Leisure

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

Leisure

Georgetown alum’s Sundance breakout is no snooze

“Remember: you’re on my side.” In his closely autobiographical film, Sleepwalk with Me, Mike Birbiglia (COL ‘00) plays a struggling comic who seems to realize that he’s not always very likable. A pizza addict and sleepwalker with dangerous tendencies, who makes countless slip-ups while questioning an idyllic relationship, Matt Pandamiglio (Birbiglia) can seem quite a pathetic specimen of humanity.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Steinmetz soars in Nat Geo Exhibit

George Steinmetz may reside in the uninspiring state of New Jersey, but he overcomes his underwhelming surroundings with entertaining and adventurous photography. In Desert Air: Photographs by George Steinmetz, his new exhibit in the National Geographic Museum, Steinmetz captures the world, from bathers in the Dead Sea to flamingos in Iran, from his own special vantage point—strapped to a 30 mile-per-hour motorized paraglider.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Del Frisco’s Grille overdoes its NY strips and its service

Adjacent to the Mall, the White House, and Pennsylvania Avenue’s countless white-marble federal edifices, Del Frisco’s Grille is everything you would expect of a corporate-esque steakhouse that lives by the maxim “Meat Up. Drink Up.”

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Stars, The North

“Well, the only way I see this happening is in an extended ride North.” This spoken-word introduction, borrowed from Canadian pianist Glenn Gould’s 1967 documentary The Idea of North, begins The North, the sixth studio album from Toronto indie outfit Stars. The intro hearkens back to the group’s origins and the success of 2004’s Set Yourself on Fire, and indeed could not be more appropriate—a return to the basics results in an album that, while somewhat formulaic, is emblematic of a sound best described as uniquely Stars.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Imagine Dragons, Night Vision

Imagine Dragons is one of those bands that you find filling in the spaces on the radio, garnering DJs’ marginal interest but constantly outplayed by the Katy Perrys of the world. Obviously, airtime does not equate to musical quality, but Imagine Dragons deserves to get some commercial success.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Idiot Box: Television’s Breaking Point

In 2008, television audiences met the world’s most pitiful man: an overqualified and underpaid high school chemistry teacher, 50 years old and the breadwinner for his pregnant wife and disabled son. And to complicate matters, he’s just been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. In his quest to secure enough money for his family to survive—about $700,000—Walter White pairs up with a junkie-cum-former student to cook crystal meth.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Haute Mess: Fall into Georgetown fashion

This year’s fall collections showcased everything from quintessentially British garb to traditional American heritage looks. Although some high fashion is a little too avant-garde for school, there are some looks that will keep you looking fit for the runway, and for class.

By September 6, 2012

Leisure

Al-Ani brings the desert to life at the Sackler Gallery

At Georgetown, you can’t walk through Red Square without meeting someone who’s lived in the Middle East. But beyond foreign-service-oriented institutions, there is a popular conception that the Middle East is an uninhabitable wasteland, immortalized by Gulf War news photography and Lawrence of Arabia. Iraqi-born artist Jananne Al-Ani aims to change that.

By August 30, 2012

Leisure

LaBeouf’s Lawless fails to ‘shine

Any film starring Shia LaBeouf sporting a questionable southern accent is already at a disadvantage, and it’s a handicap that the well-meaning Lawless fails to compensate for in the ways... Read more

By August 30, 2012

Leisure

Luke’s Lobster claws its way to the top of Potomac St.

In just three years, Luke Holden (MSB ’07) has shaken up the seafood scene in New York and Washington, D.C., bringing a bit of fresh and affordable Maine down the coast with the widely acclaimed Luke’s Lobster.

By August 30, 2012

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Critical Voices: Wild Nothing, Nocturne

The multitude of bands emerging in the dream pop genre mirrors an unfortunate truth about dreams: some are memorable, and some are not. Fortunately for Virginia Tech graduate Jack Tatum, his project, Wild Nothing, achieves the former on its second full-length release, Nocturne.

