Leisure

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

Leisure

Forte: Music family matters

Reflecting back now, though, I realize that my family’s taste left much to be desired. Where were the Beatles? Or Miles Davis? Or Johnny Cash? How did I miss all of these artists in my youth? I certainly don’t feel embittered—there was no conscious “withholding”—but I still wish I’d had a more eclectic musical upbringing.

Given this want, I’ve begun to introduce a broader range of music to my little sister, Elizabeth, who’s nearly nine years old. The selections are nothing drastic, just artists she wouldn’t typically encounter until an older age, all conveniently uploaded on her iPod Nano.

By March 27, 2008

Leisure

Don’t be so p-noid, son

The very first shot of Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park imparts that delicious feeling of being in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. The credits roll demurely next to a Portland bridge, cars whoosh by, light plays on the water and the trees, glitchy electronic atmospheric music drowns out any natural sounds. Like many shots in the carefully constructed movie, every second feels perfect—crafted, like a painting. Every color, every trick of the light feels true and drastic.

By March 27, 2008

Leisure

Drilling for funny money

Hollywood’s usual gameplan is to find a formula for success and then use it tirelessly to cash in at the box office. The recent offerings from writer/director/producer Judd Apatow demonstrates how leaning too heavily on one template will inevitably decrease the quality of a filmmaker’s work, even as he produces new films at a rate that would put Henry Ford to shame. Just look at Drillbit Taylor, the latest project from Apatow Production, which has popped out a staggering 15 films in the past three years.

By March 27, 2008

Leisure

Boys and death in a City of Men

In an early scene from Brazilian director Paulo Morelli’s City of Men, best friends Ace and Laranjinha pester Laranjinha’s grandmother for clues about his absent father. The grandmother scoffs at the questions, asking them what good could come from a father who abandons his own child. Ace (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlen Cunha) exchange a terrified look, run out the door and scramble through the favela shouting the name of Ace’s young son, Clayton (played by twins Vinícius and Vítor Oliveira), who has been dropped off with acquaintances somewhere in the slum. His father has no idea where he could be.

Ace and Laranjinha’s frantic quest to find Clayton reflects the film’s central themes of fatherhood and maturity. City of Men is based on the TV series that was inspired by Fernando Meirelles’ 2002 film City of God. City of Men shares with that movie its setting in a favela of Rio de Janeiro, an area of violent gang crime; the characters differ, although some of the actors return. While City of God made gang wars the centerpiece of the film, though, City of Men accepts them as a part of life in the slum and focuses on what Morelli sees as the root of the problem: absentee fathers.

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

Not very “Impressed by Light”

The National Gallery’s new photography exhibit, which displays British calotype photography from 1840 to 1860, may be called “Impressed by Light,” but whether you’ll be impressed by the collection is up for debate. Though the 120 photographs presented in the exhibit are historically important as some of the first photographs in British history, their subject matter is often fairly unadventurous and most of the photos are too small and modest to make an impression on our minds, which have been conditioned with flashier modern work.

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

State of the brain, in one act

This year’s Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival features last year’s winner of Mask & Bauble’s one act play contest, “Lost in the Brain of A Great Man,” written by Seamus Sullivan (SFS ’08). Inspired by watching the furrowed brow of President George W. Bush while giving last year’s State of the Union address, this precocious play chronicles the brain activity of an unspecified president before giving the address.

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams

Dan Bejar, the chief songwriter and musician of Destroyer, is a weird fella. But he’s smart, and it sells—the raspy David Bowie voice, the deliberately obscure lyrics, the meandering array of yelps and proclamations. And it helps that his band is just getting tighter. Trouble in Dreams generally eschews the hard-charging hooks of his lastshy;shy;—and arguably most accessible—album, Rubies, but it’s still Euro-pop blues for the masses.

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

Popped Culture: Backlash to the backlash

Vampire Weekend released their first CD at the end of January, and depending on who you are (and how much time you spend on the internet), you either hate them in spite of the hype, or like them despite the backlash. The band hasn’t been around that long and has already zoomed through the cycle of taste—blog buzz, great reviews, trickle into the mainstream, SNL performance, saturation (they play it at MUG!)—at warp speed.

