Mid-December has arrived, and with that comes the inevitable flood of best-of lists. The Washington Area Film Critics' Association has, for the previous five years of its existence, been in the habit of trying to get their own list out ahead of most of the other critics' societies. We can't really blame them. Considering the fact that none of the critics from the city's biggest newspaper are members, not to mention the fact that the......

“If I do my job as an actor, you won't notice that I'm South Asian or that I'm a woman, or even that I'm playing one of the most controversial political figures of all time. I'm portraying a person at a crossroads struggling with a difficult decision.” So says Zehra Fazal (pictured right) of her striking portrayal of Adolf Hitler in her self-produced, one-woman adaptation of Yukio Mishima’s play, My Friend Hitler, currently running at......

Jeff Antoniuk grew up listening to 1970s and 80s R&B, and funk like Michael Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire, and Average White Band, in addition to the required Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. He then discovered jazz fusion, which then led to classic acoustic jazz. In between all of this, he was studying classical piano classical theory and his master’s studies also included world music and ethnomusicology. The result is a wide range of......

>> Artists Virgil Marti and Pae White, whose new conceptual piece has recently been installed in the lobby of the Hirshhorn, will give a Meet the Artists talk in the museum's Ring Auditorium. [7th St. and Independence Ave. SW, Free, 7 p.m.] >> U Street neighborhood residents get the bait-and-switch from Mayor's office. Until a day ago, Mayor Fenty was scheduled to meet tonight. Now the Cardozo/Shaw Neighborhood Association will settle for Deputy Mayor Neil......

We always tell you where the free concerts are, but just because a concert is free does not mean that it will be good. This week, we are leading with the free concerts because they are so good. Other than the free stuff, there is so much to hear, we have selected a few options from what is less expensive, not sold out, and likely to be good. FREE, FREE, FREE: >> The Washington Bach......

My mother has her own non-profit "recycling project." It's called the holiday gift closet, filled with girly lotion sets and hand-held electronic poker games, ready to re-gift. It's perfect for those fake friends who are clearly not worth the shopping trip. These are just the kind of age-old holiday traditions that Washington Improv Theater wants to know about for their annual show, Seasonal Disorder. Each December, Washington Improv Theater hosts the yuletide-themed spectacle Seasonal Disorder,......

It must be hard out there for a Washington film critic. You've got big-city cinema dreams, but you're stuck in a town where politics is usually the order of the day. The number of people who turn to you as the last word in quality filmmaking is probably frustratingly small considering the size of the media market you're working in. So what are our humble D.C. area film critics to do? Well, as we've noted......

Oh, the holiday shopping season. Preparing the troops to invade local malls, throwing punches over a video game player, listening to Jingle Bells until your ears bleed. Good times. But it doesn't have to be that way. Don't know what to get mom-in-law? Finally impress her with your cultural know-how by gift wrapping some ART this holiday season. Galleries are listening, and have a few deals for you bargain shoppers. >>Cheap for Charity: What's better......

Fall is the season of festivals, so I hope you've stretched properly over the last few weeks, because this weekend is chock full of 'em. >> The annual Crafty Bastards fair is this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 18th Street in Adams Morgan. Grab your worn canvas Trader Joe's bag and get ready to collect all the quirky hand-sewn shirts and beaded earrings your little heart desires. After you've crossed everyone off......

MONDAYEver wondered what it’s like to spend every day in the company of toothless, semi-retarded, supine bunny rabbits? You know, the sort that are fuzzy, cuddly and sometimes cute, but dumb as a box of rocks? Go see Helen Thomas discuss her new book Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public. Olsson's Books & Records, 418 7th St. NW., 7 p.m. TUESDAY The popularity of the CSI......

If your dog has a particular talent, this weekend may be its time to shine. PETS-DC, an organization that helps individuals living with HIV/AIDS maintain and care for their pets, is sponsoring the "Pride of Pets" dog show tomorrow in Dupont Circle. But this isn't the type of contest where dogs will have to jump through hoops or be well-groomed or even well-behaved. The categories are as follows: Best Tail Wagging • Most Butch •......

One of the deficiencies of the city's leading opera company, Washington National Opera, is that lately they think of Mozart as early opera. The last time the WNO staged an opera from before 1775 or so was Handel's Julius Caesar in 2000 and the same composer's Agrippina in 1992 before that. Baroque opera is one of my major interests, and Handel is great, but there is a century of Baroque opera before Handel, too. We......

— The Hirshhorn has kicked off its 30th anniversary with the opening of "Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972–1985," a major survey of the artist’s work, in which “art becomes the sheer, absurd impulse to impose your presence — which can include a female presence — on the world.” (Read more of Blake Gopnik’s review in the Post. Mendieta’s sculpture of black ritual candles will be lit again this Friday from 12-5 p.m.......