Keep away from Playing for Keeps: A romcom gone wrong

At first glance, Playing for Keeps seems to have all the substance required of a winning romcom; the story of a hot former soccer star with a Scottish accent (Gerard Butler) who is trying to do right by his son and ex-wife (Jessica Biel), while clichéd, at the very least offers a few hours of mindless entertainment.

By Mary Borowiec December 6, 2012

Leisure

Taryn Simon dazzles and disturbs at the Corcoran Gallery

The Corcoran Gallery of Art is filled to the brim with colorful, eye-catching works of visual mastery, but you have to wade through that sea of technical skill to get to photographer Taryn Simon’s A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, a massive, six-room exhibit that initially overwhelms its viewer with monotony. The walls are hung with gigantic, uniform, brown frames grouped into sets, all following the same formula—one or more with headshot photographs of somber-faced individuals, a slender one with small black writing, and another with photographs, legal documents, or other archives, all mounted with the most boring shade of tan you’ve ever seen.

By Leigh Finnegan December 6, 2012

Leisure

Fuego Cocina douses authenticity

Fuego Cocina y Tequileria recently opened its doors in Clarendon promising diners an experience that doesn’t quite live up to its fiery name. The Mexican restaurant and tequila bar is the newest business from the owners of Passion Food Hospitality, a group of chefs with American, Latino, and seafood restaurants in the DMV area. With its stiflingly opulent atmosphere, the restaurant is a far cry from the local, small family owned taquerias that it ought to resemble.

By Alexandra Golway December 6, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: El Perro Del Mar, Pale Fire

Much like the name it bears, Swedish solo act El Perro Del Mar’s Pale Fire contains all the subtle strength of a gently burning white flame. While melodically subdued, the record has a palpable power only slightly dimmed by Sarah Assbring’s reverberant, airy vocals that result in a satisfyingly ambient synth-pop concoction.

By Kirill Makarenko December 6, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Ke$ha, Warrior

With her signature riot of glitter and war paint, Ke$ha has established a character for herself that doesn’t stray far from a party girl stereotype. In spite of this image, the pop singer-songwriter has masterfully expanded her repertoire by capturing a vast array of styles and influences on her superb sophomore effort. True to its name, Warrior has Ke$ha fighting to continue doing what she does best: not giving a fuck.

By Kirill Makarenko December 6, 2012

Leisure

Under the Covers: Not all adaptations are alike

Konstantin Levin is expected to live the life of a 19th century Russian aristocrat—days devoted to a bureaucratic job, afternoons spent in St. Petersburg salons, discussing politics or more likely gossiping, and evenings devoted to a vodka fueled dinner, ball, or a night at the opera. But this isn’t satisfactory to the thoughtful Levin, an essential character in Tolstoy’s epic novel, Anna Karenina, and a significant figure in a recent film interpretation.

By Emilia Brahm December 6, 2012

Leisure

Reel Talk: Quentin-ssential Tarantino

The path of a filmmaker’s career can often take twists and turns, at times making critics out of former fans. For Quentin Tarantino, such defectors are largely confounded by his most recent film’s compulsive dips into farcical comedy. How, they inquire, could the genius behind two ‘90s masterpieces create a movie as incoherent and painfully self-indulgent as Inglourious Basterds? Either the auteur is criminally misunderstood or his trademark obsession with violence and pop culture references has enervated audiences’ tolerance for the absurd. Tarantino apologists point to the former; the absurd is what they crave most. And they are right.

By Mark James December 6, 2012

Leisure

Tolstoy’s Karenina remastered as modern day romcom

Tragedies have a habit of giving themselves away; in many cases, the victim’s name flashes in the title like a morbid neon sign. Whatever fate befalls these characters lingers in the shadowy background, progressively coming into focus as the story unfolds. Anna Karenina is no exception, a tale of a woman whose own tragic flaw is a violent passion for a man, which consumes her entirely.

By Julia Lloyd-George November 29, 2012

Leisure

From TV Dinners to Happy Meals: America’s culinary history

Food is a funny thing; while eating is a natural and necessary ritual, the experience of having a meal and the implications of what—and how—we eat are not things we think about. Food: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000, a new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, discusses the cultural and social changes in how Americans make, prepare, process, and ultimately eat food.

