Leisure

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

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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Avedon’s “Democracy”

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

By the November 4, 2004

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A Primer for quantum mechanics, confusion

Primer is a twisted, massively confusing new thriller about time travel.

By the October 28, 2004

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The truly lazy do it on a Segway

Touring the D.C. area before graduation may be a “G-town college experience,” but when it comes down to it, remarkably few students actually want to take the time to cross that off their list.

By the October 28, 2004

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Fenton photos show innovation, imperialism

The title of the first exhibition in the National Gallery of Art’s new permanent photography gallery is appropriately titled “All the Mighty World.”

By the October 28, 2004

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Chocolate or stereotypes? An easy choice

Oh my God, you guys, isn’t eating great?

By the October 28, 2004

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Better Than Marriage

Maybe it’s the lack of the Bush administration’s anti-freedom agenda, or maybe it’s the decriminalized bud, but for whatever reason, Canada has been spawning exciting new music over the last few years.

By the October 28, 2004

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Pygmalion brings a girl up from the gutter

Theater patrons rush into the rain, frantically trying to find cabs and stay dry, while a modest flower girl attempts to earn enough change to see herself through the night.

By the October 21, 2004

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Ana Mendieta smears Hirshhorn with inspiration, blood

A film projects the image of a woman standing still with her arms spread against a wall, slowly sliding her body down and leaving red paint smears of what appears to be a birth canal.

By the October 21, 2004

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Mission of Burma escapes its certain fate

For a rock band to still be alive, let alone functional, 25 years after beginning is astounding.

By the October 21, 2004

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Team America is no A-Team

OK, we get it: America is bad. We don’t care about the rest of the world. Bush is evil. Enough already.

By the October 21, 2004