Leisure

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



Leisure

Critical Voices: Ghostface Killah and The Clipse

Ghostface Killah, More Fish, and Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury

Leisure

Veggie porn and human tofu

You Taste Like a Burger: a bi-weekly column about food

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Mazel Tov: Jewish Filmfest

Still feeling guilty about seeing Borat? Counting down the days until you can bust out the menorah? Do you just want to stick it to Mel Gibson? For all those who wish Hanukkah could start just a little bit sooner, the Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center is presenting the 17th Annual Washington Jewish Film Festival, which runs through Dec. 10.

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Nooks and Cramming: Top 4 Places to Study for Finals

Love Café on U St. will satisfy your sweet tooth, while Busboys and Poets, another U St. hotspot, will bring out the creative genius in you.

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A Menagerie of talent

Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie is a play about growing up, faded dreams, hope, hurt and life. Mask and Bauble’s workshop production, which runs through Sunday, captures the intimacy of this personal story in a beautifully acted, well thought-out production. It does not attempt to be flashy or overly clever. The play is, instead, quiet and controlled, full of detail and nuance.

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Santa is a Louse

If you missed October’s French Film Festival because you were watching Borat previews on YouTube, the chance to redeem yourself has arrived.

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The world according to Carlos Nicolas

If genius really is a form of madness, Carlos Nicolas proves that insanity can at least be aesthetically pleasing.

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Concert Calendar

Tenacious D Jack Black will be the first to tell you that Tenacious D is the Greatest Band in the World. Maybe his screen performance has been in decline since... Read more

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Dinner date for one, finals are no fun

When your coffee per hour ratio reaches 6:1, don’t despair: no matter how bad things get, you can always eat. During exam week preparation time needs to be at a minimum, so here are some overlooked yet easy foods to help you put down the raw roll of cookie dough and get some better food.

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Fashion Props volume 2

The Voice takes it to the street to find Georgetown’s finest dressers.

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Fountain spews chemical brilliance

If you’ve seen either of Darren Aronofsky’s first two movies—1999’s Pi and 2001’s Requiem for a Dream—you should take everything you thought you knew about the man and throw it out the window. The Fountain bears little resemblance to either of those films and is ultimately much better than either of them.

Leisure

Chinese Elvis meets dominatrix mom

Martha, Josie, and the Chinese Elvis is a great production, not just because of its endearing portrayal of people with problems but because Woolly Mammoth Theatre has made this play into something respectful on many levels.

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LEDs, toys as art

What happens when you put 19 grandmas and a great-grandma in one room? An industrial-sized tea and scones party?

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Jay-Z, Kingdom Come

Jay-Z’s coming-out-of-retirement album Kingdom Come features an older, wiser rapping from the secure throne of a music icon. On this album, he has nothing left to prove. He has transcended the shuck and jive of mainstream hip-hop to create an album showcasing more depth and maturity than many typical Jiggaman tracks.

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Swan Lake, Beast Moans

What happens when the powers of three Canadian indie gods unite? Swan Lake endeavors to test the equation, though the resulting Beast Moans falls short of its superhuman expectations.

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Queen Newsom arrives

As a youngster I was a LEGO fanatic. Nary a moment went by when I wasn’t constructing a cowboy fort or an underwater sea lab out of those miniscule building blocks. As time went on, however, I learned that my passion for LEGOs—and many other childhood pastimes—had waned. I had simply outgrown them. The same phenomenon can and does happen with musical artists and their respective genres.

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Eurydice gets wet

When you walk into the Devine Theater in the Davis Performing Arts Center this week, the first thing you notice is the river in front of the stage. From the 12-foot scaffolding to the huge blue sheets that provide the backdrop, it is clear that this is a major production.

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GU alum writes, speaks

Author of the novel, “Last of the Red Hot Poppas”, Berry will be on campus Thursday to talk about the current situation in New Orleans after Katrina and reminisce about its past through his new book.

Leisure

Silver reflections of a District long past

Volkmar Wentzel’s camera captures stunning images of Washington: street lights glisten through the fog of late-night D.C. and reflect off the rain-slicked streets, giving familiar sights a mysterious quality.

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Joanna Newsom: Ys

It is difficult to write a review, in the conventional sense of the word, of Joanna Newsom’s sophomore release, Ys, because it’s unlike any other record you’ll hear this year, this decade, or perhaps even your life. At least until Ms. Newsom releases her third album, that is.