Leisure

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

Leisure

Ad Astra is Both Alienating and Deeply Human

Bathed in the orange planetary glow of a Martian recording booth, astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) goes off-script. Roy, far from home on the Red Planet colony, is being used... Read more

By September 27, 2019

Leisure

Identity, Violence, and Change Clash at the MEI Modern Art Gallery

In the Middle East Institute’s debut art gallery, conflict, both internal and external, rages around the room, enveloping every piece. The works in this collection perfectly display the complexities of... Read more

By September 27, 2019

Leisure

Critical Voices: Charli, Charli XCX

Charli XCX  has emerged again. It’s been five years since her last studio album, two since her last mixtape, and she grounds herself with her new record Charli (2019). Through... Read more

By September 26, 2019

Leisure

Concert Review: Vampire Weekend, Aug. 29, Merriweather Post Pavilion

On a pleasantly warm, late-summer evening in Columbia, Maryland, Vampire Weekend proved they had not lost their “step” during a  five-year hiatus. The New York City-based indie rock band performed... Read more

By and September 23, 2019

Leisure

Concert Preview: Mallrat, Sept. 26, DC9

Australian singer songwriter Grace Shaw, known by her stage name Mallrat, is bringing her eclecticism to DC9 on Thursday, September 26th. Characterized by her surprisingly blunt vulnerability, the 20 year... Read more

By September 22, 2019

Leisure

The Goldfinch is a Poor Reproduction of a Work of Art

In a rustic West Village workshop, two ostensibly twin claw-foot chairs are set in front of a young Theodore Decker (Oakes Fegley): one an authentic piece of period furniture, the... Read more

By September 21, 2019

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Nothing, Korn

To be blunt, Korn’s The Nothing is their emotionally darkest record yet. The nu-metal outfit’s thirteenth, thirteen-song record dropped (in the most authentically Korn style) on September the thirteenth. The... Read more

By September 21, 2019

Leisure

Critical Voices: All My Heroes Are Cornballs, JPEGMAFIA

In the leadup to the release of JPEGMAFIA’s third studio album, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, the Baltimore-based rapper released a series of mock promotional interviews in which he plays... Read more

By September 20, 2019

Leisure

Critical Voices: Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone

The nine-month roll out for Post Malone’s third studio album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, felt like a rollercoaster. The quality of the singles varied wildly, from the compelling “Goodbyes,” to the superficially... Read more

By September 18, 2019

Leisure

Critical Voices: EARTHGANG, Mirrorland

As Revenge of the Dreamers III topped the Billboard charts over this past summer, Dreamville producers and rappers, EARTHGANG, took their talent back to the studio. On September 6th, EARTHGANG... Read more

By September 17, 2019

Leisure

It: Chapter 2 Is an Engaging but Occasionally Uneven Critique of Nostalgia

Twenty-seven years have passed since the Losers Club had to face off against the child-eating shapeshifter known only as It. In that time, they’ve grown up and left their hometown... Read more

By September 13, 2019

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Critical Voices: Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey

Introspective and immersed in nostalgia, Lana Del Rey’s sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019) does not reflect a specific era—it captures a feeling. Infused with images and memories of... Read more

By September 13, 2019

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Critical Voices: Midland, Let it Roll

I’ll start by saying I don’t like country music. I always change the station when I hear it on the radio, and it doesn’t make me want to dance, party,... Read more

By September 4, 2019

Leisure

Voice Staffers’ Favorite Summer Reads

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison I read The Bluest Eye in the eleventh grade, and it had a sense of realness that books hadn’t yet held for me. It wasn’t... Read more

By , , , , and August 30, 2019

Leisure

Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood is A Slightly Underwhelming Movie From Quentin Tarantino

It is 1969 in Los Angeles and as the decade changes, the era of Classic Hollywood is coming to a close. The Hays Code, which created strict moral guidelines for... Read more

By August 5, 2019

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Sticks the Landing to be a Great Spider-Man Sequel

It’s been a tough few years for the people of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A massive purple alien snapped half of all life on Earth five years into the future... Read more

By July 12, 2019

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Critical Voices: Jonas Brothers, Happiness Begins

If you woke up on June 7 thinking that you were suddenly back in 2009, don’t worry: you did not accidentally time travel. A decade after the release of their... Read more

By June 19, 2019

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John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum is a Stunning Action Thrill Ride with a Nonsensical Plot

Nothing can stop John Wick. This is seemingly true for both Keanu Reeves’ out-of-retirement assassin and his film franchise, as the action-packed series blasts its way through an improbably fun... Read more

By June 1, 2019

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An Ode to Generation Z: Booksmart Adds Much-Needed Nuance to the Classic Coming of Age Story

In a dingy, graffitied high-school bathroom in Booksmart, a student named Annabelle (Molly Gordon), who has been dubbed “Triple A” by her peers because of a rumor that she gave... Read more

By May 31, 2019

Leisure

This is A Bronx Tale

Love or fear? That is the question that permeates the musical A Bronx Tale. Based on Chazz Palminteri’s own life, A Bronx Tale follows Calogero (Joey Barreiro) as he grows... Read more

By May 3, 2019