2B — Thursday, September 29, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Apparently I was in a coma when this whole Adidas craze
started and I wish it could be comatose until it ends.
Also, Stussy, hard pass. There are so many metal
band tshirts here ... I didn’t know the clientele of
Urban was so hardcore. Maybe they’ll pair their
Metallica merch with their Adidas sneaks ... so
fetch. In other news there is a $90 coat that
looks like a blanket. I want it. I make minimum
wage. Part of me wants everything and part
of me wants to boycott. We lost Baked. Maybe
there is a $90 coat that looks like a blanket. I
want it. I make minimum wage. I’ll look for him
in the home goods section. (Read: I’m a sucker
for overpriced home decor.) Buzzed really wants
to go hop in the photo booth ... hard pass pt. two.
Why are the men’s t-shirts so high up? The patriarchy
doesn’t want girls to wear t-shirts! Urban Outfitters is
an extension of patriarchal domination! Or maybe I’m just
short. But I’m going to go with the latter. Their record selection
is ... interesting. Baked has got a hold of both Rihanna and Ariana Grande vinyl and it doesn’t look like he
will be relinquishing them anytime soon. I bet “Into You” bangs on record. That was the most weirdly
millennial thing I have ever said. Do I regret it? Not in the slightest. Buzzed keeps knocking down the
records, which is pretty indicative of both her as a person and of her current blood alcohol level.
- Carly Snider, Daily Arts Writer
A trip to Urban
Outfitters
in this series, three daily arts writers in
varying states of mind do the same activity
and write about their experiences.
this week’s event:
“I just wanna love U” by Jay Z and Pharrell is playing ..... predictable yet not
problematic. Buzzed is living up to her title from her wine-vodka mix. I
need to find my sister a bday gift. and myself an outfit for KANYE’S
concert (my phone now automatically puts KANYE and
RIHANNA in call caps). Did they just up and get rid of
the sale section? this is bullshit I’m poor OMG
I FOUND IT. it’s a big room now. I take
it back. this isn’t bullshit. Why
are 99.99% of urban tshirts so
douchey? I found 1. Maybe.
10 mins til close: we. are. the. worst.
I don’t want that shirt and there’s bleak
gift options. also FUCK anyone who buys their
kitchen supplies at UO. ur what’s wrong w millenni-
als. Some ’90s song that I can’t name just came on but I feel
nostalgic ...all I’m thinking bout is u / even when I’m with my boo
— u know the one. *compares notes with Buzzed* Now I’m just tired.
-Daily Arts Writer
IM SO HAPPY
IM A HUSTLER BABY IS PLAYING YOU KNOW PHARELL
WILLIAMS
GIVE ME THAT FUNK THAT SWEET THAT NASTY
THAT GUSHY STUFF
Bored and I just saw a Misfits tshirt I love it but also I hate that
it’s here — peep Kathleen’s column that changed my life
What goes around comes around by Justin Timberline yeah
honestly karma is a bitch is Justin Buddha or something thing
he’s dead on.
I just want to dance around.
Where is baked????
The colors in here are very mellow and I love it. it’s fitting my
vibe.
I just saw a pillow in the shape of a cat I hate cats okay Tumblr
girls BACK OFF okay my grandma got attacked by one once and
NO FELINE messes around with Fay she is a goddess.
I want these leopard shoes bc I want to appear badass.
A Kurt Cobain tshirt is also my ish.
This store is hard for me bc I’m all about eclectic vibes but
like this is some capitalist shit this is what Marx wrote about we
are feeding corporate greed go to mom and pop shops support
plebeians xoxox
“I’m feeling powerful”— Baked
baked.buzzed.bored.
Baked’s love for Ariana Grande is real and I condone it.
In conclusion I have to go do 5000 pages of reading now but
fashion is breaking my heart too.
-Daily Arts Writer
Sept. 22 marked the first day
of fall, and the weather — as
though a switch was flipped —
quickly began to cool.
And as the leaves begin to
change, so do the clothes.
To see what students were
most excited about wearing
for the fall, I stopped a few
fashionable peers from all over
campus to ask which article of
clothing they couldn’t wait to
break out for the fall 2016 season.
Students cited style icons
from Cara Delevingne to Lady
GaGa, and there appeared to be a
huge, diverse range in the kinds
of styles students wanted to
emulate. However, the common
factor among most Michigan
students’ fashion decisions was
comfort.
