Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is about a teenage boy who checks into a hospital following an attempted suicide jump where he is hospitalized for depression as he meet other individuals struggling with their own mental illnesses. Written for the screen and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the film is an exploration of a teenage boy dealing with the pressures of society and his own shortcomings as he would try to understand himself as well as those suffering from anxieties. Starring Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan, Jeremy Davies, Zoe Kravitz, Thomas Mann, Aasif Mandvi, Bernard White, Laverne Cox, Viola Davis, and Zach Galifianakis. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a witty and engrossing film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
With the pressure to succeed both in school and in life just before it’s really about to start, the film is about a teenage boy who checks into a hospital following a suicide attempt where he would stay for nearly a week as he meets various people with similar struggles as well as other forms of mental illness. It’s a film that explores the anxieties of a sixteen-year old kid where he would meet people around his age who also deal with problems as well as adults who are also coping with some form of illness. The film’s screenplay by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is told mainly by its protagonist Craig Gilner (Keir Gilchrist) who attends a prestigious high school in Brooklyn as he’s due to finish an application for a prestigious summer school as his father George (Jim Gaffigan) expects him to do so while he is also in the shadow of his friend Aaron Fitzcarraldo (Thomas Mann) who is dating his longtime crush Nia (Zoe Kravitz). After imagining the idea of jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge where he would think about how his family would think, it would force Gilner to check into a hospital thinking he would stay for a short period of time.
Yet, the stay would be for a week for observation and therapy where Gilner meets an adult patient in Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) who is dealing with his own issues as well as trying to get a home to stay after he gets discharged. Gilner would also befriend another teenage patient in Noelle (Emma Roberts) as all of the teenage patients are staying at the adult ward due to renovations for the teenage ward. Noelle is there for self-harm as Gilner deals with the fact that he’s got a lot going for him but the pressure to succeed eventually got to him where he is able to gain sympathy from the other patients and the hospital’s therapist Dr. Minerva (Viola Davis) who is aware of his troubled thoughts.
The direction of Boden and Fleck is largely straightforward in terms of its compositions and setting while it does have some stylistic elements in the film as it relates to the drawings that Gilner would create. Shot on location in Brooklyn as well as parts of New York City, Boden and Fleck would use some wide shots but maintain an intimacy into the hospital setting such as its hallways, rooms, and common rooms for patients to socialize at. The usage of close-ups and medium shots as well as stylish moments of fantasy help play into the film’s quirky and offbeat tone while Boden and Fleck would know when to keep the film grounded in reality. Even in the group therapy sessions, simple conversations between Gilner, Bobby, and Noelle, and other moments where Gilner has to deal with elements of reality including small meetings with his family.
With Boden also serving as the film’s editor, she and Fleck would also create some stylish montages that play into the anxieties in Gilner’s life as well as some surreal sequences about the idea of what his future might be. Much of Boden’s editing would have some stylistic flair in the montages and in some jump-cuts that include a dream sequence of Gilner and other patients playing Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. With the aid of animation director Brian Drucker, the animated backgrounds would play into this idea of fantasy but also hope for Gilner. The sense of realism does occur for its third act but there is also this element of hope as it relates to the time Gilner spent as well as realize that there’s nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to depression and mental illness. Overall, Boden and Fleck craft a touching and heartfelt film about a teenage boy seeking help at hospital where he learns about those that are also in need of help.
Cinematographer Andrij Parekh does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward for many of the interior scenes at the hospital and at Gilner’s school while there’s some low-key lighting for a few interior/exterior scenes set at night. Production designer Beth Mickle, with set decorator Carrie Stewart and art director Michael Ahern, does fantastic work with the look of the rooms, common rooms, and hallways at the hospital as well as the homes of Gilner’s family and friends. Costume designers Kurt and Bart do nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward with the exception of the glam-inspired costumes for the fantasy sequence.
Special effects makeup artist Michael Marino does terrific work with the makeup for the fantasy sequence as well as the look of the scars that Noelle is sporting on her body. Visual effects supervisor Anthony Luigi Santoro does brilliant work with the visual effects in bringing the animation to life as well as be used as an element of hope in the real world. Sound editor Paul Hsu does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the hospital and some of the sparse sounds that are made throughout the film. The film’s music by Broken Social Scene is wonderful for its indie-folk approach with melodic guitars and offbeat rhythms while music supervisor Andrea von Foerster provide a mixture of different musical genres from indie, punk, rock, hip-hop, and pop as it includes some songs by Broken Social Scene as well as the xx, Drum, Queen and David Bowie, the Damned, the Wowz, Pink Mountaintops, White Hinterland, Kurtis Blow, the Tom Robinson Band, Pharoah Sanders, Method Man and Redman, Common, Rachid Taha, and Black Sabbath.
