Leisure

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

Leisure

Obsession, madness and murder

The opening, pre-show minutes of A Devil Inside set a mood: Anonymous skyscrapers are silhouetted against a chartreuse sky. Actors playing the plain and the pathetic do stage business in a seedy laundromat. The jangling and discordant sounds of Miles Davis’ “Pharaoh’s Dance” fill the air.

By the April 4, 2002

Leisure

They got wet: Mulleted madman pleases fans

An extreme close-up of a young man’s face with long dirty hair flowing past his shoulders and copious amounts of blood streaming down his face and neck: Such is the highly controversial album cover art, and image, of Andrew W.K., the newest rock shocker to appear on the pop scene.

By the April 4, 2002

Leisure

Panic Room hits buttons

Ah, the lives of rich eccentrics! With plenty of expendable capital, they’re free to do such strange things as build secret steel-clad “panic rooms” designed to protect them just in case their Upper West Side “townstones” are ever invaded. Not only does this provide some measure of security to these senile financiers, but it also serves as a fantastically convenient plot device in the new movie Panic Room.

By the April 4, 2002

Leisure

Up, up, and away

As seems to be regularly the case this time of year, musical offerings in the Washington area over the next week largely range from inanely innocuous (The Big Wu, Dave Matthews) to the inadvisably incessant (Ani DiFranco) and on to the irredeemably intolerable (Dashboard Confessional).

By the April 4, 2002

Leisure

The Voice picks the Oscars

April showers are approaching, which also means it is that time of the year when movie buffs, fashionistas, idol worshipers, bookies, insomniacs and the entire southern half of California turn their eyes to the oncoming rush of the Academy Awards. So, get some friends and a bag of low-fat rice cakes together on Sunday night and mock away.

By the March 21, 2002

Leisure

Dramabad Zinda-great

Gaston Hall was charged on Saturday night with a level of energy and pride one seldom experiences at theatrical events on campus. The first annual Dramabad Zindabad, a showcase of South Asian-American performing arts, had just begun, and the sense of accomplishment was nearly palpable.

By the March 21, 2002

Leisure

Intriguing idea goes astray on soundtrack

Following in the tradition of such bizarre soundtracks as those of Spawn and Judgement Night, the Blade II soundtrack features pairings of artists who would never work together otherwise. Also in the tradition of those two soundtracks, Blade II is awful. After the wannabe-Bond-music “Theme from Blade,” the album gets down to business with “Cowboy,” featuring Eve and Fatboy Slim.

By the March 21, 2002

Leisure

Folk dancers brighten dour days

Despite the gloomy drizzle outdoors as of late, inside the Walsh Black Box, there’s a fiesta?literally. What else, then, to better welcome these early spring showers than Ballet Folkl?rico Mexicano de Georgetown’s annual Fiesta Mexicana. Complete with brightly hued costumes, gleaming swords and blaring mariachi music, the BFMG gracefully steps, twirls and kicks away any thoughts of a soggy evening.

By the March 14, 2002

Leisure

Death and Dismemberment overtake 9:30 Club

Despite the dismal imagery that accompanies death and dismemberment, when both hit the 9:30 Club, as they did Tuesday night, there’s nothing of the sort. Add some Cex to the mixture, and you’ve got the makings of the next Evil Dead movie?or, maybe just a relucant indie band and some hometown pop-rockers trying to fool their unsuspecting admirers.

By the March 14, 2002

Leisure

True West a true riot

by Jennifer Ernst True West, Arena Stage’s latest production, takes place in suburban L.A., near the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, where the coyotes howl at the moon, and the men howl at their typewriters. Unwinding in two acts, the tale of brothers divided, reunited and divided again crackles with the tension between Ted Koch and Todd Cerveris, who as Lee and Austin bring Sam Shepard’s 1980 script to bruisingly physical and gut-wrenchingly funny life.

By the March 14, 2002

Leisure

M&B’s One Acts fest a pleasure

In this year’s Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival, Mask & Bauble presents an entertaining, yet highly unbalanced evening of student artistry and creativity. First, three college juniors meet one afternoon in Invading Bessarabia, by Colin Relihan (CAS ‘02), for friendly competition at a board game, which looks suspiciously like “Risk,” in the living room of an apartment that is unmistakably redolent of Village A.

By the March 14, 2002

Leisure

Pass the eucalyptus

Those of you lucky enough to experience one of Radiohead’s fantastic U.S. shows this summer will hopefully remember the short Chinese guy who opened for the band, promising to “play some records incorrectly.” That short Chinese guy, DJ Kid Koala, proceeded to do just that, dropping a remarkable set on his trio of decks and giving thousands of rock fans a tantalizing glimpse into the world of turntablism.

By the March 14, 2002

Leisure

Gorillaz rock out behind screen

The Gorillaz project is a game?a musical aside or musical footnote, an excuse for serious musicians to make less-than-serious music. Its members?2-D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle?are cartoon characters with real-life rock star egos. Few people recognize these two important facts, but seriousness and cockiness aside, nothing can detract from their quirkiness and fun, not to mention their phat beats.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

Despite efforts, avant-jazz album still boring

Jazz has fallen a long way from its ‘60s-era, hell-raising fury. With his new album Nu Bopp, pianist Matthew Shipp is apparently trying to reclaim some of the fire, but he only manages to hold a lighter in the air as a cheap reminder. Shipp probably thought that he could garner some innovation points by adding electronic weirdo FLAM to the rhythm section.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

A ‘Bitch and’ good time

It’s easy to get angry about how women, especially lesbians, are often degraded by pop culture. But it takes a special sensibility to turn that fury into something as silly-yet-serious as Brooklyn-based duo Bitch and Animal make their live shows. Those of you who were privileged enough to attended their concert in Bulldog Alley last year know exactly what’s in store for show-goers.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

Voice DIY part II: It’s not art?it’s how I pay the rent

In the world of the avant-weird, playing off the established boundaries of art is critical if one wishes to find success. Granted, those boundaries are arguably in tatters after several decades of increasingly outlandish and often infamous exhibits.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

Faux-naif entertains at 9:30

For the past 30 years, Jonathan Richman has made a career out of singing songs dealing with topics ranging from ice cream men to puppy love. With longtime percussionist Tommy Larkin accompanying him on the cocktail kit, Richman brought this act to the 9:30 Club Wedensday, Feb.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

Masterpieces hit Phillips

Picasso was a genius. Monet revolutionized art. Rodin reinvented emotion. Perhaps these revelations aren’t new or quite newsworthy, but they should be. Regardless of how well-known the great artists of the 18th and 19th centuries are, you can never know them well enough.

By the February 28, 2002

Leisure

Denzel’s latest tackles health policy

Hopefully, your local hospital gives out free health care. Hope Memorial Hospital does not, and one dying little boy doesn’t have time to wait for the medical system to change, and neither does his determined father. John Q. looks at John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington), a hard-working factory employee and even harder-working family man, who is having trouble doing either effectively after having his hours trimmed back at work.

By the February 21, 2002

Leisure

Emo sideman hits the country with solo album

Rock ‘n’ roll has taken a turn for the generic, with emo ascending the Top 40 faster than you can say “smells like another Dookie,” but Cub Country has resisted this trend by taking a sharp dive into the South. Not that anyone can blame the band, as Southern influence has expanded outside its borders with the sleeper success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, which compiled a variety of bluegrass-twinged country tunes.

By the February 21, 2002