Leisure

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



Leisure

Critical Voices: Noname, Telefone

Most people’s first introduction to Noname, formerly Noname Gypsy, was her feature on Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap. Her unique flow and poetic lyrics made her a standout on “Lost.”... Read more

Leisure

A Makeshift Memorial: City of Ghosts at the Flashpoint Gallery

Art, from graffiti to public sculpture, lies on countless city streets; its subjective beauty can come to define neighborhoods or endlessly evince messages of social change. But often, it is... Read more

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The Voice Summer Reading List

“Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch — Graham Piro Multiverse theories and quantum physics typically make for dry, scholarly writing. In the hands of Blake Crouch, however, these topics make for... Read more

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Taking Out the Big Guns: War Dogs Delivers

Rife with action sequences, historical content, and daring endeavors, War Dogs does not disappoint. Looking past the sometimes overt sexual overtones, the viewer finds energized characters pursing a novel plot:... Read more

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The Boys Are Back: O.A.R. Shines at Hometown Show

You know a show will be good when they have two people drumming. With the percussive energy twice as high, O.A.R. blew the (metaphorical) doors off of the pavilion at... Read more

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The Spy Who Underwhelmed Me: Jason Bourne Fails to Thrill

Like its predecessors, Jason Bourne has all the makings of a blockbuster movie. Tommy Lee Jones and Alicia Vikander, fresh off her Oscar for The Danish Girl, give phenomenal performances.... Read more

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The Joke’s On Us: Suicide Squad Delivers a Frenetic Experience

  The first twenty minutes of Suicide Squad make it abundantly clear that the film is doing everything it can not to be Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. After... Read more

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Mike Birbiglia reflects on success with Don’t Think Twice

We’re not all successful. We’re not all going to be: not conventionally, at least. “That’s okay,” says Mike Birbiglia (COL ‘00) – comedian, Georgetown alum, and conventionally-successful-person – with his... Read more

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Bring Your Dancing Shoes: Fitz and the Tantrums at 9:30 Club

By the time doors opened at the 9:30 Club on June 18, Fitz and the Tantrums fans were already lining the block waiting to flood the classic venue and dance... Read more

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Finding Dory is Familiar Success

Sequels are notoriously tricky. Audiences often leave the theatre underwhelmed or disappointed after hoping for something that can live up to the original that drew them there in the first... Read more

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Critical Voices: Panic! at the Disco, Death of a Bachelor

Since the band’s inception, Panic! At the Disco has been in flux. The departures of three of the originating members have left singer Brendon Urie as the sole original member... Read more

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The End of the World as We Know It… Again: X-Men: Apocalypse Fails to Distinguish Itself

A surprisingly prescient scene occurs midway through Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse that proves equal parts self-deprecating and predicting. A group of young mutants, led by Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey, leaves... Read more

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This is New York: The Postal Museum displays the Big Apple in Tiny Squares

On the lower level of Massachusetts Avenue’s Postal Museum lies a one-room exhibit with the punchy title New York City: A Portrait Through Stamp Art written on glorified street signs.... Read more

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Critical Voices: Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book

When Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly was released in March of last year, it was immediately apparent that the music world was witnessing something extraordinary and revolutionary. Already, Chance... Read more

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To the Victor, the Spoils: Captain America: Civil War is Marvel’s Best Film Yet

It is hard to believe that Iron Man came out eight years ago and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just a twinkle in Kevin Feige’s eye. In 2008, no one... Read more

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Day Wave Presents Melancholy Beauty at DC9

DC9 nightclub is unique in the world of music venues. Centrally located in the busy nightlife scene of Shaw, it looks more like a converted storefront than a concert hall.... Read more

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Lost in Space: Ratchet & Clank Lacks Substance

Movie adaptations of video games are usually awful. From subpar plots to uninspired acting, these films rarely garner anything other than harsh criticism (see Super Mario Bros. and Hitman for... Read more

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Critical Voices: Beyonce, Lemonade

Last Saturday night Beyoncé reaffirmed her dominance over the R&B/pop music scene and dropped her sixth solo album, Lemonade, alongside her hour long HBO special of the same name. True... Read more

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Not To Be: The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Latest Performance Dissapoints

Much like that of Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms, the works of Shakespeare are often thought of as high art: deeply important, and therefore inaccessible, incomprehensible to mainstream audiences. Since the... Read more

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Critical Voices: M83, Junk

The French electronic-pop group M83, fronted by Anthony Gonzalez and Jordan Lawler, recently released Junk on April 8th. The band has been around since 2001, but their 2011 album Hurry... Read more