The casting by Cindy Tolan is amazing as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from novelist Ned Vizzini as the hospital’s music teacher, Laverne Cox as a transgender patient, Ethan Herschenfeld as a Hasidic Jewish patient named Solomon, Mary Birdsong as Bobby’s ex-wife, Aasif Mandvi as Dr. Mahmoud who would be the first to analyze Gilner’s problems, Matthew Maher and Adrian Martinez as a couple of adult patients in their respective roles as Humble and Johnny, Morgan Murphy as a young patient in Joanie, Dana DeVestern as Gilner’s young sister Alissa, Bernard White as an Egyptian patient named Muqtada, and Jeremy Davies as a hospital monitor named Smitty who watches over everyone as he makes sure everyone is fine.
Thomas Mann and Zoe Kravitz are terrific in their respective roles as Gilner’s friends Aaron Fitzcarraldo and Nia with Mann as an overachiever who always get what he wants and Kravitz as Gilner’s crush who becomes interested in him during his time at the hospital. Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan are fantastic in their respective roles as Gilner’s parents in Lynn and George with the former being more concerned about her son’s well-being while the latter is hoping his son will get better and get back on track unaware of the pressure he’s putting towards his son. Viola Davis is excellent as Dr. Minerva as the hospital’s therapist who analyzes Gilner as well as be someone who is understanding and willing to listen as it’s a low-key yet somber performance from Davis.
Emma Roberts is brilliant as Noelle as a teenage patient with issues of self-harm as someone who is intrigued by Gilner as well as being also witty and aware of her own situation. Zach Galifianakis is incredible as Bobby as an adult patient who is going through issues of his own but also offers a lot of wisdom to Gilner about life as well as the fact that things do get more complicated in adulthood but there’s also hope. Finally, there’s Keir Gilchrist in a remarkable performance as Craig Gilner as a teenage boy with a lot going for him as he copes with the pressure to succeed as well as a lot of the anxieties where he learns how to cope as well as not be afraid of seeking help.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a marvelous film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Featuring a great ensemble cast, a superb music soundtrack, touching study of mental illness and depression, and the desire for hope in a complicated world. It’s a film that manages to showcase a young man trying to deal with his own anxieties and demands of the world where he finds solace through people who are also going through similar struggles. In the end, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is an exhilaratingly rich film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Films: Half Nelson - Sugar (2008 film) - Mississippi Grind – Captain Marvel - The Auteurs #71: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
© thevoid99 2019
Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and written by Tim Talbott, The Stanford Prison Experiment is the story of the real life experiment created by Dr. Philip Zimbardo where students would play prisoners and guards as the experiment becomes very dangerous. The film is a dramatic account of the experiment that led to a lot of controversy with Billy Crudup playing the role of Dr. Philip Zimbardo. Also starring Ezra Miller, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Angarano, Logan Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Ki Hong Lee, Tye Sheridan, Jack Kilmer, and Nicholas Braun. The Stanford Prison Experiment is a chilling yet visceral film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez.
In the summer of 1971 at Stanford University in California, psychology professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo decides to conduct a two-week experiment with 18 male students who would be paid $15 a day to volunteer where 9 students would play prisoners and 9 would play guards in a fictionalized prison. The objective was to study the psychological aspects of how prisoners deal with being prison and endure the abuse of the guards. What happens during the experiments is that things go too far where the students playing the guards become too comfortable with their roles while the prisoners either rebel or fall apart emotionally and psychologically. The film is about the experiment as it was considered very controversial as it showcases what Dr. Zimbardo was trying to do and how far it went where even those who are working with Dr. Zimbardo are taken aback at how far it’s gone.
Tim Talbott’s screenplay does have a unique structure where it is told in the span of days where time during this fictional prison is very slow but also confusing from the point-of-view of the prisoners. During the duration of two-weeks, prisoners would have emotional breakdowns while there are those who are willing to do what the guard says as either as a way to survive or not cause trouble. Yet, it would be observed by Dr. Zimbardo and members of his staff including a former prisoner in Jesse Fletcher (Nelsan Ellis) who also observes to see how real it is despite the fact that cells are offices and much of the action is in a hallway. Prisoners would have meetings with Dr. Zimbardo and others as if they’re being interrogated where it would eventually become too much not just for the young men playing the prisoners but also those in Dr. Zimbardo’s staff as well as Fletcher who would be forced to play a part that makes him very uncomfortable.
Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s direction is very intense in terms of what goes on in the experiment as the film is shot in a building in Los Angeles where there are very little exterior shots to play into an atmosphere that is very gripping. While there are a few exterior shots of the Stanford campus and the home of one of the volunteers pretending to be a prisoner, much of it is shot in the building where it has an intimacy that is very discomforting. Notably in the close-ups in how the guards interact and intimidate the prisoners where it feels too real at times as well as wondering when is someone going to break. The fact that much of the action takes place in this small hallway with rooms as prison cells has this air of claustrophobia in its look and feel. The scenes where Dr. Zimbardo and his staff are watching through a small TV that has a camera filming everything is just as eerie where there is more coverage in the wide and medium shots. Once the film progresses more and more as one day becomes the next, the mood definitely gets darker and more tense. Especially in a mock parole scene where Fletcher plays a parole board member who would list false charges a prisoner makes as Dr. Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend Christina Maslach (Olivia Thirlby) would look at what Fletcher is reading and see nothing.
Alvarez also create these moments where the prisoners try to find a way to break out but also deal with what is happening to them emotionally and mentally. The scenes where the prisoners and guards have to meet for a daily routine, the way they’re presented each day does intensify where a new prisoner would come in as he is just aghast in the experiment he’s volunteered for. Especially as what happens become terrifying as Dr. Zimbardo would be forced to watch everything as his colleagues begin to question the experiment itself. The film’s aftermath wouldn’t just showcase how troubling the experiment was but also the situations these volunteers had been put in through where it says a lot about the many complexities of human nature. Overall, Alvarez creates an unsettling yet evocative film about a man’s experiment about human behavior set in a prison.
Cinematographer Jack Shelton does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography to create different moods for much of the lighting in the cells and hallways as well as the rooms where Dr. Zimbardo and his team are watching everything. Editor Fernando Collins does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of-slow motion, jump-cuts, and other stylish cuts to play into the tension and drama that looms throughout the film. Production designer Gary Barbosa, with set decorator Sandra Skora and art director Andres Cubillan, does fantastic work with not just the look of the hallway and cells but also this cramped room known as the Hole as well as rooms that Dr. Zimbardo and his team would observe everything.
Costume designer Lisa Tomczeszyn does nice work with the costumes as much of the casual look is from clothes from the 70s while the look of the prisoners are ragged with just a long shirt and a pantyhose stocking as a cap. Sound editor Martyn Zub does terrific work with the sound as it‘s mostly low-key in how some of the sound is recorded at the Dr. Zimbardo‘s office to what it sounds naturally at the hallway. The film’s music by Andrew Hewitt is wonderful for its ambient-based score that plays into the drama as well as some of the terrifying moments in the film.
The casting by Angela Demo and Barbara J. McCarthy is great as it feature some notable small roles from Albert Malafronte as a priest, James C. Victor and Kate Butler as the parents of one of the prisoners in Peter Mitchell, and Fred Ochs as a professor who unknowingly makes an unexpected visit on the experiment. Other notable small roles include Moises Arias, Nicholas Braun, and Gaius Charles as the three associates of Dr. Zimbardo who are tasked to observe with him as they become more uncomfortable with the experiments. In the roles of some of the prison guards, the performances of Keir Gilchrist, James Wolk, Matt Bennett, James Frecheville, Mile Heizer, Callan McAuliffe, Benedict Samuel, and Harrison Thomas are superb in the roles as guys who act abusive with some becoming uneasy in what they’re doing in the experiment. In the roles of some of the prisoners, Chris Sheffield, Jack Kilmer, Brett Daverne, Jesse Carere, Logan Miller, Johnny Simmons, and Ki Hong Lee are excellent as a group of men who volunteer to play prisoners as they endure abuse and humiliation of the worst kind with some trying to find ways to survive.
Thomas Mann is fantastic in a small role as prisoner 416 who comes to the experiment late in the film as he deals with the harsh surroundings he is in as well as what he is forced to do. Nelsan Ellis is brilliant as Jesse Fletcher as a former convict who is asked by Dr. Zimbardo to observe as some of the events make him uncomfortable as he would have to confront one volunteer about his claim of being sick and another where he pretends to be a parole board figure. Olivia Thirlby is amazing as Christina Maslach as Dr. Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend who fills in for the observation where she becomes uncomfortable with what is happening. Tye Sheridan is remarkable as Peter Mitchell/prisoner 819 who tries to defy authority as he later endures some emotional and mental abuse that becomes too much for him to deal with.
