Leisure

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

Leisure

Lost in the Woods: The Forest Succumbs to Tropes of Terror

Horror movies are hard to get right, often in danger of becoming a string of clichés and cheap scares. Unfortunately, 2016’s first horror flick, The Forest, director Jason Zada’s first... Read more

By January 21, 2016

Leisure

Smoke and Mirrors: Bay’s 13 Hours Celebrates Benghazi Heroes, Derides U.S. Intelligence

You can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys. Jack Silva (John Krasinski) hears this line early in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, and the rest of... Read more

By January 20, 2016

Leisure

Critical Voices: Anderson .Paak, Malibu

Anderson .Paak’s most recent release has been receiving a lot of hype, and with good reason. The southern California singer-rapper’s sophomore project, entitled Malibu, released simultaneously by Steel Wool, OBE, Art Club,... Read more

By January 19, 2016

Leisure

Golden Globes 2016: Recap, Reactions, and Ricky

Due to free-flowing booze, circular tables rather than rigid auditorium seats, and twice the number of A-listers (stars from both television and film attend), the Golden Globes is notoriously known... Read more

By January 18, 2016

Leisure

Starman in the Sky: Remembering David Bowie

David Bowie was… the champion of the misfits, those that dared to be different. He was… a boundary pusher, causing society to take a good, hard look at itself. His... Read more

By January 16, 2016

Leisure

Ferrell and Wahlberg Reunite to Butt Heads in Daddy’s Home

Tension caused by a biological father‘s return home to meet his kids’ new stepfather may be a familiar theme to many, but director Sean Anders raises it to absurd proportions... Read more

By January 11, 2016

Leisure

Jennifer Lawrence Shines in Dull Joy

David O. Russell has been enjoying something of a boom period as of late. His last three films—The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle—have all enjoyed considerable commercial and... Read more

By December 24, 2015

Leisure

Tour de Force: Abrams Reinvigorates the Star Wars Franchise

“Luke Skywalker has vanished.” These four words kick off the seventh installment of the Star Wars saga, The Force Awakens. An unbelievable amount of hype has surrounded the film since... Read more

By December 19, 2015

Leisure

A Perfect Ten(01): H Street Restaurant Boasts Unique Style and Tastes

Walk up a flight of stairs next door to the H Street outpost of DC’s beloved Ben’s Chili Bowl, and the atmosphere takes a turn towards that of a familiar... Read more

By December 18, 2015

Leisure

An Artist’s Touch: Hooper, Redmayne, and Vikander Make The Danish Girl A Delicate Triumph

Today, movies about LGBTQ characters are often relegated to a subgenre—Netflix has a whole category of “Gay & Lesbian” movies that is often left untouched by many simply because of... Read more

By December 13, 2015

Features

Best of 2015: Music

1.) To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar’s latest LP is not for the faint of heart. In To Pimp a Butterfly, the Compton native directs his wide eyes... Read more

By the December 11, 2015

Leisure

No More Than Meets the Eye: Howard’s Direction Barely Keeps In the Heart of the Sea Afloat

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is considered by many to be the greatest American novel of all time. Melville takes a fairly straightforward story of a captain’s quest for revenge against... Read more

By December 11, 2015

Features

Best of 2015: Movies

1.) Mad Max: Fury Road: Mad Max: Fury Road is a brilliant revival of a franchise long considered to be dormant. Tom Hardy takes over for Mel Gibson as the... Read more

By the December 11, 2015

Leisure

Critical Voices: Roy Kim, The Great Dipper, MMO Entertainment

Georgetown’s resident K-pop star, Roy Kim, released his third studio album, The Great Dipper, last Friday. The South Korean singer-songwriter has won several major music awards and topped the charts... Read more

By December 9, 2015

Leisure

Critical Voices: A Head Full of Dreams, Coldplay, Parlophone

If you were worried that Coldplay’s newest album would resemble the somber, surprisingly dark Ghost Stories released in 2014, fear not. A Head Full of Dreams is a complete turnaround... Read more

By December 8, 2015

Leisure

GU Jazz Ensemble Delivers Christmas with a Twist in Performance of The Nutcracker Suite

Jazz is, ultimately, a purely American genre. With its roots in the South, jazz was originally a blend of Creole, French, and African American traditions (now known as the New... Read more

By December 8, 2015

Leisure

Sign of the Times: Lee’s Chi-Raq Leaves Nothing to the Imagination, Lays Its Heart Bare

“Lacks subtlety” is often thrown around in a derogatory fashion, used as a way to belittle or infantilize someone’s work. Chi-Raq, director Spike Lee’s new film, lacks subtlety. This, however,... Read more

By December 7, 2015

Leisure

Pretty and Pure: Brooklyn’s Talented Cast Triumphs With Subtle Charms

Beautifully crafted, with stunning scenes on the Irish coast and in historic New York, director John Crowley’s Brooklyn is a pleasure to watch.  A period drama set in the 1950s,... Read more

By December 2, 2015

Features

Nice Work If You Can Get It: Spotlight and the Future of Investigative Journalism

Over and over again, taking responsibility proves to be a challenging task for human beings and their institutions. Individuals go to great lengths to deny and conceal; as a result,... Read more

By November 20, 2015

Leisure

McCarthy Highlights both Clerical and Journalistic Flaws in Spotlight

The procedural genre— one in which a problem is presented, investigated, and solved—encourages precision and economy, allowing for the comparatively unaffected telling of true stories. It’s also a genre that... Read more

By November 20, 2015