Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: Damien Rice, My Favorite Faded Fantasy

“I have an allergic reaction to expectations,” said Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice, in a video for the music blog The Line of Best Fit.  After quietly fading out of the... Read more

By November 12, 2014

Leisure

Darwin’s story evolves in professor adaptation of On the Origin of Species

Leave everything you know about Darwin—facts, theories, dates, and travels—in biology class. Georgetown Professor Natsu Onoda Power has undertaken an updated lesson on the father of evolution in the fittest... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

Galactic Nolan film stellar

In a film industry dominated by sequels, prequels, and remakes, it’s refreshing to see Christopher Nolan make blockbuster films from original stories, even if his bold attempts don’t always hit... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

The Range offers array of American classics

There is nothing like watching the fluorescent glare of an H&M sign on the other side of a shopping mall to complete any fine dining experience. Although The Range’s curved... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

O’Keeffe’s ‘Dialogues with Nature’ seduce

Stepping out of the elevator on the second floor of the Phillips Collection, it took only a few steps before Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings captured my attention. Despite my position two... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

Idiot Box: Shall we compare thee to a summer’s day?

I can’t stop watching Gilmore Girls. Its specific breed of escapism has sucked me in. It seems to mimic real life while always feeling just out of reach. The dialogue... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Calvin Harris, Motion

The last time Calvin Harris released an LP, 18 Months, it broke Michael Jackson’s UK chart record for most No. 1 songs on a single album. While Motion is not... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Les Sins, Michael

In his debut album, Michael, Les Sins—also known as Toro y Moi—shifts his focus as an artist in the chillwave movement by instead exploring contemporary dance music. With a distinctive... Read more

By November 5, 2014

Leisure

Nomadic Theatre’s boom blows up Walsh Black Box with apocalyptic sex

With its Solo cup-throwing and crocheted blankets, atonal elevator music, yelling and crying, death and life, and truth and fiction, there is no doubt that Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s boom, Nomadic... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Decode The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch has made a career out of playing quirky, troubled geniuses. Whether it’s the titular character of BBC’s Sherlock, or WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2013’s The Fifth Estate,... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Mama Rouge paints the waterfront red

Named after Chef Aulie Bunyarataphan’s grandmother—the original Mama Rouge—Georgetown’s latest chic dining option is anything but retrospective. This Southeast Asian bistro offers affordable comfort food with a French flare for... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Fashion Art Design dresses up Georgetown

The surge in Georgetown’s foot traffic during the second annual Fashion Art Design Georgetown was negligible compared to the recent surge in the neighborhood’s creative innovation. The event, presented by... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Under The Covers: All the lonely people, where do they all come from

“Doll may have been the loneliest woman in the world, and [Lila] was the loneliest child, and there they were, the two of them together, keeping each other warm in... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Reel Talk: Frankly, my dear, I do give a damn

There are few things more difficult to talk about than rape. And there are even fewer more difficult to depict on screen. Of the films that approach the topic of... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Have Mercy, A Place Of Our Own

Have Mercy’s second LP, A Place Of Our Own, is a forceful example of emotive rock music and closely follows the band’s debut, The Earth Pushed Back. In spite of... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Taylor Swift, 1989

1989 is not so much a Taylor Swift album as it is a radio-ready electro-pop album that happens to feature Taylor Swift. If the album does have a redeeming feature,... Read more

By October 29, 2014

Leisure

Meditate through ‘Days of Endless Time’ exhibit at Hirshhorn Museum

The soft strings of a cello draw the viewer into a dark gallery. This tranquil greeting opens “Days of Endless Time,” the Hirshhorn Museum’s new moving-image exhibition that explores the... Read more

By October 22, 2014

Leisure

Iñárritu soars to new heights with Birdman

The theatre, the theater, what’s happened to the theater? Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), undertakes a satirical meta-analysis of theatrical performance. Michael Keaton... Read more

By October 22, 2014

Leisure

Exorcise your nightmares on M Street

After Homecoming this Saturday, it will be easy to reach the level of inebriation required to traipse around town in a costume without feeling like a massive tool. Don your... Read more

By October 22, 2014

Leisure

Bienvenue to Chez Billy Sud

Lovers of unpretentious, French food classics may have been disappointed when Georgetown mainstay Cafe La Ruche closed this past summer, but the tradition is alive and well in the Canal... Read more

By October 22, 2014