By Jacey Gibb

lhe dramedy is always a hard

movie to promote. Should the

trailer be chock full of laughs
or should the main focus be on the
more serious aspects of the story
and its characters? Several movies
| in the past have fallen into this trap
such as Funny People (2009) and
Adventureland (2009). Both great
movies; both wrongly advertised
to the general public. Jt’s Kind of a
Funny Story falls into the same trap.

In It’s Kind of a Funny Story,
our young protagonist, Craig
(Keir Gilchrist), finds himself
feeling overwhelmed with life and
voluntarily checks himself into a
psychiatric ward. Once admitted
though, he begins to realize that his
problems aren’t as big as he thought,
as he encounters individuals with
much more serious issues.
The real star of the film is Zach

Galifianakis, as he steals the show

It’s Kind of not a Funny Story

Movie still succeeds in other categories

playing a patient who is being
released at the end of the week.
The two characters quickly form a
relationship that is unusual, but just
might be what they both need.

Emma Stone stars as a teenager
who shows evidence of past self-
mutilation, but her character is rather
forgettable (save for an endearing
scene where she and Craig play “the
question game” in an effort to get to
know each other). It would appear her
role in the movie is merely to fill the
boobage quota.

The other patients, while
effective in their roles, seem less
troubled and unstable and are more
Juno (2007) “quirky”. Take for
example an Egyptian who hasn’t left
his room since he arrived in the ward.
This works in the comedic sense but
gives the film a feeling of surrealism,
which might not be the best addition
to its already torn plot direction.
There are a lot of gems though, like

the aspiration for the patients to
save enough money to have a pizza
party, or the scenes involving Zach’s
character’s daughter.

As is usually the case with
dramedies that are promoted
primarily as comedies, the majority
of the humour can be seen in the
two and a half minute trailer. This
presents a problem as the only new
scenes the viewer is exposed to are
the ones that set up the overall dark
tone of the film. The trailers showed
no evidence of Craig’s plots involving
the outside world (the love triangle
involving his best friend and his best
friend’s girlfriend) and I really wish
they had been absent from the actual
film itself. Whenever scenes with him
talking on the phone came on screen,
I couldn’t help feeling disconnected
from the world inside the institution,
instead being drawn into high school
melodrama.

The highlight for me probably

Bind.

came from the terrific music utilized
which included The xx, Ida Maria,
Broken Social Scene, and even a
fantastic karaoke dream-sequence
involving Queen.

Despite all of its flaws, It’s Kind
of a Funny Story still has redeeming
traits. 1 guess with all the movie
had going for it, I was just expected
something better.

3/5

     

 

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By Jacey Gibb

re-discovered admiration for the
band Stars. Like most people
do, I fell in love with this Canadian
group when I heard the single “Your
Ex-Lover is Dead” and continued
to be infatuated with them for some
time, keeping their 2007 album “Jn
Our Bedroom after the War” in heavy
rotation. Over the years though, my
affection fizzled and I simply lost
track of where they went. Thank
god all those long lost feelings came
rushing back when I went out on
a whim and bought tickets to their
November 4 show at Vogue Theater.
Because I had been out of touch
with them for several years, I did
my best to listen to their new album,
Five Ghosts, before the concert.
Slowly, I found myself remembering
aspects of their charm that captivated
me years ago. It’s not because I had
low expectations for the show or
anything, but after it was over I was
left collecting my jaw from the floor.
Even though our seats were in
the upper balcony, Stars managed
to cast a spell of intimacy over the
crowd that drew everyone in. Their

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set list was a healthy combination from
all their albums but a greater portion
derived off of Five Ghosts, which
was no problem. I’ve noticed that the
majority of my favourite Stars songs
tend to be mellower tunes which led
me to be concerned that their live show
might share this same characteristic.
But, once again, I had underestimated
Stars and they managed to deliver less
soft and more rock. During “Wasted
Daylight”, a bubble machine began
unleashing waves into the crowd,
creating a sense of awe for everyone to
enjoy.

Not long after, Torquil Campbell
gave a shout out, praising Gordon

Campbell’s recent departure and

jumped into “The Comeback”. As

soon as the song ended, the majority

| of the band left the stage, leaving the

spotlight on Amy Millan. She started
off by addressing the crowd with a
story, “So people have been asking
how far along I am. I usually respond
‘How far along am I into reading Moby
Dick?’ But actually, I’m about five and
a half months along.” Queue applause
and laughter. Accompanied by only an
acoustic guitar, she serenaded everyone
with an incredible version of “Ageless
Beauty”.

The rest of the opening set list was
bursting with crowd pleasers like “Take
me to the Riot”, “Don’t Want You for
Your Body” and of course, “Your Ex
Lover is Dead”. The continuation of
“Your Ex Lover is Still Dead”, “One
More Night”, rounded out the core of
the night’s performance. And, as the
lights faded, only the encore was left.

Once again the lone member
of the band on stage, the spotlight
found Millan as she delivered the
number “Celebration Guns” before
being reunited with the rest of Stars.
The encore consisted of six songs,
the highlights of which being “I
Died so I Could Haunt You” and

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“Midnight Crowd”, where they called
in reinforcements from the opening
band, Young Galaxy, to play some
tambourines. “Soft Revolution” got
the crowd moving more than usual
and Torquil personalized the lyrics,
changing “Velvet Underground” to
“Vancouver Underground”, signalling
excitement from the audience.

I feel the show should have ended
on this high note and everyone got up in
their seats to give standing ovations, but
Stars continued with one final number,
“Changes”. The bubble machine
again roared into action and the band
members took turns showering the
crowd with pedals from flowers before
leaving the stage for a second and final
time.

After conversing with fellow
concert goers, we all agreed we could
go home right then and there and listen
to Stars for hours. There’s something
about their music that’s refreshingly
honest. Needless to say, I’ve been
listening to Five Ghosts nonstop since
the show and I don’t plan on stopping
anytime soon. I’d rate the evening eight
and a half ghosts out of ten.

8.5/10