Art & Design sophomores
Livvy Meyers and Alexa Moss
confessed they had just been
having a conversation about
fall fashion right before being
interviewed.
“You can just be wearing jeans
and a T-shirt,” said Moss. “But
if you throw on a cool jacket, it
really brings the whole outfit
together.”
Moss said her favorite thing
to wear in the fall is a cute jacket
— an overwhelming majority of
students were enthusiastic about
these as well — while Meyers
added that she loves wearing
scarves.
Music,
Theatre
&
Dance
freshman Wyatt Stromer can’t
wait to get into his warm clothes.
“I’m really looking forward
to wearing long sleeve Vineyard
Vines shirts, and my jean jacket
that has a fur interior. It’s so
warm,” Stromer said, adding that
his style icon is Willow Smith.
LSA freshman Mary Obyrne
also said she was excited to sport
a jean jacket.
“It’s vintage and from a thrift
shop,” she said. “It’s big and has a
hood on it, so it’s really good for
the fall.”
Obyrne
described
her
personal style as being a bit
bohemian and a bit urban.
“I’m
from
NYC,
so
I’m
surrounded by everything. I
like to try a bunch of different
things,” Obyrne said. She named
Cara Delevingne as her style
icon.
“I’m super excited about my
jackets,” said Izzy Genshaft, a
senior who is double majoring in
Psychology and History of Art,
who describes her personal style
as comfy and edgy.
“Oh that’s a tough question,”
Genshaft said when asked who
her style icons were. “I have so
many! But I love the Olsen twins
— particularly Mary-Kate.”
Music,
Theatre
&
Dance
sophomore
Edward
Nunoo
named Jesse Boykins III, a
rhythm and blues singer, as his
fashion icon. Nunoo described
Boykins’s style as “eccentric and
chill at the same time.”
“I have this really dope CPO
olive trench coat that I’m really
looking forward to wearing,” he
said. “That, and this Polo Ralph
Lauren Herrington jacket that I
actually wore today. It’s so nice.
Nunoo described his personal
style as a mix of genres.
“I mix a lot of business casual
with some chic hipster bullshit,”
he said with a laugh. “And a lot of
mixing with athletic wear. I have
a lot of really dope jerseys.”
Oversized
comfy
sweaters
were also popular.
Music,
Theatre
&
Dance
freshman
Cameron
King
pointed at the big blue sweater
she was wearing while being
interviewed, and said she was
excited to wear it all season.
LSA freshman Lilia Duncan
said she is looking forward to
wearing her new peacoat. “It’s
a neutral color and goes with a
lot,” Duncan said.
Additionally,
Kinesiology
junior Erin Almony said she
is looking forward to wearing
sweatpants and hoodies.
“I love big, baggier clothing
and swoopy t-shirts,” Almony
said.
She described her personal
style as being comfortable,
casual and cute — a style that
seems to encapsulate many
students at the University of
Michigan.
Fall fashion on the Diag:
what’s chic and shabby
ALLIE TAYLOR
Daily Arts Writer
Fashionable UM students speak about their personal style,
as well as their inspirations and icons
THE VAULT | ‘CRUEL INTENTIONS’ (1999), COLUMBIA PICTURES
COLUMBIA PICTURES
“Ay mami, I’mma make your boobs sweat.”
In “From the Vault,” Daily Arts
takes a new look at old films.
In the eighth grade, I went on
a school trip to London. I saw
Big Ben and Windsor Castle and
watched “Cruel Intentions” at
least five times. There must have
been something about the spring
of 2011 that prompted British
television schedulers to play the
movie at all hours of the day.
It was always on, and we were
always watching it.
When I was 14, I thought it
was just about the hottest thing
I had ever seen. It was the pre-
“Gossip Girl” “Gossip Girl.”
Rich,
good-looking
Manhat-
tan teens without any parental
supervision getting drunk and
having lots of sex. It seemed so
unbelievably glamorous. When I
rewatched it with my roommate
this past week, I thought it was
just about the most ridiculous
thing I had ever seen. It was
melodramatic and absurd, and
yet, completely entertaining.
