Leisure

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

Leisure

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, awkwardly

Really, though, if you are the type who isn't immediately turned off by the crudeness of the film's title, you're probably excited enough about the pairing of Smith and Seth Rogen, two of the smartest juvenile comics in the film industry, to drop your nine dollars to check it out.

By November 6, 2008

Leisure

Chop’t: slicing the taste away

I've never been a big fan of the salad. But with the rise of salad focused joints like SweetGreen, I've begun to respect the dish more, recognizing that a salad can be an intricate composition of flavors instead of a generic lump of vegetables doused in ranch. Chop't Creative Salad Company offers a new interpretation of salad craftsmanship that challenges typical salad conventions

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s messy details

The Phillips exhibition, entitled "Over the River: a Work in Progress," is exactly what it promises: a work in progress. Billed as a preview of the upcoming project, the show features a selection of drawings, photographs, maps, and samples of the canopy's material, alongside a 2000 page environmental report, technical data, and other preparatory project paraphernalia collected since the project's conception in 1992. In short, the usual behind-the-scenes work that most people leave behind the scenes. But Christo and Jeanne-Claude are not most people.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Costumes are for kids

I'm turning into my mother. This is happening to pretty much all the girls I know, and the change is manifesting itself in a variety of ways, but my fashion sense has been hit particularly hard, as I realized when I found myself less than thrilled at the prospect of dressing up for Halloween this year.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Pompeii: beauty in tragedy

As a Classics Major who takes a sort of masochistic comfort in translating ancient texts and laughs at the oftentimes ridiculous customs of ancient Rome (one emperor was known to... Read more

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

The Changeling saddens with style

Despite being as depressing as Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), the complex plot lines, realistic acting, and excellent aesthetics make the director's new movie, The Changeling, an impressive work.

By the October 30, 2008

Leisure

We’re brunching out

Rarely on Saturday and Sunday mornings do I venture to what's now known as ‘Leo's Down Under.' Partly because the thought of the cafeteria's nether regions makes me slightly nauseated, but also because a weekend brunch diet of tater tots and breakfast burritos gets old faster than the Nazi at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you choose to take a post-midterm break for a nice weekend brunch, you will have chosen wisely. And although mornings are not my strong suit, when I'm enjoying a delightful brunch, time doesn't matter.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, “Cardinology”

This restless energy is responsible both for the good and the bad in Adams' output. Considering the sheer amount of music he releases, he has a pretty good track record: almost everything is listenable, some is great. But this freneticness, this desire to do everything all at once means that many of his albums end up feeling like ideas rather than work. Each new album is a different version of Ryan Adams, both musically and in a broader stylistic way, like a shelf of thematic Barbies. There's Heartbroken Southern Ryan, Rock and Roll Deconstructionist Ryan, Sad Junkie Ryan, and Roots Rocker Ryan. All are enjoyable enough, in their own way, but all ultimately feel like poses, playing with the idea of an album and songs rather than really committing to one.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Mount Eerie, “Lost Wisdom”

This album will put you too sleep, honestly. Not in the way that the atypical boring, formulated efforts of a below average pop song would. Rather, Lost Wisdom is a record of understanding and warmth. The voices resonating in your headphones will cause a moment of clarity and the heartfelt lyricism will pacify the worst case of stress.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Q-Tip, “The Renaissance”

n 2002, Q-Tip completed Kamaal the Abstract, a genre-bending album with hints of funk, rock, and hip-hop. While it shared the laid-back feel he showcased as head of A Tribe Called Quest, the album was much more ambitious-and arguably, less marketable-than anything he'd done before, and Arista refused to release it. It's taken Q-Tip six years to rebound, but The Renaissance is every bit as good as his first solo joint, 1999's Amplified. While it's got nothing on his best work with the Tribe, it's worth a listen-a little Q-Tip is always good for the soul.

