Leisure

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

Leisure

Brunchy Bunch

Every Sunday morning, my roommates and I bake scones. By “morning” I mean 1p.m. And by “my roommates and I bake scones,” I mean they watch as I throw ingredients into a bowl, mix and bake them. We sit around the kitchen table-last Sunday until four in the afternoon-trying to pretend that we have nowhere else to be.

By the November 13, 2003

Leisure

B’more charming

It’s official—Washington D.C. again holds the coveted title of murder capital of the United States. The FBI’s annual crime index released this monday ranked the District first nationwide in homicides for the first time since the early ‘90s.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

Ryan Adams: folk rock rebel?

With so many hypersensitive singer-songwriters on the market, it’s inevitable that artists like John Mayer, Howie Day and David Gray might seem interchangeable. But then there’s good ol’ Ryan Adams, a once countrified-alt-geek of Whiskeytown fame.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

‘Trojan Women’ evokes grief

LEISURE BY NEAL COLL Did you wake up this morning just a little bit too happy? Do you need a downer to provide balance to your far too cheerful life? If schoolwork and the creeping approach of the dreary winter months have done little to curb your sunny disposition and unquenchable optimism, save yourself from the dirty vengeful looks of your roommates by seeing Nomadic Theatre’s latest production, The Trojan Women.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

‘Die, Mommie, Die’ an exercise in dysfunction

Take a closer look at that character’s over-styled hair, ‘60s getup, and obvious make up. She’s wearing a pearl necklace, but is that an adam’s apple? Die, Mommie, Die, the latest endeavor of the prolific on-screen crossdresser, writer-director Charles Busch, is distinct from other 60s parodies: Our leading lady is a flamboyant drag queen.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

Questions linger in ‘Zero Day’

One would think that a film ending with the image of two burning crosses might have some poignant conclusion to communicate to its audience. However, as the credits roll at the end of Zero Day, most questions remain unanswered. In fact, an entirely new question arises: Why do people keep making Columbine movies that give you the ingredients for disaster but fail to pinpoint an explanation? Zero Day is not like Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, a piece of political and social commentary.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

New Jersey redeems itself

As a life long resident of the Garden State, I can safely say that most of the stereotypes about my fatherland are woefully true. We have odious pollution, an overabundance of suburban apathy and angst, some of the most corrupt, crime-ridden cities in the country, and far too many speed traps on the Parkway.

By the November 6, 2003

Leisure

‘Without Me’ reflects on loss of self

LEISURE BY ABBY LAVIN A few minutes into My Life Without Me audience members may get the sense that something is a bit unusual. With its gloomy setting, odd inflections in the actors’ voices, and a vaguely unsettling atmosphere, the movie seems to be taking place in some sort of alternate universe. Gradually, it all begins to make sense: It’s Canadian.

By the October 30, 2003

Leisure

Anti-Flag singer blasts right-wing ‘punks’

It is impossible to categorize Pittsburgh’s Anti-Flag as anything but a punk rock band. From their mohawks and clever pseudonyms to their music and politics, Anti-Flag adheres so closely to the genre’s template that, after nearly a decade of recording and touring, the band’s prominent stature among the Warped Tour demographic is to be expected.

By the October 30, 2003

Leisure

Local music at Midnight Mug

Less than a year old, Midnight Mug has created a reason other than studying to go to the library. In an effort to bring more art to campus, Midnight Mug opens its doors every Thursday to aspiring local musicians such as Spencer Bates.

Bates’ performance there last week was one of the best of the semester.

By the October 30, 2003

Leisure

Club Lau: Out

Midterms have hit, and I am burnt out. At this point, caffeine is the only thing getting me through long nights and lonely days deep in the bowels of Lauinger. But as much as I love the coffee from Midnight Mug, the sight and smell of the library is beginning to make me nauseous.

By the October 30, 2003

Leisure

Critical Voices

The Strokes: Room On Fire The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow

By the October 30, 2003

Leisure

Leo’s Hollywood debut

LEISURE BY SZYMON MAZIAKOWSKI & SONIA SMITH There’s a story behind the man behind the name behind the cafeteria. Rev. Leo O’Donovan, S.J. was the last Jesuit president of Georgetown, reigning from 1989 to 2001. He was known as a consummate fundraiser, a born schmoozer, and oversaw the GU endowment’s greatest period of growth.

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

Phillips Collection revels in Surrealism

For many, modern art conjures up images of a blank canvas dotted with a single red mark representing the inner turmoil of the artist or even the feeling of love. Similarly, Surrealism can manage to confuse the viewer to the point that she doesn’t even want to understand the artist’s work.

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

Critical Voices

Yo La Tengo’s Today Is The Day EP The Weakerthans’ Reconstruction Site

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

Our Rock

Are you too lamenting the death of great musicians like Johnny Cash and, all too recently, Elliot Smith? Well, fiend, you are clearly on track to be smited by the Almighty. At least, that is what www.av1611.org/rockdead.html will tell you.

We discovered this amazing web-site while searching the unfathomable depths of Google for “rock star suicide.

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

Peter please

Peter Jennings is captivating. If his dashing exterior isn’t enough to convince you, how about his 10 years in Beirut as a foreign correspondent?

I was ecstatic last fall when I found out he would be appearing at the Barnes & Noble on M St. in support of his new book.

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

A gala affair, indeed

Standing in front of Gaston Hall on Saturday, it seemed that Georgetown students were taking advantage of Georgetown’s Arts Gala in order to punish their parents for all of those days of humiliating comments shouted from the carpool line. Now they were the ones heading out into the dark and interesting night, giving their parents hugs and directions before encouraging them to file inside.

By the October 23, 2003

Leisure

Uma really likes them swords

In Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino proves that he’s the ultimate film consumer. This, his fourth film, borrows from Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, and a handful of other directors. Tarantino takes their blend of cowboy and samurai and adds an ass-kicking feminine twist.

By the October 16, 2003

Leisure

’21 Grams’ of moving grief

LEISURE BY LUIZ DE OLIVEIRA When the Polish director Milos Forman was filming One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in the ‘70s, he made a wildly controversial casting decision Since the film took place in a mental institution, he decided to cast the hospital’s real inhabitants as extras—all of the patients, nurses, and doctors in the background of Cuckoo’s scenes are real people.

By the October 16, 2003