The movie is a modern
retelling
of
“Les
Liaisons
Dangereuses,” an 18th century
French novel. Set in 1999 New
York City, the film is set in motion
by a bet between step-siblings
Kathryn
(Sarah
Michelle
Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan
Philippe, “I Know What You
Did Last Summer”). If Sebastian
can seduce their headmaster’s
daughter,
Annette
(Reese
Witherspoon, “Wild”), who’s
a public supporter of waiting
for marriage, then he can sleep
with Kathryn. If he fails, then
Kathryn gets his car. There’s
also a side plot in which Kathryn
tries to destroy the reputation of
Cecile (Selma Blair, “The People
v. O.J. Simpson”), because her
ex-boyfriend has been pining
after Cecile. It’s a tangle of sex,
revenge, manipulation and, as
the title would suggest, cruel
intentions.
Everything about the film is
so
wonderfully
over-the-top,
from Sarah Michelle Geller’s
cocaine-filled rosary to Selma
Blair’s bratty whine. There isn’t
even a hint of subtlety in “Cruel
Intentions.”
It’s
absolutely
absurd
and
absolutely
incredible.
But for a plot so dependent on
sex, the film’s central sex scene
is
really
disappointing.
It’s
weird and forced and passion-
less. It’s a lot of extreme close-
ups of a panting Ryan Philippe
and Reese Witherspoon’s boob
sweat. Why are they so sweaty?
How is that possible? Has any-
one ever actually sweated that
much in the history of the
world? Actually, for a movie
that spends so much time talk-
ing about sex, there isn’t a lot of
it. That just makes the hyper-
sexualization of characters like
Sebastian and Kathryn all the
more absurd.
So, 15 years later, many of the
original criticisms of the film
ring true. It’s a glorified teen
soap opera. The acting is bad.
The script is awful. But both of
those things are just bad enough
to make it campy instead of
cringe-worthy. It’s full of the
kind of sex, drugs and melodra-
ma that cult classics are made of.
It’s not a good movie, but it’s so
fun to watch.
So, as I paused the movie at
the climax of its absurdity to
laugh (I won’t spoil the ending
but it does involve a fist fight in
the middle of Central Park East),
my roommate said, “this is so
ridiculous, and I love it.”
“Cruel Intentions” has big
aspirations. It wants to be both
socially and intellectually pro-
vocative, it wants to be risky
and clever — and it’s none of
those things. But it’s so much
fun. It’s the perfect bad movie
to put you in a good mood.
If you still aren’t sold on
“Cruel Intentions” as the ulti-
mate guilty pleasure movie,
you get to see Sarah Michelle
Gellar stomp her foot and yell,
“I’m the Marcia fucking Brady
of the Upper East Side.” Really,
what could be better than that?
MADELEINE GAUDIN
Daily Arts Writer
With Phantogram’s newest
single, the duo continues to
move away from the hip-hop-
drenched sound of Big Grams,
a collaborative EP with Out-
Kast’s Big Boi, which the band
spent performing to crowds at
mainstream festivals this sum-
mer. “Same Old Blues,” how-
ever, doesn’t sonically coincide
with the track’s title. Rather,
its vibe is situated somewhere
between techno-tinged gospel
and pop-rock; the song opens
with an echoing backup cho-
rus and just-there beat that
builds into the song’s primary
bass line. After a production
breath, Barthel comes in, “And
this is nothing new / It’s the
same old blues.”
She’s not completely wrong.
The track’s lyrics, while
catchy, paint the unoriginal
picture of a recently failed
relationship, building off of a
number of those clichés: “I’m
stuck in a hole and I can’t
get out,” “My heart is on its
knees,” “I think it’s time to let
me go,” just to name a few. The
track shines not in its lyricism,
but in the production and
instrumentation. The strip-
ping of the chorus to a cappel-
la on the final line before the
hook displays a wide, deftly
crafted range of sonic moods.
The range is further widened
by an out-of-nowhere electric
guitar solo buried in a fuzzy
bass drop during the song’s
third act.
Blues it is not, but it’s Phan-
togram’s fourth solid single in
a row, setting up the band for
a successful release of their
third LP, Three, dropping
next month.
- CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
SINGLE REVIEW
B+
“Same Old Blues”
Phantogram
“As the leaves
begin to change,
so do the
clothes.”
When I was 14,
I thought it was
the hottest thing I
had ever seen.
FROM THE VAULT