Leisure

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

Leisure

Star-crossed lovers get steampunk at Folger Theatre

As the star-crossed lovers brood on opposite ends of the balcony, their families march on stage to stand beneath them. A man in black emerges to narrate the prologue, gesturing to backlit scenes of Verona, before donning his hat, announcing himself the prince, and stepping back to let violent sword-fighting begin in the Folger Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Aaron Posner.

By October 31, 2013

Leisure

Big names Pop at Spagnuolo Gallery

Some of the biggest names in the pop art movement, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, settled into Georgetown’s Spagnuolo Art Gallery this weekend. Located in the lobby of Walsh, the gallery is showcasing these artists in its newest exhibit, Pop Art Prints. In addition to displaying some of the most iconic pop art imagery, the exhibit also features works that, as curator and Georgetown museum studies fellow Carolanne Bonanno points out, “...are a little more alternative, so that [students] could compare them to the larger names.”

By October 31, 2013

Leisure

Love thine enemy: War games blast off in Ender’s Game

“Ender Wiggin isn’t a killer. He just wins—thoroughly.” Director Gavin Hood brings these words to life in his adaptation of the classic science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card. Visually and viscerally, he succeeds in creating a brutal movie about morals and ethics. Ender’s Game tells the story of Ender Wiggin as he moves from an Earth-based military academy to an extraterrestrial base called Battle School, where children are trained to be the military geniuses of tomorrow. The movie takes place after the Formic Wars, an alien invasion that almost destroyed Earth.

By October 31, 2013

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Under the Covers: Giving voice to poetry

I attended a reading by prolific contemporary poets C.K. Williams and Stanley Plumly at the Folger Shakespeare Library this Monday, and I was scared. I know nothing about poetry, and, aside from the very little I read in high school English class, I have never branched into the genre. I, like some other nervous readers comfortable in their familiar prose, have avoided meter for far too long.

By October 31, 2013

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Idiot Box: Smells like teen spirit

I was an awkward teenager. That hardly makes me an anomaly, but the levels of angst accompanying that particular state of being reached the kind of heights that every misfit seems to think is unique to them. Of course, the irony is that this is a fairly universal condition among people navigating new identities and social strata, even as the hierarchies of high school appear to be carved in stone. Everything seems inflated beyond belief, every interaction a subject to be endlessly analyzed, and every embarrassment a potential reason to leave the country.

By October 31, 2013

Leisure

Critical Voices: Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped in Red

Ah, Kelly Clarkson. She stole the show with American Idol, stole our hearts with Breakaway, and stole our praise with Stronger. No? Hyperbole aside, Kelly Clarkson has been around for a while, and there is no denying she’s got a hell of a voice. But as the name may suggest, Wrapped in Red is her first Christmas-themed album, and that’s always a dangerous body of water to tread into.

By October 31, 2013

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Critical Voices: Arcade Fire, Reflektor

Though it took them a trip to the Caribbean and some Disco lessons from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Arcade Fire has finally learned how to have fun. The indie rock band’s fourth release, Reflektor, marks an intentional movement away from their definitive, Grammy-winning sound and ushers in a reenergized, playful one that is less saturated in heavy thematic content. This doesn’t mean that Reflektor is entirely free from William Butler’s didactic, preachy lyrics, but this time they are delivered in a more brightly lit way.

By October 31, 2013

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Nomadic brings Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to life

“Who are we when nobody is watching?” goes the director’s tagline for Nomadic Theater’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a post-absurdist play by Tom Stoppard. Director Kathleen Joyce (COL ‘15) notes that, “We live a fundamentally absurd existence with rules that don’t make sense. … Post-absurdism says ‘How can we live our lives under those assumptions? How can we be sane and happy given the chaotic universe that we live in?’”

By October 24, 2013

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Live fast, die young: Bad girls do it well in The Counselor

Drug cartels and decapitations have never been so sexy. Although his stunning A-list cast definitely helps, Ridley Scott infuses The Counselor with a ubiquitous sex appeal that seeps through every meticulous detail of the film. It’s difficult to imagine that such an attractive movie could successfully carry themes of grief and death, but Scott’s silver platter proves to be a successful vehicle for the ugliest of human experiences.

By October 24, 2013

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Van Gogh’s Repetitions: New each visit

Vincent van Gogh’s paintings are sculpture. Using a technique called impasto, his brush strokes are so thickly applied that they create peaks and canyons of paint. These mountains and caverns create an image of a furious flurry of activity in his paintings. Consistent throughout van Gogh’s oeuvre, his technical virtuosity appears improvised.