By Alexandra Golway November 29, 2012

Leisure

It’s beginning to look at lot like Xmas

When joking about Christmas in the District, a city ruled by politics, Jay Leno quipped, “The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C.. This wasn’t for any religious reasons; they couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.”

By Mary Borowiec November 29, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Wu-block, Wu-Block

An irreplaceable attribute of good music is its ability to relate to an audience; to a degree, a listener must identify with any work of art to enjoy it. The true masters stand out, however, when they deliver quality material with absolutely no semblance of a connection to the majority of society. Wu-Block, a group effort between members of New York-based rap groups Wu-Tang Clan and D-Block, does exactly this on its self-titled collaborative album.

By Kirill Makarenko November 29, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire

With the music industry plunging into and subsequently drowning in a sea of synthesizers and dubstep beats, established artists are able to venture into previously uncharted territory. Even Alicia Keys, who has for the most part been absent from the recording studio since 2009, has fallen victim to a timid yet mostly effective attempt at a stylistic transition on her gripping, self-reflective fifth studio album Girl On Fire.

By Kirill Makarenko November 29, 2012

Leisure

Plate of the Union: The life of pie sisters

Every grandchild may proclaim her grandmother the best baker around, but unlike the rest of yours, my grandma has a trophy to prove it. Sitting on top of our dining room cabinet, its shiny plaque declares her the winner of the Beverly Hills Pie Contest. She makes her pies less often today, but when my brother Ross and I were in middle school, we would often come home to a dining room table piled high with Granny Smiths.

By Heather Regen November 29, 2012

Leisure

You’ve Got Issues: All’s fair in love and housing

Dear Emlyn, Despite the fact that I’m a freshman, I got things going really fast with a girl this semester, and we’re in a happy relationship. I even visited her family over Thanksgiving, and her mom loved me. The problem is this: I’ve got a terrible, terrible exam schedule, which is forcing me take time off from work. Less work means less money. I want to do things with her before we part ways for a month-long Christmas break, and I want to buy her something nice for Christmas, but I barely have any money or time. How do I navigate a thin wallet and a fat schedule? -Poor in Love

By Emlyn Crenshaw November 29, 2012

Leisure

Bono goes where the streets have letters for names

Bono wants you to trample him.

By Tim Barnicle November 15, 2012

Leisure

Farmers Fishers Bakers hooks diners at the waterfront

“I’m sorry, but it might be a few minutes—our filtering system is backed up,” my inhumanly smiley waitress at Farmers Fishers Bakers informed me when I asked for some water. An in-house water filtering system is one of the many ways the new Washington Harbor eatery, which opened last week, is endeavoring to keep up a program of sustainability in line with its mission to honor the sources of everything in the restaurant.

By Julia Lloyd-George November 15, 2012

Leisure

A move that is all Silver Linings

“Is that crazy enough for ya? Want me to take a shit on the floor?” With this inquiry, Jack Nicholson’s legendary character in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest aptly summed up countless false impressions about mental illness. And while Hollywood has tackled some of the most contentious issues in our society, mental illness remains a subject that is rarely broached.

By Gabrielle Gold November 15, 2012

Leisure

A Blue and Gray X-mas

While Daniel Day Lewis’s eerily precise embodiment of the 16th president in Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated Lincoln will go down as one of the Great Emancipator’s finest portrayals, another layer of Lincoln his yet to be discovered in Georgetown’s A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration.

By Mary Borowiec November 15, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Crystal Castles, (III)

Crystal Castles producer Ethan Kath said that for its new album, (III), the band recorded each song in just one take, because “the first take is the rawest expression of an idea.” And he was right; in this aptly-titled third release, Crystal Castles creates a dark, synth dystopia that is both riveting and disquieting, volatile and visceral. Though the new release builds on Crystal Castles’ distinctly haunting electronic sound, with (III) the band takes a decidedly more somber turn.

By Marjorie Fuchs November 15, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: One Direction, Take Me Home

“We’ll keep doing what we do / Just pretending that we’re cool,” begins the chorus of lead single “Live While We’re Young,” the apparent motto of English-Irish boy band One Direction. The group’s sophomore effort fits this mold rather perfectly; Take Me Home continues in just one direction, and that is a path towards more one-syllable words and less substance than an episode of Maury.

By Kirill Makarenko November 15, 2012