The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Arts Tuesday, September 20, 2016 — 5 Stunning, jarring, intriguing, scary — all apt descriptors for hullaballoo that has been the lat- est iteration of New York Fashion Week. To provide some nuanced imagery about the past week, your Daily Style writers have compiled a few of their favorite collections that graced this season’s runway. Kithland Kith, for the most part, is a stark contrast from Fashion Week’s tra- ditional mainstays. Largely for that very reason, their New York debut was met with a flurry of surprise and intrigue. In embrac- ing and celebrating the label’s newfound stage (and audiences), founder Ronnie Fieg took the opportunity to craft an experi- ence, stylized “KITHLAND,” that deviated far from the conventions of a typical runway show, stream- ing his new digs to the masses online and allowing fans of his to relive the experience through virtual reality at one of his many flagship Manhattan stores. With an audience that boasted the likes of Iman Shumpert and Ja Rule, Fieg had much of the mod- ern hype machine intently watch- ing for what Fieg had in store. He split his show into three different offerings, “City,” “Mountain” and “Beach” (for his upcoming Miami flagship store), respectively, with the show conveying much of Fieg and Kith’s bread and but- ter, showcasing a cohesive mix of flashy sneakers and ’90s throw- back couture. Kith has been experienc- ing a gradual rise in clout and popularity among Manhattan and streetwear’s more cultured patrons, but in Kithland, Fieg cemented his label’s newfound status as fashion’s “nouvelle élite,” adding patrons of high fashion to his ever-growing list of fans. — Anay Katyal Tommy Hilfiger Tommy Hilfiger was the talk of day three of New York Fashion Week as he debuted the brand’s first ever “see-now-buy-now” col- lection, called #TOMMYNOW. The designer, well known for going above and beyond with runway design, featured a car- nival theme to set the stage for Hilfiger’s collaboration with supermodel Gigi Hadid. The 21-year-old Vogue regular sport- ed a slew of looks that embodied the usual themes of Hilfiger’s design: all-American, nautical and classic. Combining Hadid’s image with the brand allowed Hilfiger to appeal to a younger market. Hadid, a Victoria’s Secret Angel, gives the classic brand a youthful twist, especially since the Hilfiger brand has existed since 1985, and was in serious need of a revamp. Through the Fall 2016 collection, Hilfiger and Hadid provided sev- eral new personalities — for start- ers, the collection can be bought in stores right now and not in six months, as is usual with Fashion Week collections. Additionally, the clothes took Hilfiger’s classic look and made it attractive, com- fortable and stylish. — Isobel Futter Jason Wu “Florals — for spring? Ground- breaking.” Jason Wu’s spring 2017 collec- tion is heavy on florals, but still breaks boundaries. Wu’s spring collection is full of dichotomies, yet feels effortless and fluid. The collection begins with heavy navys paired with iri- descent blues and shifts towards nudes and neons. Wu uses dark colors traditionally more suited for fall with lightweight fabrics — though this isn’t a new tactic for the designer, who relied heavily on stiff, dark shades in his spring 2016 collection. Perhaps the pops of color and nudes seen near the end of his show were a concession to the more traditional spring fare. His collection was focused on both the creation of flow through the use of draping and pairing with other pieces which use rigid neon lines to create structure. But despite the collection’s variety, it still feels cohesive, and new: flo- rals are fresh. — Emma Kinery Vera Wang Vera Wang showcased a mono- chromatic style at Fashion Week this year. The designer, who’s been moving towards collections solely in black and white in the past few years, definitely stuck to that theme. The looks were not intricate — simple skirts, shorts and cropped tops, paired with oversize jackets and blazers — but were chic and fitting to the brand’s minimalist theme. The designer also opted for a natural hair and makeup for the models, and all the mod- els sported the same black socks and black boots. Overall, the designer chose for her entire show, collection and appeal all to adhere to “less is always more.” In doing so, spectators can focus on the clothes, what they bring to the wearer’s body and how the simplistic designs differ ever so slightly from one another. No surprises from Wang, as the brand played to its strengths and provided Fashion Week with an artistically modest, yet elegant and nuanced, collection. — Isobel Futter Carolina Herrera The show began with perhaps the strongest look in the collec- tion: a structured denim dress a la Britney Spears at the 2001 VMAs, except it was channeling elegance rather than gaudiness. That being said, not all of the pieces in the collection strode the same path. Herrera’s collection is mainly black and white, with some striped pieces feeling more circus than chic. The focus was on making the everyday picnic style feel evening and in that it succeeded, even if on the individual level it felt tired: at times the ties on several sleeves of the looks were a bit much. She made fabrics and patterns from the everyday — white blousey cotton, denim, gingham — into the spectacular. Herrera’s use of structure compensates for the areas which feel less refined and makes pieces like this black coat- dress shine. — Emma Kinery KITH NYC How did Derek Jeter get up there? TV REVIEW DAILY STYLE WRITERS All you need to know from the stylish craziness of NY Fashion Week SS17 Daily Style Writers recap the biggest showcases of the week Within the first 20 minutes or so of “Snowden,” Nicolas Cage (“National Treasure”), playing a teacher at a CIA train- ing facility, engages Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Inception”) in a conversa- tion about vice. The back-and- forth goes a bit something like this: Cage asks Gordon-Levitt what his vice is. Gordon-Levitt says he doesn’t drink or do drugs. Cage retorts that he must have a vice. Gor- don-Levitt replies, “Comput- ers, I guess.” Cage says, “Well, this sure is a whorehouse of computers…” From there on, it’s just more of the same. A not-so-small percentage of time, the dia- logue is unbearable. Quips like these are consistent through- out film. They left me and those around me in the theater laughing at the sheer absur- dity of the things being said in supposedly serious, emotional scenes. Another highlight in absolute trash dialogue occurs after Snowden makes it onto the news after talking with The Guardian. We see Cage’s character sitting in a La-Z-Boy, smoking a cigarette in front of his television set in a ’70s-style home. He exclaims from his recliner, “He did it!” and the scene cuts away. But if bad dia- logue was the only problem the movie had, it could have still been a decent production. