Leisure

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

Leisure

Portrait of the revolutionary as a young man

Even if you are unfamiliar with the name, you almost certainly know the image.

By the October 7, 2004

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Rockstar camp

Somewhere in the West Virginia hills there exists a camp.

By the October 7, 2004

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Better than marriage

Gossiping is known to win friends fast and lose them faster.

By the October 7, 2004

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Shaun of the Dead eerily funny

Trying to classify Shaun of the Dead is nearly impossible.

By the September 30, 2004

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Nicotina has Diego Luna, and that’s about it

Smoke permeates Nicotina, Hugo Rodriguez’s middling second film.

By the September 30, 2004

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A motive to shake your money maker

Michael Pearsall (MSB ‘06) and his band Motive are learning the sacrifices that come with putting together a successful rock/pop band.

By the September 30, 2004

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Straits of Malaya offers food and fun

As temporary residents of the District, many Georgetown students have little knowledge of the history of classic but below-the-radar area restaurants.

By the September 30, 2004

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A fond farewell

The suicide of beloved singer-songwriter Elliott Smith last fall shocked and saddened fans everywhere.

By the September 30, 2004

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Ramones barely survive to see the end of the century

If there’s a lesson to be learned from End of the Century, a new documentary about punk rock forefathers the Ramones, it’s that sometimes it sucks to be a rock star.

The Ramones, in distilling rock and roll in the early ‘70s with speeding, sloppy guitars, simplistic lyrics and an intensity matched by few bands before or since, deserve much of the credit for the creation of punk rock.

By the September 23, 2004

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Leisure Ledger

There are some things too intrinsically good for even the most jaded hipster to reject. Little Debbie cakes, classes that have no finals and Johnny Depp come to mind immediately, but chief among these perfect ideas and/or individuals is Lance Armstrong.

By the September 23, 2004

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Latin-American film festival is a coup

The 2004 Latin American Film Festival kicked off last night, finishing off Hispanic Heritage Month in style. Fifty new films from 15 participating countries will be presented at two different D.C.-area locations until Oct. 3. The American Film Institute in Silver Spring, Md.

By the September 23, 2004

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Critical Voices: The Black Keys

In the popular press’ rush to drool all over The White Stripes two years ago, The Black Keys, a far superior alternative in the white-boy, blues-rock genre, was significantly overlooked. Lead guitarist Dan Auerbach eclipses Jack White’s guitar chops and can sing circles around him, while Patrick Carney’s manic drum lines put Meg White’s painfully basic technique to shame.

By the September 23, 2004

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Critical Voices: Interpol

Following their critically-acclaimed 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights, the New York quartet Interpol has emerged as one of today’s premier indie-rock acts. A few vocal critics, however, have harshly labeled the band as unimaginative because its particular mix of brooding guitar rock and dark lyrics bore more than a passing resemblance to 1970’s post-punk acts like Joy Division and Television.

By the September 23, 2004

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Better Than Marriage

A friend of mine recently told me about a literary journal started at the University of Virginia in which a column entitled “War on Words” takes issue with a certain detestable, overused or elementary word in the English language each week. “An interesting concept,” I thought, spacing out in my economics class one day, with odd visions of becoming the next William Safire (at least in one respect) dancing through my head.

By the September 23, 2004

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RJD2 lets the good times roll

It’s pretty hard to understand how R.J. Krohn, a white boy from Ohio, became one of today’s most renowned instrumental hip-hop artists. In 1996, Josh Davis, a.k.a. DJ Shadow, laid down his debut record, a revolutionary hip-hop/turntable album called Endtroducing.

By the September 23, 2004

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M. Butterfly floats like a you-know-what, stings like a bee

The themes that define M. Butterfly seem especially relevant in light of the issues of gay marriage and American arrogance in the international arena at the fore of national discussion today.

Arena Stage’s 2004-05 season opener comes with an inescapable warning.

By the September 16, 2004

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When old fashions come back to haunt new runways

They say it takes at least two years for style-changing runway fashions to trickle down the couture ladder to their toned-down, department-store offspring. The trends that appear on the street, recently characterized by ruffles, shoulder-baring tops and hoop earrings, are the diluted and more practical versions of their over-the-top runway cousins.

By the September 16, 2004

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Narcissistic visions of sex and politics: September Tapes

Forget hybrid cars. Hybrid films are replacing the environmentally-friendly vehicles with a trendiness all their own. An increasingly popular genre, hybrid movies are fictitious films masquerading as reality, often using untrained actors and actual footage.

By the September 16, 2004

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Narcissistic visions of sex and politics: The Brown Bunny

Sex can mean love, lust, obsession or even violence and domination. Plenty of movies explore the motives behind sex, but in The Brown Bunny, Vincent Gallo, the film’s writer, director, producer and lead actor, makes all these forces collide within the context of one relationship.

By the September 16, 2004

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Better Than Marriage

There’s an odd seasonality to concert schedules. Spring and early summer seem to bring more reunions, like those of the Pixies and Mission of Burma this year, while late summer and autumn bring more bands going on farewell tours and breaking up.

By the September 16, 2004