Leisure

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

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

Leisure

Idiot Box: Zuck it, Silicon Valley is the new Wall Street

Let me get something out of the way: I am not a techie. Though my parents marvel at my ability to perform such Herculean tasks as shutting down a computer... Read more

By September 11, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Tennis, Ritual In Repeat

With the sun still shining and term papers nowhere in sight, Tennis’s third studio album, Ritual in Repeat, is the perfect soundtrack to lazy Sundays on Copley Lawn. Ritual in... Read more

By September 11, 2014

Leisure

Critical Voices: Meek Mill, Dreams Worth More Than Money

In an environment as superficial and generic as the popular music scene has become, it is refreshing to find artists who don’t care how others perceive them. In his new... Read more

By September 11, 2014

Leisure

Voltaggio’s boxed lunches infuse suburbia with hipster pretense

Walk in, and a metal bucket might fall on your head. Walk out, and you are engulfed by the hypnotic hum of the American shopping experience. This is Lunchbox, restaurateur... Read more

By September 4, 2014

Leisure

‘Bountiful Waters’ coy, fluid exhibition

The traditional Japanese landscape evokes both strength and elegance, the resolute and the graceful. These dueling feelings were omnipresent throughout my time at the Smithsonian’s new exhibition “Bountiful Waters,” exploring... Read more

By September 4, 2014

Leisure

Delightful Duplass rekindles second chances in The One I Love

A disturbingly surreal weekend getaway serves as a young married couple’s attempt to rekindle their passion in The One I Love.  Sent by a marriage counselor to spend three days... Read more

By September 4, 2014

Leisure

Under the Covers: Somewhere over the rainbow, the color gray is the warmest of all

When we look at our lives in hindsight, we tend to see the events as having fallen into place, like puzzle pieces naturally forming their way into the bigger picture—except... Read more

By September 4, 2014

Leisure

Reel Talk: Is the Bechdel Test enough to save the female lead?

The film industry, like the majority of industries, has a female problem. That’s probably not the first time you’ve heard that, but people have started to try to objectively assess... Read more

By September 4, 2014