Leisure

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

Leisure

Critical Voices: The Kooks, Junk of the Heart

Loyal fans of British indie darlings The Kooks will thoroughly appreciate their third album, Junk of the Heart, an album teeming with the upbeat, whimsical music that made their first two efforts hits. But where Junk succeeds in melodies, its cynical lyrics are an unwanted change to the group’s trademark buoyant subject matter.

By September 15, 2011

Leisure

Damon breathes life into Contagion

Don’t panic—seriously. In Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, the CDC proves to handle a horrifying killer virus with blockbuster-defying competence. The lab researchers deftly work towards a vaccine, the World Health Organization pinpoints the source of origin with ease, and only Congress appears to fail miserably in its attempt to convene over Skype.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

lez’hur ledger: Crunkcakes: baking with booze

It was a rainy Wednesday, and I felt lucky to stand under the awning of the Rock N Roll Hotel, staying as dry as I could. I was nervous because my contact, Raychel Sabath, one of the two founders of Crunkcakes, was out of the office. She did not pick up her phone when I called, and I was beginning to worry that I wouldn’t get what I had driven across town for.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Georgetown gone Vogue

It seems every day brings another story of natural disasters or global economic catastrophes. While world leaders may be stalling and losing sleep in search of solutions, what better way is there to combat the looming unemployment reports or the ripples of the debt crisis than to engage in the time-honored and therapeutic tradition of shopping? This Thursday, Georgetown will host D.C.’s Fashion’s Night Out, designed by Vogue magazine and the Council of Fashion Designers of America “to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, boost the industry’s economy, and put the fun back in shopping,” according to the event website, with sales and special promotions taking place at over a hundred D.C. stores.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Idiot Box: AMC plays the Bad guy

Imagine a character, one you’ve had three long seasons to grow deeply invested in, aiming a gun at another character. Your guy isn’t perfect, and you’ve seen him act in less-than-lawful manners before, but he’s been through a lot, and it reads in his terrified eyes while he holds a gun to a defenseless man’s head. He pulls the trigger, and the screen goes black. End of season three.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Throwback Jack: Ignatian seismology

This year’s freshman class literally shook campus with its arrival. The earthquake that struck D.C. during move-in week was entirely unexpected, disrupting orientation events and forcing buildings to be evacuated. In the midst of this minor crisis, University officials employed email, text messaging, and nearly every other conceivable medium to get students updates as quickly as possible.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Critical Voices: Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

Yes, it’s country music. But it ain’t about sexy green tractors, farmer’s tans, or improper grammar. In fact, iTunes first mistakenly labeled all the tracks from Lady Antebellum’s third studio album, Own the Night, as “pop.” Perhaps the trio has begun to head the way of Taylor Swift: cranking out faux-country for a mainstream audience with little respect for true southern rock. Much of the new album, which drops on September 13, is missing the twang of older hits, such as “Lookin’ For a Good Time.” But oddly enough, the group’s transition to an increasingly diverse sound has, for the most part, worked.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Critical Voices: CANT, Dreams Come True

If anyone in the music industry is on top of their game right now, it’s Chris Taylor. Best known as the bassist and backup vocalist for Grizzly Bear, Taylor has also done behind the scenes work on other well-regarded projects, producing records for Twin Shadow and the Morning Benders. Dreams Come True, the debut album from Taylor’s new solo project CANT, is predictably well-produced, but few of its songs display the songwriting ability that made Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest an indie classic.

By September 8, 2011

Leisure

Not afraid of the Dark

When screenwriter Guillermo del Toro and director Troy Nixey began work on Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, they set out to make a PG-13 picture. After all, the film is a remake of a 1973 TV movie that, despite its lack of gore, made quite an impression on a young del Toro. The MPAA had other ideas, and ended up giving the film an R rating, because they found it “pervasively scary.” One might consider this a ringing endorsement of the summer’s latest horror venture, but the MPAA was, as expected, terribly wrong. Nixey’s directorial debut is undone by the simple fact that its CGI monsters belong in a comedy, not a supposed fright-fest.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Where have all the space cowboys gone?

