargain Trader Joe’s wine is affectionately known, at dinner these days. As tolerable and affordable—only $2.99 a bottle!—as the wine is...

By January 21, 2010

Leisure

Rub Some Dirt on It: Mouse, trapped

For the past week or so, I have been sharing my apartment with a skinny, hairy, uninvited guest—a mouse, who pops in and out through a hole in the wall. He is small, and relatively harmless...

By January 21, 2010

Leisure

Tomorrow’s Classics: Music

Madvillainy, Madvillain, 2004 Madvillainy is an indie rap fan’s wet dream: an album-length collaboration between MF DOOM, the masked oddball who fancies himself a super-villain, and producer Madlib, renowned for... Read more

By the December 3, 2009

Leisure

Yr Blues: Yule Tide FM

Start your anticipation engines, folks—November has come and gone. It’s all Christmas, all the time from here until early-to-mid January. Retail, television, and radio are already well-entrenched in the Christmas... Read more

By December 3, 2009

Leisure

Suffer for Fashion: Good golly, garb goes green

When I used to think about “eco-fashion,” visions of boxy canvas dresses, natural hemp shoes, hair beads, tie-dye galore—and the tree-hugging, cannabis-drenched Deadheads that typically sport such looks—came to mind.... Read more

By December 3, 2009

Leisure

Q&A: John Hillcoat, director of The Road

John Hillcoat’s directorial career is filled with dark, critically acclaimed films like the gritty Australian Western The Proposition. Leisure Editor Chris Heller sat down with him last month to talk... Read more

By December 3, 2009