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie follows suit — at least stylistically, the quality doesn’t improve. At one point, Snowden has a sei- zure and Gordon-Levitt falls to the ground to do his best reen- actment of this medical emer- gency. What makes it awful is the way director Oliver Stone (“Platoon”) chooses to portray the experience of a seizure. Snowden is cooking up some spaghetti, and his glasses start to fog from the steam. The cam- era and his body begin to wob- ble back and forth. The screen becomes stained with the same fog that was on his glasses. Randomly, the movie switches to a point-of-view shot as Gor- don-Levitt falls to the ground, and in blurred vision, his girl- friend rushes over. The whole scene turns a serious medical scenario into a hokey plot-point action scene. The movie mostly revolves around Snowden finding out new and creepier information about what the NSA is doing. He finds something out. He is disturbed by it. He doesn’t do anything about it. This cycle continues until the end, when Snowden (surprise!) finally does something about it. The story jumps back and forth in time between the interview with The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong and the events that have taken place in the last few years. Much of the movie is told with one of the interviewers asking Snowden a question and him narrating the scene that takes place on screen. The storytelling feels cheap, like a shortcut to certain events in Edward Snowden’s life. The movie ends with an interview in an auditorium where Snowden appears on a computer monitor from his current residence in Russia. At the very end of the interview, the movie cuts back to Edward Snowden — the real Edward Snowden, not Joseph Gordon- Levitt. Dramatically, this cut to the real person adds nothing. It feels like a trick, like Stone is saying “Hey! Look! This movie is based on a real person.” Yes, we know. OPEN ROAD FILMS (500) Days of Russian Winter JOE WAGNER Daily Arts Writer Not even Nicolas Cage can steal a good movie out of this mess D- “Snowden” Open Road Films Rave & Quality 16 Oliver Stone’s ‘Snowden’ a weak, laughable biopic FILM REVIEW Frank Zappa once said in an interview, “I don’t think any- body has ever seen the real Frank Zappa, because being interviewed is one of the most abnormal things that you can do to somebody.” Zappa’s words are a warning label, a way to tell the audience that the person in the documentary is not the person it’s portraying. For the next 90 minutes, audi- ences see interviews in which this abnormality is explored, diving into the idiosyncrasies of Zappa. Can anything he says be taken seriously, or is every- thing just another act? Regard- less of his warning, “Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words” is the closest thing fans will get to knowing the real musical mastermind. Thorsten Schütte (“Namib- ia Generation X”), a director known for TV documentaries, retells Zappa’s diverse career from his bicycle orchestra on “The Steve Allen Show” to his battle with cancer. Rather than rely on narration, Schüt- te exclusively uses footage of interviews and live perfor- mances. Zappa is such a dis- tinct personality that he is the only qualified source to recount his work. Any other efforts to illustrate his career are futile. Watching a random music his- torian try to talk about him would feel phony, something Zappa would find hilarious. Zappa was no stranger to slander in the press, and the media was just another instru- ment for Zappa to manipulate. “Eat That Ques- tion” addresses false claims, like the idea that Zappa frequently used psyche- delic drugs, with vengeance. His disapproval toward drugs may not shock devoted fans, but those influenced by these media reports will be surprised to hear Zappa never took LSD and disliked marijuana, because his workaholic tendencies and endless discography would have been dampened. If there needed to be an anti-drug role model in the 20th Century, it should have been Zappa. The documentary juxtaposes the interviews and Zappa’s zany performances to discover the motives behind his acts. Every lyric and every charade had a purpose, and there was never fluff in any of his material. The documentary, unfortunately, fails to live up to such high stan- dards at all moments. Though predominantly engaging, it overstays its welcome when introducing his brief tenure as a pseudo-ambassador for Czecho- slovakia. Although this displays Zappa’s eclectic life, it feels like a digression from what impact- ed fans the most: his music. “Eat That Question” does not attempt to summarize Zappa’s entire life; basic facts like his date of birth or miscellaneous trivia can be found easily and don’t require a documentary. Rather, it uses Zappa’s own words to give the viewer insight into the meaning behind his off- beat melodies and mockery. Zappa satirized everything from the hippie subculture to new wave music; every trend was prone to his wrath. If he found something depressing or uninspiring, he didn’t shy away from saying it. For him, the obsequious nature of Ameri- cans was despicable. “Eat That Question” features an extended look at “Bobby Brown,” a song that scrutinizes the American Dream. “Bobby Brown” shows Zappa’s eccentricity and skepti- cal outlook most efficiently, and the retelling of this song feels funnier than ever. In an age when fitting in is optimal and individuality is thrown out thanks to social media, everyone can learn a lot from Zappa. He proved that distinguishing oneself from the crowd is what makes us whole. The documentary highlights his authenticity and inspires view- ers to not live blindly. Although it lags at times, “Eat That Ques- tion” successfully resurrects Zappa’s legacy for a new genera- tion of music lovers. WILL STEWART For the Daily Frank Zappa documentary shows viewers the legend in his own words “Eat That Question” will please both novices and hardcore fans. B+ “Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words” Sony Pictures Classics FILM REVIEW FASHION ROUND-UP