Leisure

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

Leisure

One Chance merits encore

It’s fitting that a movie about a man’s ability to sing opera at the top of his lungs lacks subtlety. One Chance tells the (somewhat) true story of Paul Potts,... Read more

By October 9, 2014

Leisure

Idiot Box: TV’s moral insurgency

Politics and television are hardly strangers—the drama, intrigue, and pantsuits of the former are often perfectly suited to the latter, if a tad exaggerated. The challenge of political TV is... Read more

By October 9, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Flying Lotus, You’re Dead!

Steve Ellison’s You’re Dead! infuses hard jazz with a labyrinth of clacking, psychedelic guitar pedals and hip hop drum kits—not your average Darnall elevator tunes. In an interview with Rolling... Read more

By October 9, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: SBTRKT, Wonder Where We Land

SBTRKT’s new album, Wonder Where We Land, glides us through magnificent atmospheres of edgy textures and abstract synths, but, in the end, misses its landing. Straying from his groovy EDM... Read more

By October 9, 2014

Leisure

Let them eat cupcakes: Yury Urnov modernizes Marie Antoinette

If you were built to be nothing more than a political toy, what would you do in the face of a life-threatening revolution outside your palace gates? The Woolly Mammoth... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

Lez’hur Ledger: To recline, or not to recline? That’s a pretty stupid question

Nothing says “leisure” like sinking into a plush recliner after a long day of not reclining.  Let’s be honest with each other here for a second.  You want to recline.... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

DBGB crowdsurfs into D.C.

DBGB’s interior might best be described as storeroom chic. Shelves are neatly lined with ingredients and dishes, cookware surrounding the dining area, giving the room a cozy, pantry-esque feel. Complemented... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

SW ArtsFest (e)merges this weekend

Hot on the heels of last Saturday’s Art All Night event is SW ArtsFest––yet another opportunity to soak up visual and performing arts offerings in the District. With six different... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

Under the Covers: “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.”

I remember reading The Great Gatsby when I was in high school and just not getting it. It was one of those books everyone was supposed to read. Like most... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

Reel Talk: Indie is the new blockbuster

Gena Rowland once said, “People in independent film have a passion; they’re not in it for the money.” Indeed, scrolling through the list of films nominated for Independent Spirit Film... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Last Bison, Inheritance

Folk band The Last Bison’s appropriately-named second album, VA, was written in a cabin in rural Virginia, and it feels like it. It takes abundant technical skill to marry the... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: JEFF the Brotherhood, Dig the Classics

JEFF the Brotherhood’s garage rock siblings, Jake and Jamin Orrall, with all their tattered-denim, hillbilly sex appeal and carefree demeanor, hold a special place at the top of my fangirl... Read more

By October 2, 2014

Leisure

District’s Fashion Week struts its stuff down the Capitol’s catwalks

Each September, the upper-echelon of the fashion editorial world sits shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrities and savvy socialites on the frontlines of designer runways displaying next season’s trends. The eyes of the... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Corcoran curates concluding collection

Although the Corcoran Gallery of Art,  the capital’s oldest and largest private art museum will close its doors at the beginning of next month, the words “Dedicated to Art” will... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Thai restaurant, Soi 38, curries favor with Foggy Bottom residents

When you enter through the cage-like wood portico, the sultry reimagining of a groovy hotel bar incites the kind of villainy that Miami Vice’s Tubbs and Crockett could only dream... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Idiot Box: All the single ladies, grab your claymores

Fantasy is a tricky genre for television, easily blown out of proportion and easily dismissed as a juvenile art form when dragons or witches are involved. Though shows with big... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Drums, Encyclopedia

The Drums drive home their predilection for eerie contrast, setting unapologetically somber lyrics against a background of cheerful synth-pop in the sickly-sweet darkness of Encyclopedia, their third and newest release.... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: alt-J, This Is All Yours

Alt-J’s new album, This Is All Yours, is like cappuccino-flavored potato chips: mystifying and unconventional, yet also a joyride for the senses. Building upon their hit debut album An Awesome... Read more

By September 25, 2014

Leisure

Majumdar’s abstractionist exhibit impresses at Spagnuolo Gallery

“Too much of anything is never good,” artist Sangram Majumdar shared with the crowd gathered at Georgetown’s Spagnuolo Gallery on Sept. 10.  I quickly understood his point while staring at... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Shawn Levy’s latest flick leaves you with stellar cast, nothing more

This Is Where I Leave You follows the Altman family, who come together to sit shiva for a week after the death of their father. As the four siblings return... Read more

By September 18, 2014