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

That’s so not Georgetown: College Road Trip

Do you dream of a Georgetown where the Greek party scene is alive and thriving, the campus is connected to a high-end golf course and our school color is bright turquoise? Then College Road Trip is the perfect fantasy escape for you!

By March 13, 2008

Leisure

DVD killed the video stars

Be Kind, Rewind, French director Michel Gondry’s most recent film, is average as a comedy, continuing the trend started by Gondry’s last offering, the disappointing The Science of Sleep. Despite falling far short of the visual inventiveness and splendor of the acclaimed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), though, Be Kind provides keen insight into the nature of filmmaking and the importance of community.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Forte: Emo rebirth

This illusion of commonality emerges whenever we identify with an artist’s body of work, and often spurs an unrealistic set of expectations. As Lacey puts it: “When you do an interview or meet a fan, the only reference they have of you is an album. So it’s almost that they want or expect you to be that [way] when we were really those people for four or five months.” This idea carries over into the long-term as well—we expect artists to stay the same and feel cheated when they don’t fulfill our preconceptions (insert references to Bob Dylan, Black Flag and more).

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Effective cinema: the movies of your dreams

Some pieces in “The Cinema Effect” challenge our notion that moving pictures on a screen require a story, while others indulge it magnificently. One of the most impressive exhibitions currently in D.C., “The Cinema Effect” delivers a well-conceived blend of pieces to create an alternate, dream-like world.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Major Barbara’s battle

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of “Major Barbara” is an incredibly crisp, engaging example of what the greater Washington D.C. theatre scene has to offer. Director Ethan McSweeny’s interpretation stays true to George Bernard Shaw’s impeccable original text and conveys the author’s pertinent social commentary and finely-tuned wit.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Sex, drugs and Charlie

The idea behind Charlie Bartlett—a Ferris Bueller for the ‘00 decade!—is interesting enough, but the filmmakers wanted more. So they threw too many ideas at the wall to see which ones would stick, but most don’t. Although inventive and occasionally charming, the movie is too scattered and uneven to be satisfying.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Culottes for you lots: Classy classics

I thought Amy Adams looked absolutely magnificent on Oscar night. She had the whole vampy Jessica Rabbit thing going on while maintaining the poise and grace of one of Hollywood’s early leading ladies. But Kimora Lee Simmons, who was playing fashion critic for E!, disagreed.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Cadence Weapon, Afterparty Babies

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Afterparty Babies, Cadence Weapon’s second LP, is how calculated it seems. Surely, countless hours go into crafting any good hip-hop album these days, but the effort put into Afterparty Babies extends beyond time spent in the studio or obsessively rewriting lyrics. Like the best rappers, Cadence Weapon seems fully aware of his audience, goals and idiosyncrasies; unlike the best-known rappers, he’s confident rather than megalomaniacal.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Critical Voices: Stephen Malkmus, Real Emotional Trash

Stephen Malkmus’ Real Emotional Trash is his first solo release that sounds as willfully sprawling as his best work with his old band. Backed once again by the Jicks, Malkmus has abandoned the clever, artsy pop of his last few releases, opting instead for a heavy jam-fest. Finally achieving the mix of hooks and guitar freakouts that fans have been awaiting through his four releases since the dissolution of Pavement, Real Emotional Trash is his best solo album to date.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Beyond the chili bowl: U St.

If you’re looking for a fresh spot for dinner or drinks, leave pricey M Street behind and take a spin further down the alphabet to U Street, a neighborhood that’s up and coming so fast you want to make sure you get to it before it loses its edge.

By February 28, 2008

Leisure

Living purgatory In Bruges

The opening shots of In Bruges—sweeping views of the eponymous Belgian town’s brick houses, lush countryside and cobblestone streets, accompanied by streams of obscenities by Colin Farrell—set the tone for a smart black comedy filled with comedic juxtapositions.

By February 21, 2008

Leisure

Black Comedy: wit in the dark

Mask and Bauble’s “Black Comedy,” written by Peter Shaffer and directed by Hunter Styles (COL ’08), is a bright, raucous show filled with bubbly British accents and witty jokes that bring the complexities of sexuality to light.

By February 21, 2008