Leisure

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

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

Leisure

Rural steakhouse dazzles high society

Iron Chef Jose Garces’ first D.C. project, Argentinian steakhouse Rural Society, brings gold-medal refinement to flavors of the land of silver. Not afraid to get ‘Messi,’ this new eatery has... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Under the Covers: Iranian journalist breathes truth into the City of Lies

The narrative painted about Iran by the American media is a depressing one—a landscape peppered with deserted lands, beheadings, extremists, and bombings. Hyperbole about Iran as part of an “axis... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Reel Talk: Leave it to the imagination

As an industrious college student, there’s nothing I love more than killing time by watching movie trailers. Something about the instant gratification and cheesy melodramatic music really gets me going. ... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Jhené Aiko, Souled Out

Previously known for singles and the occasional LP, Jhené Aiko bares all on her new album, Souled Out, which symbolizes life through a girl’s eyes. At the end of the... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Lia Ices, Ices

There is a time and a place for extravagance, and Lia Ices’ third full-length release, Ices, is undoubtedly such an occasion. Unapologetically eponymous, this album is exorbitantly rich with an... Read more

By September 18, 2014

Leisure

Gems of Georgetown past and present to rock the Gonda Theatre

The Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance challenges students to abandon the stereotypical Georgetown legacy with GEMA Rocks, a show celebrating the diversity of comedic and musical talents of current students... Read more

By September 11, 2014

Leisure

Tusk on point, a bona fide mindbender

Have you ever wondered if “man is indeed a walrus at heart?” Director Kevin Smith explores this existential dilemma in his latest film, Tusk, complete with Justin Long sparring with... Read more

By September 11, 2014

Leisure

New Latin American eatery Tico boasts small plates, big flavors

At first glance, chef Michael Schlow’s new restaurant Tico might be mistaken for a recording studio. When designing this new gem of an eatery at the heart of U St.,... Read more

By September 11, 2014