By October 30, 2008

Leisure

Regime change starts at good art

If you take a stroll or a G2 bus down P Street toward Logan Circle, you’ll notice the upward gazing face of Barack Obama on the side of a small white roof. Though the image’s presence isn’t surprising—politics is inescapable in D.C., even when it isn’t election season—the stenciled blue and red portrait is striking and fresh, and stands apart from those stodgy logos on bumper stickers and window panes across the city. Step into the Irvine Contemporary gallery and you’ll discover the man behind the iconic portrait, and some of the most politically confrontational artwork to be found in the capital.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Central Michel Richard’s: only fancy on the outside

Sometimes you just get the urge to go out for a “nice dinner” at a place where, as Homer Simpson put it, they call you “sir” without adding “please leave.” Central Michel Richard, Michel Richard’s attempt to combine a relaxed environment with high-end feel-good food, is a place where you can satisfy that urge. Central is billed as a bistro, and is promoted as a more affordable, more down-to-earth incarnation of Richard’s D.C. flagship Citronelle. While Central succeeds in creating an unpretentious and inviting atmosphere uncharacteristic of fine dining establishments, the quality of food does not live up to expectations

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Deerhunter, “Microcastle”

Fast-forward to 2008: Cox now has two critically-acclaimed bands to his name (Deerhunter and Atlas Sound), Mee has been replaced by Whitney Petty (a former cheerleader), and the band stands on the verge of releasing their third LP, Microcastle. The release is accompanied by more drama from Cox, who accidentally leaked new material from both of his bands a few months ago.

By October 23, 2008

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W. is as Dubya does

Like all Oliver Stone productions, W. will bring the controversial and acclaimed director praises of genius and bundles of hate mail. The film, a fictionalized biopic examining our 43rd president, marks Stone’s third venture into the tumultuous genre. Unlike his previous portrayals of American leaders, JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995), W. is being released while George W. Bush is still in office, a fact guaranteed to rile Bush supporters and Stone critics alike.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Home brews

There is a five-gallon jug of beer fermenting in my apartment. I also live with six girls and can drink without impunity in my bedroom; in short, I am living every freshman boy’s dream.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Angry but riveting

Watching 12 Angry Men is an entirely unique theater experience. It is not meant to play out like traditional theater, but rather as a realistic peek behind closed jury doors. The audience sits on two sides of an open stage and watches events transpire from a number of vantage points, enveloped in the borderline claustrophobic atmosphere as tensions run higher and higher. There is no normal plot progression to speak of, and the costumes and sets play relatively minor roles. The characters are nameless throughout the entirety of the play and their personal backgrounds are barely delved into. The centerpiece of the play is the debate between twelve jurors over the possible guilt or innocence of one man: a powerful and realistic unraveling of assumptions and prejudices.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Halloween matchmaking

The quest for the perfect Halloween costume is like the search for a soulmate: few people ever find one, and most end up settling for some piece of crap their friend picked out.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Eminem-cee

The flower power generation likes to brag about its prized Midwestern white boy with the nasally voice, the one whose lyrics were bizarre but beautiful and heartfelt. It’s a shame our generation has no Dylan—sorry, Conor Oberst—but we do have someone close, though he’s not who you’d expect. You see, this Midwestern white boy with the nasally voice comes from the streets of Detroit, and where Dylan changed the game for vocalists without good voices, Eminem changed the game for emcees with white skin.

By October 23, 2008

Leisure

Too many Lies in this Body

If you were hoping for Ridley Scott’s latest blockbuster to be in the same league as the director’s critically lauded Roman epoch, 2000’s Gladiator, prepare to be disappointed. Body of Lies is a middling action flick that, though well-made, falls short of Scott’s award-winning masterpiece.

By October 16, 2008

Leisure

Granny chic

There’s a girl in my art history class who always looks so put together. She wears really great scarves, gold jewelry (nothing too flashy, always tastefully antiqued), cozy looking sweaters, and fabulous tortoiseshell glasses. Her look is very classic and very now, but there’s only one way I can think to describe it: grandma chic. She dresses like an old lady.

By October 16, 2008