Leisure

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

Leisure

Gary Oldman’s Churchill is a Towering Figure in Darkest Hour

Many will want to refer to Darkest Hour, Joe Wright’s latest directorial effort, as a history lesson. The film traces Winston Churchill’s first month in office, providing a detailed look... Read more

By December 8, 2017

Leisure

Critical Voices: Björk, Utopia

Björk’s latest album, Utopia, released on Nov. 23, is one of the longest she has produced so far, comprised of fourteen tracks, one of them, “Body Memory,” lasting almost ten... Read more

By December 8, 2017

Leisure

The Disaster Artist, a Brilliant Masterpiece

It is difficult to make a movie more terrible than The Room. And it is even more difficult to make a movie about the making of The Room without it... Read more

By December 7, 2017

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BMDT Honors Ella Fitzgerald’s Journey in Ella and all that Jazz

“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” These words were spoken by a woman, who, at the age of 15, was an orphan wandering the... Read more

By December 1, 2017

Leisure

Best of 2017: Movies

1. Dunkirk Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic feels like the biggest experimental film ever made. It has minimal dialogue, no character arcs, and three different timeframes. In the hands... Read more

By the December 1, 2017

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The National Gallery of Art Contextualizes Jackson Pollock’s Masterpiece “Mural”

One of the most famous artists of the past century, Jackson Pollock has long been a controversial figure for his simultaneously formless and evocative pieces. Pollock’s works are expressions of... Read more

By December 1, 2017

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Best of 2017: Music

1. DAMN., Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar’s fourth studio album marks another distinct shift in tone for the rapper, bringing to light his continued struggles with self-doubt, fame, and his troubled... Read more

By the December 1, 2017

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Two Shades of War: Nenad Zaric at the Artist’s Proof Gallery

In the bewildering strife and tragedy of conflict, art has always been a positive light in the darkness. Petr Krivonogov’s painting of Russian soldiers standing with their arms up on... Read more

By December 1, 2017

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Concert Review: Dead & Company, Nov. 21, Capital One Arena

The culture and legacy of the Grateful Dead experienced a kind of revival this past summer: the Long Strange Trip documentary was completed and released, the famous Cornell ‘77 recordings... Read more

By November 30, 2017

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Despite A Predictable Plot, Coco is a Dazzling and Heartwarming Story

Disney Pixar’s Coco follows Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a young aspiring musician who comes from a family of cobblers with a 95-year-long ban on music. After attempting to steal the guitar... Read more

By November 27, 2017

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Jason Katz on Being Authentic and World Building in Coco

For over 20 years, Pixar has been creating widely beloved masterpieces of animation, inviting audiences into dazzling worlds to tell heartwarming stories of friendship and love. Coco, the newest film... Read more

By November 27, 2017

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Concert Preview: St. Vincent, Nov. 27, The Anthem

Annie Clark is a certified badass. Better known by the stage name St. Vincent, the eclectic alt-rock femme fatale’s music goes from moody to futuristic to head-banging classic all within... Read more

By November 21, 2017

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Concert Review: Grizzly Bear, Nov. 8, The Anthem

The industrially chic and technologically savvy venue The Anthem was an appropriate location for the bearded, beanie-wearing crowd that came to see the indie-rock group Grizzly Bear on Nov. 8.... Read more

By November 20, 2017

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Justice League Reinforces DC’s Course Correction, for Better or Worse

Few films have hit theaters with the same production problems as Justice League. Indeed, any comic fan would have been concerned with the litany of bad news coming out of... Read more

By November 20, 2017

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Murder on the Orient Express: A Good Twist Covers For A Weak Adaptation

My first introduction to Agatha Christie was on Christmas Day 2007. My uncle gave ten-year-old me one of her novels with the inscription, “This is widely considered Christie’s best book,... Read more

By November 20, 2017

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Concert Preview: ODESZA, November 25, The Anthem

ODESZA don’t have any time for a Thanksgiving food coma. After releasing their first project, Summer’s Gone (2012), Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight have been on a breakneck streak through... Read more

By November 19, 2017

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Wonder Delivers Captivating Characters in Heartwarming Story

Wonder will make you cry. Maybe it’s going to be when a boy mentions how he’d rather look at people’s shoes than at their facial reactions. Maybe it’s going to... Read more

By November 18, 2017

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Wonder Women! Draws Parallels Between Inspirational Artists and the Superhero Icon

Tucked away on the fourth floor of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, a passerby will find the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center (LRC), a quiet... Read more

By November 18, 2017

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La Dolce Estate: Call Me by Your Name Captures Fleeting Love

There is a scene in Call Me by Your Name when Elio’s father, an archeologist dredging up Hellenistic-era statues from the sea, flips through slides of recent findings. One character... Read more

By November 17, 2017

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Pickett’s Charge Brings History to Light at the Hirshhorn Museum

Few moments in history carry as much weight in the modern day, and are as widely misunderstood, as the American Civil War. After more than 150 years, the Civil War... Read more

By November 17, 2017