By October 24, 2013

Leisure

These tapas ain’t free

At Barcelona Wine Bar, a bull’s head hangs on the wall, flames roar in the open kitchen, and rows upon rows of glistening wine glasses create a curtain of reflecting light. Rough exposed wood panel line the interior, and a wall of glass looks out onto the patio where a fire is burning in the open oven. The tables are small and modern, maintaining a touch a tradition in their wooden look, but creating a sense of openness with sharp angles and minimalistic wrought-iron legs. While the wood is dark and earthy, the glass wall and high black ceiling open up the rest of the space to create a grounded, harmonious balance between the light and the heavy, the earthy and the spacious. Every aspect of the place is perfectly poised.

By October 24, 2013

Leisure

Plate of the Union: The Joys of Campus Cooking

This is the first year I have had access to a full kitchen at Georgetown (sorry Village B, but size matters), and it has been a blast to experiment with cooking and develop a culinary personality. Sriracha hot sauce features heavily in my food identity. Try any dish that comes out of my kitchen, and probability says you will ingest a healthy dose of Sriracha. I have to buy this stuff in bulk because of how I often I use it. Eggs, pasta, soup, meatloaf—you name it, and I’ve put Sriracha on it. Thus far, I’ve only managed to avoid squeezing a bit of the good stuff into baked goods.

By and October 24, 2013

Leisure

Reel Talk: Conjuring up movie magic

Getting ready for Halloween at Georgetown can be complicated—with two weekends of parties, the creativity to fuel multiple costume changes can start to run thin. But there’s one thing that should never be left off a true Halloweener’s to-do list, no matter how busy the holiday festivities get—horror movies.

By October 24, 2013

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Critical Voices: Sainthood Reps, Headswell

Sainthood Reps’ sophomore release, Headswell, blasts listeners with a head-clearing assault on the senses. With the release of their most recent collection of artful rock jams, the four-piece has stepped to center stage as a contender for the brightest musical spark from the Long Island, New York breeding ground for its now-characteristic strain of heavy, creative alternative rock.

By October 24, 2013

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Critical Voices: The Head and the Heart, Let’s Be Still

Beautiful. The only word that surfaced in my mind as tears welled up in my eyes at the close of The Head and the Heart’s self-titled debut album, which I left spinning in my car’s stereo for many months of my senior year of high school.

By October 24, 2013

Leisure

Mask & Bauble plays with Woody Allen

Don’t Drink the Water, Woody Allen’s Cold War farce set in the American Embassy of an unnamed country behind the Iron Curtain, first hit stages in 1966. This midterm season, from Oct. 17 to 26, Mask & Bauble’s adaptation succeeds in bringing the script’s comic relief alive for harried students. Its madcap ensemble includes a magician priest, three tourists from New Jersey running from the communist police, and the fumbling son of a famous diplomat, protagonist Axel Magee. When Axel’s father puts him in charge of a short trip, chaos ensues—Woody Allen style.

By October 17, 2013

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Fifth Estate or Fifth Column? Cumberbatch has you decide

Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate takes an impressive cast (who doesn’t love Benedict Cumberbatch and Professor Lupin?) and combines it with one of the most controversial events in recent history to make one of the most ambitious dramas I’ve ever seen.

By October 17, 2013

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Ejiofor breaks chains and fourth wall in 12 Years a Slave

Full disclosure: I am a descendent of slave owners. However, it doesn’t take a sordid family history to be struck by the stark anguish of Solomon Northup’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) captivity in 12 Years a Slave.

By October 17, 2013

Leisure

Under the Covers: When coming out is a crime

Born in 1973, Abdellah Taia is the first openly-gay Moroccan author to address the gay scene in North Africa. During OUTober, a celebration of LGBTQ culture here at Georgetown, I saw a friend post on Facebook about Taia’s new movie Salvation Army, an adaptation of the eponymous novel featuring a young, gay Moroccan boy.

By October 17, 2013

Leisure

Idiot Box: Primetime has gone brain dead

There’s something about zombies. I’m not sure if it’s the palatable idea of flesh-eating corpses or the escapism that a zombie apocalypse offers citizens of a government shutdown, but Americans just can’t get enough of The Walking Dead. Apparently, we like it even more than Sunday night football. This is a big deal for me, since I’m the kind of quintessential American that knows exactly what those cactus-shaped posts on either side of the field are for and wouldn’t dream of ignoring the Super Bowl until Beyoncé comes on. In short, zombies are huge.

By October 17, 2013