Leisure

Hate the hoofs

Shoes have really been irking me lately. In my last column, I directed my grievances at the frumpy footwear of D.C.’s young women, but this week, I’m moving on to the nation at large. While my quibble is with the manufacturers of runaway shoe trends, the real issue is with our nation’s tendency to eat up horrible spin-offs of brand-name shoes that were not so great to begin with.

By Katherine Norton October 2, 2008

Leisure

Photographing transitions

Julia Fullerton-Batten may have survived puberty, but she certainly didn’t make it out unscathed. Her photographic repertoire has thus far captured the fragility and instability of adolescence with an eerie, disquieting surrealism.

Her new works, part of the collective “In Between” exhibit at the Randall Scott Gallery, mark a transition, both in those awkward years she remains enthralled with, and in her photography, one which is quieter yet still profoundly disturbing.

By Madeline Reidy October 2, 2008

Leisure

Dark, delicious Dexter

These days, basic cable television is as depressing as the state of our nation’s economy. Luckily, the fall season of premium cable arrives as a refreshing bailout from the endless slew of reality TV and mindless sitcoms.

This fall, Showtime’s Dexter has the opportunity to become one of the hottest shows on television, The thrilling drama about a sympathetic serial killer kicked off its third season this past Sunday at 9 p.m. on Showtime.

By Eliott Grover October 2, 2008

Leisure

Mr. Sohielinia’s neighborhood

At the corner of 34th Street and Dent Place, one block south of Reservoir, Le Petit Corner Store is a half-house, half-storefront whose interior is a homey, welcoming, albeit assorted mixture of a deli, café, and community rendez-vous spot.

By Michael Keller October 2, 2008

Leisure

New Ocean Hall is a whale of a good time

The Sant Ocean Hall marks the largest addition to the Museum of Natural History since it was constructed in the early 1900s, so it is only appropriate that it takes up an extremely large space and contains vast quantities of information. The Sant Ocean Hall is the kind of exhibit that will still be interesting on the third or fourth visit, and its aesthetics make you want to return just for the visual effect. The main hall contains glass display cases that curve around the space, leading visitors around the room in an orderly pattern. Oceanic hues of blue and green emanate from every display, and the entire room’s wavy and luminous quality gives the faint impression of being surrounded by water. A film of undersea scenes playing on panels surrounding the room makes the entire museum feel submerged.

By Sara Carothers October 2, 2008

Leisure

With St. Anna, Spike Lee creates a miracle

Directed by the legendary Spike Lee and based on the book by novelist James McBride (The Color of Water, Song Yet Sung), Miracle at St. Anna uses the true story of an African-American soldier during World War II to create a masterpiece that is equal parts mystery, war story, ghost tale and history.

By Caroline Klibanoff October 2, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Friendly Fire, “Friendly Fire”

It’s fitting then, that St. Albans-based Friendly Fires come at the idea from the other end on their self-titled debut album, mixing rock influences into their more electronic sound. Nowhere is this mixture more clear than on “White Diamonds,” which plays like a T Rex song for the post-disco era, loping guitar riffs, cowbells, and all.

By Matthew Collins September 25, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Jackson Browne, “Time the Conqueror”

Jackson Browne fans are accustomed to tender vocals, swinging melodies, and a clean cut sound. Time the Conqueror meets most of these expectations. Since his heyday in the 1970s, Browne has continued to produce a steady stream of ballad-heavy albums, but Time the Conqueror is his first new album in six years.

By Caroline Klibanoff September 25, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: TV on the Radio, “Dear Science”

It is always astonishing when a band consistently improves in leaps and bounds with each and every release. One starts to wonder why we even bother to listen to the drivel that comes from other artists, rather than just wait for the next, exponentially improved release from one of these meteoric bands.

By Shira Hecht September 25, 2008

Leisure

Liquor lit

On Saturday, legions of writers will descend on the Mall for the National Book Festival, the country’s annual celebration of, by, and for bibliophiles of all stripes.

