Leisure
Reviews and think pieces on music, movies, art, and theater.
Goes Down Easy: A Bi-Weekly Column on Drinking
Lotus Lounge, a newish nightclub downtown, recently invited me to check out a new promotion, “Choose the POTUS at Lotus.” The club has come up with a signature cocktail for every presidential candidate, ranging from the banal—a brown drink for recent drop-out Senator Sam Brownback, Tanqueray for Representative Tom Tancredo—to the weirdly inspired—Representative Dennis Kucinich’s drink is peach-flavored to commemorate the perennial candidate’s desire to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.
Fabulation nothing short of fabulous
For about an hour after “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine” (it makes sense in the context of one of the play’s best moments, but damned if I’m actually going to write it out each time), I walked around in a kind of shocked appreciation, the stupor of being in the presence of something fleetingly, unevenly true. The production, under Isiah Wooden’s direction, has some problems, but the moments that work do so beautifully.
More Method Than Madness
The Director’s and Dramaturg’s notes on Hamlet talk of the pitfalls of reinterpreting Shakespeare for a modern audience. Gussy it up with modern twists and it becomes a gimmick; try to tie it to its original time period and it becomes an artifact. The goal is to “create a common space,” as dramaturg David Cumming (SFS ’08) puts it; to be “bridge-builders.”
Bold impressions of the sea
Impressionists by the Sea is the latest much-anticipated exhibition to grace the walls of Dupont Circle’s Phillips Collection. Composed of selected pieces from The Collection and contributions from the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, the exhibition depicts the evolution of the northern French shore from wind-swept fishing villages and raw breakers to a Riviera-style parade of luxury.
Environmental aesthetics on M Street
What would you do with some algae, horsehair and snow? Throw it all away? Not Emily Chirstenson. Her first East Coast show, Blue Currents, proves that paintings become prettier if you let nature participate in their creation.
Deadbeats
To the laziest constituents of music’s critical and consumer realms, each sparkle from Lil’ John’s grill represents the victory of style over substance, production values over quality songwriting. We are entrenched in an era when studio trickery can wax even the window-shattering squawks of Ashlee Simpson to an FM-ready polish.
Lust, Caution heats up screen
When the producers of Lust, Caution confronted director Ang Lee about his film’s NC-17 rating, he refused to take out any scenes. Directors know that such a rating can be a death sentence at the box office, but Lee’s decision was justified; the sex scenes make the film, adding not only the right tone but the right emotions to elevate the film from just another thriller to a study in lust and power.
Chilling Halloween Highballs
So you’re throwing a Halloween party? Try some of these bloodcurdling cocktails for a killer bar selection—the usual Natty Light, Burnett’s and jungle juice trifecta is getting old anyway.
Fixer Clayton needs fixing
Confusion in a film can create suspense, serve as a plot device or even develop a character, but the biggest problem with Michael Clayton is that it is just plain confusing.
The Exonerated
“This show is ultimately about hope,” show producer Jessica Stone (COL’08) said after the first run of The Nomadic Theater’s production of The Exonerated.
Stogies 101
If you’ve seen Scarface one too many times or the allure of blowing smoke rings has gotten to you, the world of cigar smoking might have something to offer. Here’s a quick guide for picking cigars, compiled after a chat with Edward Gnehm III, the manager of Georgetown Tobacco on M Street.
America according to Colbert
If I were to take the advice Stephen Colbert’s offers in his new book I Am America (And So Can You!), I wouldn’t stoop so low as to write about the hilarious and much-needed “Constitution for the Colbert Nation.” I would feel it with my gut.
Music for your mind
Based upon its premise alone, The Gunshy’s There’s No Love In This War stands as one of the best independent releases of 2007.
We Own the Night falls short of Departed
We Own the Night is a standard crime drama with a slight twist: the two main characters are still on opposite sides of the law, like The Departed, but this time, they’re brothers.
Turner exhibit takes on mythical proportions
The current exhibit at the National Gallery of Art boasts the “largest Turner retrospective ever in the United States.” Such a statement seems to add needless weight to the historical importance of the artist. This might be mere pandering to the eager tourist if it wasn’t for the surprising depth that a truly complete Turner show achieves.
YouTopia: World’s greatest freaks and geeks
World records tend to fall within three categories: impressive physical feats, biological abnormalities and arbitrary spectacle. While the majority of these achievements seem legitimate, some of the more random records negate being “the best” versus being “the only.” Sure, more people can make records this way, but often times the results become laughable. Here’s a taste of some of the more bizarre records featured on YouTube.