By August 30, 2012

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Critical Voices: Poor Moon, Poor Moon

With the success of 2011’s Helplessness Blues, any Fleet Foxes side project could easily have resulted in a successful mimicry of the original band. Members Christian Wargo and Casey Wescott, however, refused to succumb to this temptation while writing as Poor Moon. With the spin-off group’s debut self-titled album, Wargo, Wescott, and brothers Ian and Peter Murray have created a remarkable, self-standing LP.

By August 30, 2012

Leisure

Plate of the Union: Never eating meat, like, ever

I used to get excluded from carnivorous cuisines at home—taco nights aren’t quite the fiesta when you don’t eat ground beef. But here at Georgetown, Leo’s desperately tries to win my affection. The cafeteria takes pride in its top spot on PETA’s list of vegetarian-friendly colleges, inviting even the strictest vegans to celebrate “Chicken” Finger Thursdays.

By August 30, 2012

Leisure

You’ve got Issues: At least you’re not in Darnall

Dear Emlyn, I’m a totally awesome freshman, and was expecting that I would be invited to all sorts of raging parties, right? Here’s the thing though– I don’t really know many people, and have yet to be invited to anything besides an ice cream social or two. It sucks. Am I doomed to wandering around Village A in a pack with 30 of my fellow freshmen?

By August 30, 2012

Leisure

YO! Sushi will take you, and your tastebuds, for a ride

If you’re stepping off a train at Union Station with an empty stomach and a light wallet, you’d be wise to avoid YO! Sushi. This isn’t because the food there is overpriced—it’s actually quite reasonable, with each dish sitting in a bowl brightly color-coded by price, and no single one costing more than $6. Rather, it’s because having fresh, colorful, tasty Japanese fare riding seductively on a conveyor belt across your field of vision might be a little more than your hungry willpower can handle.

By August 24, 2012

Leisure

Celeste and Jesse make eternity sound rather appealing

With any eternal vow, there comes the distinct possibility that “forever” may not have been quite as long as originally intended. For Celeste and Jesse, however, this depressing realization never rears its ugly head.

By August 24, 2012

Leisure

Barbara Kruger takes art to new heights at the Hirshhorn

From the first step onto the escalator descending into the Hirshhorn Gallery’s famed rotunda, Barbara Kruger’s newest exhibit, Belief + Doubt, nearly screams at visitors, but in a positive way, as if coaxing them to step back and take another look. With text beginning on the underside of the escalator, viewers are immediately thrown into Kruger’s world, where “Belief + Doubt = Sanity,” with 12-foot questions and phrases covering the gallery from floor to ceiling in this wraparound installation.

By August 24, 2012

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Critical Voices: Alanis Morrisette, Havoc and Bright Lights

With visceral and poetic hits like “Ironic” and “You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morissette has long been known for her autobiographical, emotionally charged lyrics. Havoc and Bright Lights, the 38-year-old Canadian songstress’s eighth studio album, is no exception. The LP is packed with material that draws inspiration from her recent marriage to Mario Treadway, better known from his Boston rapping career as MC Souleye, and her experience with motherhood.

By August 24, 2012

Leisure

Critical Voices: Oposom, Electric Hawaii

If you are a sucker for cutesy, Apple-product-commercial music, then Electric Hawaii, the new album from indie-pop outfit Opossom, will fit right into your oversized Beats headphones. Slightly fuzzy vocals, hoppy bass-lines, catchy choruses, dreamy guitars, and a paint-can full of synth give Opossom a classically hip New York City sound—ironic, given that they hail from New Zealand. Though Opossom is the brainchild of Kody Nielson, formally of Mint Chicks, Electric Hawaii boasts a signature, perfected feel that sounds more like the amalgamation of several artistic minds.

By August 24, 2012

Leisure

Idiot Box: TLC makes a Boo Boo

In 1972 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, in conjunction with NASA, founded a television network with the goal of using TV, which has long been thought to distract the brain from useful function, as a means of education. The network was later named The Learning Channel, or, for short, TLC.

By August 24, 2012