Authors will sit in the crisp fall air, arrayed in all manner of worn cardigans and tortoise-shell glasses, signing autographs for eager book-lovers in Tevas and socks, for batty school librarians, and for scarf-draped “aspiring playwrights,” and they will all be yearning for a strong drink.

By admin September 25, 2008

Leisure

Go to Ghost Town

Ricky Gervais is not the typical romantic lead. His hair is floppy and unassuming, he is round around the edges, and his smile lacks natural charisma. Yet despite all this, in Ghost Town, you end up falling in love with him right along with Gwen (Téa Leoni). His hair and his mannerisms suddenly start to remind you of an adorably awkward puppy, and even the dentistry humor he spouts with a straight face and earnest eyes begins to warm the cockles of your heart.

By Vivian Chen September 25, 2008

Leisure

George de Forest Brush paints people and dreams

There are countless portrayals of the American Indian available to those who seek them. Less easy is the task of finding images of Native Americans that are unadulterated by centuries of stereotype. Luckily, the National Gallery of Art, in conjunction with the Seattle Art Museum, have compiled a small exhibit of images of American Indians by the painter George de Forest Brush, a late 19th century American artist who fell in love with “the noble savage.”

By Katherine Norton September 25, 2008

Leisure

Los Cuates: not the spice of life

Los Cuates isn’t a bad Mexican restaurant. But it’s just average, and in a city with so many options for dining out, average is worth about as much as Los Cuates’ barely-passable salsa.

By Will Sommer September 25, 2008

Leisure

Semiconductor: wild!

The Hirshhorn’s new installation in its Blackbox exhibition space, “Semiconductor,” will simultaneously engage the left and right sides of your brain. Two English artists, Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, comprise the artistic duo dubbed Semiconductor, which ignites artistic expression through self-described “digital noise and computer anarchy.”

By Julia Lovett September 25, 2008

Leisure

The music that actually matters most

Some albums are so good you can’t stop listening to them. You listen and listen, memorize the ins and outs, and the music means so much to you—it is you—that when someone asks you what your favorite record is, there’s no hesitation in your answer.

By Justin Hunter Scott September 25, 2008

Leisure

Chinese triathlon

Two years ago, I conducted a historic competition that took place among three giants of the Georgetown Chinese delivery circuit: Kitchen No. 1, Best Hunan, and Hunan Peking. Scored on price, delivery time, taste, and texture, the judges based their decisions on three dishes: Orange Beef, General Tso’s Chicken, and Chicken Fried Rice. The winner? Hunan Peking, hands down, with Best Hunan a close second and Kitchen No. 1 more like Kitchen No. 3.

But these times, they are a-changin’. Hunan Peking has since closed its doors, and Best Hunan has changed its name and image to the posh Banana Leaves and Asian Restaurant. It was time for a do-over.

By Michael Keller September 18, 2008

Leisure

Righteous Kill retread

I have never seen a movie that adheres to the typical cop-movie formula as strictly as Righteous Kill does. Director Jon Avnet fails to build suspense and ends up producing an overdone story, drenched in lukewarm predictability. The plot, themes, and characters are simply too recognizable to be exciting.

By Elena Solli September 18, 2008

Leisure

D.C.: Drab City

This past Sunday, New York Times photojournalist Bill Cunningham chronicled the close of Fashion Week with a study on the shoes about town. While hanging out on 5th Avenue taking pictures for his weekly “On the Street” feature, Mr. Cunningham ran across studded stilettos and snakeskin stacked heels paired with super-high hemlines. Three hundred miles south, I observed a very different scene in Columbia Heights.

By Katherine Norton September 18, 2008

Leisure

Burn After Reading: very un-Dude

Who didn’t see this one coming? In their twenty-four years of screenwriting and directing, Joel and Ethan Coen have bounced between dark plunges into a killer’s abysmal psyche and zany tales of boneheaded crime schemes gone awry. After last year’s bloodthirsty adaptation, No Country for Old Men, the brothers’ oeuvre seemed ripe for a few giggles, and Burn After Reading presumes to deliver the goods.

By Traviss Cassidy September 18, 2008