Leisure

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

Leisure

The quiet man

Giorgio Morandi seems to surface every few decades in the art world and leave as quietly as he enters. When I first noticed his work, at a retrospective put on... Read more

By April 2, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: Peter, Bjorn, & John Pro

“The paintings around me/ they don’t understand me/ I’m a bit too early/ I’m seen as development,” Peter Morén sings on “Blue-Period Picasso,” as if to justify the growing pains... Read more

By April 2, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: Peter, Bjorn, & John Con

Peter Bjorn & John’s Writer’s Block is one of my favorite albums of the decade, so naturally I found myself counting down the days until Living Thing leaked. Sure, the instrumental stopgap Seaside... Read more

By April 2, 2009

Leisure

The (not so) Great Buck Howard

The Great Buck Howard doesn’t deserve the following review. It never meant to offend, and I hate to be so hard on it. Nothing about the film is storm-angrily-from-the-theater bad;... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Wilco who? Pronto is pimpin’

Since joining Wilco for the production of their 2002 magnum opus Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Mikhail Jorgensen has mostly lurked in the shadows of frontman Jeff Tweedy, playing keyboards and sampling for... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Ahh, monsters!

Classic Japanese monsters in D.C.? No, the newest exhibit at the Sackler Gallery isn’t about Godzilla and Mothra, it’s about Shuten Doji, a mythical monster described by Wikipedia as a... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Fellini in Rimini

Federico Fellini is one of those directors—the kind whose name gets tossed around cocktail parties and chic uniplexes. But anyone who’s managed to sit through one of his rather long... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Smooth opera-tors

I think I’m pretty tolerant when it comes to other people’s musical tastes. However, I refuse to credit purely Pavlovian responses of negativity and disdain, such as, “I like all... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

The gossip boy

During my time watching television, one person or another has mocked nearly every show I watch. Grey’s Anatomy is too soapy, The Wire is too boring, Lost is too twisted,... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Decemberists

Long known for their bookish indie ballads stuffed with folk tales and time-worn legends, the Decemberists have taken their critically acclaimed formula to a new level with their latest release,... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: Swan Lake

Swan Lake’s debut, Beast Moans, was my joint, man. I was on that shit like white on rice, yelpy vocals, amorphous melodies, and all. It probably didn’t hurt that I wasn’t... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

If you last heard Karen O and Co. in 2003, after the fist-pumping Fever to Tell, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought It’s Blitz was the work of another... Read more

By March 26, 2009

Leisure

Hyde your kids; Jekyll is comin’

Jekyll & Hyde, Mask & Bauble’s spring production, is not a show for literary purists. If you’re looking for Robert Louis Stevenson’s critique of rigid Victorian society and its seedy... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Watchmen: stunningly mediocre, graphically bold

I felt lost and confused while first reading the graphic novel Watchmen some three or four years ago. It was dark and gritty and proved difficult to grasp initially. I... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Bros. R bring the bore

Deciphering a government’s motive for going to war can be a daunting task; understanding an individual’s desire to participate in a war as a soldier can be similarly challenging. The... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

The natives are “kicking butt”

“Comic Art Indigène,” a new exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, eschews the artifacts and relics typically featured in studies of Native American history in favor of... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Bohemian blues

For over a century, cafés have been the preferred gathering spot for influential writers, artists, and those who wanted to imbibe the creative atmosphere along with their cup of coffee.... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Consumin’ culture

I did not drink on Saint Patrick’s Day. I do not intend to snub mid-week drinking—I’ve had better times over a few drinks on a Tuesday than I have on... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: DOOM

Mystery man Daniel Dumile (a.k.a. MF DOOM a.k.a. Viktor Vaughn a.k.a. Zevlove X a.k.a. King Geedorah) is finally back. “Can it be I stayed away too long?” he asks on... Read more

By March 19, 2009

Leisure

Critical Voices: Dan Deacon

Say what you want about Dan Deacon, but he’s nothing if not sincere. He doesn’t wear his often ragtag, Technicolor clothes because they’re ironic; he just likes how they look.... Read more

By March 19, 2009