Leisure

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

Leisure

12 Angry Mena Joy

We always think we have the answers. Everyone has an opinion, and inherent in that opinion is the idea that we know best. If only everybody else just understood matters... Read more

By the October 4, 2001

Leisure

Trainingfrom Denzel

If you were looking for that sort of on-screen performance that steals your idealism for a couple hours but gives it back to you at the end after the bad... Read more

By the October 4, 2001

Leisure

Madam’s Organ?

I was recently informed that this humble column’s format has expanded, and it is now my purview to ensure not only that you are appraised of upcoming musical experiences, but... Read more

By the October 4, 2001

Leisure

Hollywood taste strikes again

It is striking that nothing is able to approximate the truth and depth of human feeling more than those pursuits we take up during our moments of leisure. Movies, books,... Read more

By the October 4, 2001

Leisure

Fall movies: time to get serious

Having just suffered through one of the most appalling movie summers in memory, you are no doubt looking with longing and excitement toward the cooler months. It is often the... Read more

By the September 27, 2001

Leisure

Too punk fo yo’ ass

You know what bugs the hell out of me? These “punk kids” who talk through their noses at other would-be “punks,” passing judgment based on the “punkness” of their musical... Read more

By the September 27, 2001

Leisure

“9-11” raises money

“Comics are the synergy of pictures and words; great comics, though, are the synergy of art and literature,” wrote A. David Lewis, a candidate for a masters degree in English,... Read more

By the September 27, 2001

Leisure

Film noir: back from the past

This movie has not been rated. Today, that generally means one of two things: It’s porn or it’s a documentary. Fortunately, Out of the Past is neither. Its lack of... Read more

By the September 27, 2001

Leisure

Beulah’s California dreamin’

On Tuesday Sept. 11, the Elephant 6 band Beulah put out a new album entitled The Coast is Never Clear. Granted, the beauty of the album pales in comparison to... Read more

By the September 20, 2001

Leisure

Everybody dance now

The Faint, with openers Out Hud, cristened the new Black Cat last Thursday, Sept. 13. Doors opened later than normal because Black Cat staff was still in the process of... Read more

By the September 20, 2001

Leisure

Keep on rockin

The horrific events of Sept. 11 not only hang low over the collective psyche of the artistic world, but have had a very tangible effect on artists’ attempts to even... Read more

By the September 20, 2001

Leisure

Anderson’s Accident

“What’s your agenda?” asks Ruby sharply when Sam expresses his interest in her. Ruby Weaver (Marisa Tomei) has recently been diagnosed as a serial co-dependent by her therapist and friends.... Read more

By the September 20, 2001

Leisure

Blues Alley in our own back alley

While I don’t normally plug specific District hang-outs, I will make an exception for one location: Blues Alley. A small jazz and blues club located in an 18th century red... Read more

By the September 13, 2001

Leisure

Fantastic Lumumbastic

When Patrice Emery Lumumba became Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo in 1960, he refused to sit by as the Congolese gave false homage to their tormentors and torturers... Read more

By the September 13, 2001

Leisure

Cobra Conspiracy?

A couple of months ago I took the plunge and bought myself a Cobra. The Cobra, for those of you who are culturally deprived, is a top-of-the-line Coleman tent. Purchasing... Read more

By the September 13, 2001

Leisure

On the Road … To Hollywood

Writing these words on a Greyhound speeding down I-95 toward New York City, I find myself thinking of Dean Moriarty. Having first encountered On the Road in my younger and... Read more

By the September 13, 2001

Leisure

bling bling

I hate “rap.” First, liking “rap” is like being into rock or blues and saying “I like singing.” More importantly, “rap” has taken on a separate meaning, in day-to-day conversation,... Read more

By the September 13, 2001

Leisure

The horror of Redux

We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men / Leaning together / Headpiece filled with straw So says Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse... Read more

By the September 6, 2001

Leisure

Bitch and Animal altered

Bitch and Animal (a duo: one being Bitch, the other, Animal) opened for Ani DiFranco two years ago. Since then, their following has not only become significant in size, but... Read more

By the September 6, 2001

Leisure

I got pros(e) …

I had a “productive” summer this year, meaning I had a job and didn’t get to lay on my ass as much as I would have liked. While that may... Read more

By the September 6, 2001