Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: Q And Not U, Power, Dischord

Since the release of its first album, No Kill No Beep Beep, in 2000, Q And Not U has steadily made a name for itself as one of D.C.’s best punk bands.

By the October 14, 2004

Leisure

Better than marriage: Chinese buses

Any Georgetown student who doesn’t live in some corner of the Northeast Corridor most likely has, at some point, gone to visit one who does.

By the October 14, 2004

Leisure

Calder and Mir?: modernism with a friendly twist

“You stud” and “A slap on the butt to you” characterized the trans-Atlantic postcard exchanges between Joan Mir? and Alexander Calder, a Spaniard and an American whose artistic cooperation and firm friendship spanned oceans, decades and even a world war.

By the October 7, 2004

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Aunt Dan and Lemon will make your sensibilities pucker up

Looks can be deceiving in Mask and Bauble’s first production of the year, Aunt Dan and Lemon.

By the October 7, 2004

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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

Leisure

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

Leisure

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

Leisure

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