Leisure

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

Leisure

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

Leisure

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

Leisure

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

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

Leisure

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

Leisure

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

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

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

Leisure

Resfest shorts spread digital love to D.C.

Resfest 2004, a visual and aural field day, shakes you like a Six Flags roller coaster for the eyes and ears.

By the November 11, 2004

Leisure

Better than Marriage

A column in the Oct. 31 edition of the New York Times by music critic Kelefah Sanneh has been the subject of great debate among music critics for its attack on “rockists,” or those who have a bias towards rock over other forms of popular music.

By the November 11, 2004

Leisure

Slim Susie highlights quirks of small-town Sweden

While Sweden may seem a flawless bastion of democratic socialism to some, myself very much included, films like Slim Susie remind us that no society is without its problems.

By the November 4, 2004

Leisure

Mexx showcases new line of Euro clothes, mid-price champagne

As I stumbled down to M Street in my four-inch stiletto heels and Old Navy jeans for European clothing store Mexx’s opening night fashion show, a scene from Zoolander flashed through my mind.

By the November 4, 2004

Leisure

Zutons: Who Killed The Zutons

In an age where music reissues, throwbacks and tributes seem more prevalent than creative innovation, it’s easy to become jaded.

By the November 4, 2004

Leisure

Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA’s Desert Origins

Pavement’s sloppy, unwashed introduction to the world at large came with their now-classic 1992 debut Slanted and Enchanted, which established them as the definitive ‘90s indie rock band.

By the November 4, 2004

Leisure

Avedon’s “Democracy”

“I’ve worked out of a series of ‘no’s’,” photographer Richard Avedon once said.

By the November 4, 2004