This summer, NASA’s announcement that it was ending its space shuttle program prompted reactions of nostalgia and sadness from many Americans. The idea of American astronauts having to use Russian space transports to reach the International Space Station seems like a retreat from victories won during the Cold War. But for those wishing to relive the heyday of America’s space program, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum recently opened NASA: 50 Years of Exploration, an eclectic gallery featuring artistic interpretations of NASA in its prime.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

lez’hur ledger: SlutWalk 2011

Lafayette Square has never seen so much skin. As I wandered into this designated meeting place to march in the SlutWalk, I was relieved to note my outfit—we’ll call it a costume—fell in the mid-range of concertedly slutty ensembles. That put it just above the leopard-print-bra-and-stiletto combo and slightly below the same combo overlaid with a mesh dress borrowed from the Village People.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

The joy of eating

As soon as students step foot on campus, Avocado Cafe and its delivery-food rivals make it their mission to litter the school with menus. New to Georgetown, Eat & Joy hasn’t missed out on the race to inundate the lobby of New South with its pamphlets, calling out to Leo’s-weary freshmen who need to stock up on CampusFood.com points.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Whiskey Business: Beer eye for the frosh guy

The beginning of senior year is a great time for enjoying kegs on the Esplanade, reflecting on your college experience, and above all, desperately searching for an answer to the question posed by just about everyone you come across: “So, what do you plan to do after college?” I am nowhere near close enough to having an answer to that question, but I do have one way to show the people in my life that I have grown and matured at college: my drinking habits.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Byte Me: Pre-frosh poketacular

Each year, after receiving their acceptance letters and sending in their tuition deposits, most of the new crop of pre-freshmen take what must seem like a big step toward becoming part of the Georgetown community: joining the Class of [fill in year here] Facebook group. This group facilitates Facebook stalking at its finest: it’s full of hundreds of complete strangers, all of whom have the potential to be a roommate, classmate, or new best friend. And before ever meeting them, Facebook allows soon-to-be freshmen to imagine exactly where all these strangers might figure into their next four years at Georgetown.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, True Panther Sounds

Of the litany of complaints that doctors and educators have made about the tolls of the technological age on American youth, one of the most prominent is the obvious shortening of our national attention span. But if Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the sophomore album from San Francisco indie duo Girls, meets any kind of acclaim or success, our nation can rest easy that many of its youngsters are superhumanly attentive—because getting through Holy Ghost’s tediously repetitive 57 minutes in one sitting is enough to make anyone feel like a fifth grader trapped in Catechism.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Beirut, The Rip Tide, Pompeii

Considering that Beirut’s Zach Condon once described himself as a musician in search of an “epic melody,” it might seem odd that his band’s third album, The Rip Tide, clocks in at a decidedly non-epic 33 minutes. But despite its brevity, the album once again showcases Condon’s continuing development as a songwriter and the brooding, lyrical instrumentation that has been the band’s hallmark.

By August 26, 2011

Leisure

Critical Voices: Fucked Up, David’s Town

In a little over a month, Fucked Up will release David Comes to Life, the much-anticipated follow-up to the Toronto-based hardcore group’s Polaris Prize-winning Chemistry of Common Life, which promises to have an even broader appeal than that album’s hardcore crossover: more complex melodies, more ornate arrangements, and more guest appearances. And it’s a rock opera.

By April 28, 2011

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Critical Voices: Thao and Mirah, Thao and Mirah

When two solo artists come together for an album, the result usually falls short of the lofty artistic goals they strive for, but Thao and Mirah, a joint effort from Thao Nguyen, founder of San Francisco alt-folk group Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and singer-songwriter Mirah is the rare collaboration that truly impresses. The synthesis between the two women’s styles is remarkable, with each track exploring new layers of unity as the vocally-driven artists push each other to greater and greater heights.

By April 28, 2011

Leisure

Throwback Jack: Senior Week Shenanigans

In a few short weeks, the graduating seniors of the Class of 2011 will happily abandon campus in pursuit of exciting summer plans, relinquishing all of their Georgetown territory to the rising senior class. But before they leave, they’ll spend their last days on campus drinking, dancing, and partying their way through one last University-sanctioned event—Senior Week.

By April 28, 2011

Leisure

Idiot Box: Baked and Wire-d

During pre-registration a few weeks ago, I was hell-bent on taking one specific philosophy class. It seems odd, considering that I’m not a philosophy major, and generally find the subject to be a pointless, theoretical pain in the ass. But the title of this class alone was enough to make me, and, my guess is, a good chunk of the television-watching population of Georgetown, slide it all the way at the top of my pre-reg list—“Philosophy and The Wire”.

By April 28, 2011