Leisure

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

Leisure

The Fiery Furnaces, EP, Rough Trade

Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, a.k.a. the Fiery Furnaces, are far and away the most entertaining brother-sister band out there.

By the January 20, 2005

Leisure

Cloud 9: Homosexuality in Africa, Britain

Homosexuality, feminism and questions of race are hardly new themes in modern theater, but plays that honestly examine these subjects and the issues surrounding them are much rarer.

By the January 13, 2005

Leisure

Bad Education: Homosexuality in Spain

Spanish film director Pedro Almod?var, known for his boundary-pushing works, has twisted pedophilia and the Catholic Church together in his newest release, Bad Education.

By the January 13, 2005

Leisure

The Life Aquatic: Best Life Ever

Somewhere in between The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’s red knit caps, blue Speedos, brightly computer-animated sea creatures and samba renditions of early David Bowie songs in Portuguese, the real world ceases to exist, or even matter.

By the January 13, 2005

Leisure

Checking in to Hotel Rwanda

In one of the opening scenes of Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina and his family watch from behind a fence as their neighbor is beaten to death.

By the January 13, 2005

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Airline Decline

As I approached my assigned seat on my flight from Portland to D.C., I looked at the two guys sitting in my row.

By the January 13, 2005

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Kinsey puts the fun back in sex; Lithgow foiled again

In one of the most outrageously funny scenes in the new movie Kinsey, the professor Alfred Kinsey has a casual conversation with his wife and daughters about the physical nature of sex.

By the December 2, 2004

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Earnestness not too important after all

It seems ironic that the titular lesson of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest has been ignored in the play’s new Arena Stage adaptation.

By the December 2, 2004

Leisure

The Futureheads, Futureheads

Once upon a time, circa 1966, there were pop rock bands with a fascinating gimmick: one person would sing and then an entirely different person would sing.

By the December 2, 2004

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Street’s Disciple, Nas

Nas has been trying since 1994 to regain the mix of urban grit and brilliant wordplay that made his debut, Illmatic, an instant classic.

By the December 2, 2004

Leisure

You Taste Like a Burger- Fat-Elvis’ Love

I had no choice. By the end of our five fabulous days of Hurricane Isabelle last year, New South’s vending machine was nearly empty.

By the December 2, 2004

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Leisure Ledger- Till Boredom do us Part

So this is college. We’re young, we’re hot and we’re poised to take over the world.

By the December 2, 2004

Leisure

Early Christmas

Walking down M Street with a friend on Sunday afternoon on my way to Barnes & Noble, I found myself with an extra spring in my step, a nicer demeanor towards strangers and a particular attention to small children and dogs of all shapes and sizes.

By the November 18, 2004

Leisure

Voice Obituaries

It seems appropriate that Voice Leisure do our part to properly memorialize the recently deceased.

By the November 18, 2004

Leisure

What in Tarnation could be more depressing?

Jonathan Caouette’s debut film Tarnation, acclaimed for being the first film made entirely with Apple computer program iMovie, details Caouette’s troubling upbringing and the continuous decline of his small-town Texas family.

By the November 18, 2004

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Sideways: divorce, depression and pinot noir

What do I have in common with a middle-aged balding man from California?

By the November 18, 2004

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There’s more shakin’ with the South Asians

Every year since its inception nine years ago, Rangila has sold out Gaston Hall. Is the show worth the hype?

By the November 18, 2004

Leisure

The Love of the Nightingale is a brutal love

Using silence onstage, particularly the silencing of women, The Love of the Nightingale initiates dialogue offstage.

By the November 11, 2004

Leisure

Graphic novel Persepolis 2 puts the “see” in Farsi

It seems counterintuitive that Persepolis 2, a comic book originally published in France and written by someone born in the Axis of Evil, could win mainstream popularity and conspicuous Barnes and Noble displays.

By the November 11, 2004

Leisure

New Yorker comes to visit subscribers

Print reporters do not often have the opportunity to bask in the glow of an adoring public.

By the November 11, 2004