Ezra Miller is marvelous as Daniel Culp/prisoner 8612 as the most rebellious prisoner who would always push the buttons of the guards only to be pushed back big time as he would try to make an escape. Michael Angarano is phenomenal as the guard Christopher Archer who would take his role too seriously as he would play a sadist as if he was John Wayne as it’s a fun yet dark performance from Angarano. Finally, there’s Billy Crudup in a remarkable performance as Dr. Philip Zimbardo as a psychological professor who is trying to create a study on human nature in a prison where he pushes things further to see how far things can go too far.
The Stanford Prison Experiment is a spectacular film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Featuring a great ensemble cast and a fascinating study on human nature and might happen to someone in prison. It’s a film showcases a man’s experiment and how far it went as it shows some of the horror of what might happen at a prison. In the end, The Stanford Prison Experiment is a riveting and harrowing film from Kyle Patrick Alvarez.
© thevoid99 2016
Based on the novel by Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is the story of a high school senior who befriends a girl suffering from leukemia as he calls on the help of a friend to make her life a little better. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Jesse Andrews, the film is an exploration into death as well as a young man trying to find meaning in his young life with the aid of this dying young woman. Starring Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal, and Connie Britton. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a heartwarming and witty film from Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
The film revolves around a jaded high school senior who is forced by his mother to spend time with a leukemia-stricken classmate of his where the two become friends and bring another friend into the circle. It’s a film with a simple story but it is largely told from this young man named Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) who is trying to write his college essay as he talks about the time he spent with this young girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who tries to cope with her ailment. Even as he would eventually try to make a film for her with the help of his friend Earl (RJ Cyler) who would also befriend Rachel. Jesse Andrews’ script is told in a reflective narrative as Gaines tries to write his college acceptance essay which is largely about his time with Rachel and being her friend.
Even as it explores Gaines’ own unwillingness to socialize with other students as he has trouble fitting in while he and Earl share a love of watching classic art-house/auteur-based cinema where their parodies of those films is something Rachel would enjoy. Earl is sort of the film’s conscience in the film though his commentary on things including lots of things about women’s breasts make him an odd but an endearing one since he really does care. Gaines is someone who is just unsure of himself as someone who is full of self-loathing in his belief that he couldn’t do anything right where Rachel would mark a change of direction for him. Yet, he keeps wondering if he’s going to make things worse just as Rachel’s own health is failing which prompts to question his own self and his own reasons into what he wants to do with his life.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s direction is very simple not just in terms of the compositions but also in the way he creates a story that is simple and makes it more rich and extraordinary that it already is. Shot largely in an anamorphic format, Gomez-Rejon’s approach to shooting to shooting the school as well as various locations in and near Pittsburgh would give the film a lot to say visually. Even in the way he would put his actors into a frame where one would be in the foreground and the other in the background or would just go for a simple medium shot during a scene where Gaines, Rachel, and Earl are eating popsicles. The film parodies that Gaines and Earl would make not only have something that is amateurish but also with a sense of charm where the two put their own spin on classic films including the ones by Stanley Kubrick, Francois Truffaut, and Werner Herzog. Especially the one Gaines would make as it was created with the help of stop-motion animators Edward Bursch and Nathan O. Marsh as it would serve as the film’s climax for what Gaines would do for Rachel. Overall, Gomez-Rejon crafts a touching yet lively film about a high school senior trying to help a dying young girl.
Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung does brilliant work with the cinematography from not just the look of the classrooms and lunch room but also in the way much of the daytime interior/exteriors are lit as well as some unique lighting for some scenes set at night. Editor David Trachtenberg does excellent work with the editing as it has a lot of style with its jump-cuts and other stylish cut to play into the humor and some of the drama. Production designer Gerald Sullivan, with set decorator Diana Stoughton and art director Sarah M. Pott, does fantastic work with the look of the rooms that Gaines and Rachel had to express their personalities as well as the DVD store Gaines and Earl often go to where they show a lot of art films. Costume designer Jennifer Eve does nice work with the costumes as it is mostly casual with bits of style to express the personality of the many characters in the film.
Visual effects supervisor Zared Shai does terrific work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects that include a few things in the home movies Gaines and Earl make. Sound designer Jacob Ribicoff does superb work with the sound in the way the lunchroom sounds as well as the way the movies are being heard on TV or on a laptop. The film’s music by Brian Eno and Nico Muhly is amazing as it features some soft, ambient pieces from the latter while the former would contribute music from some of albums ranging from experimental rock to ambient pieces while music supervisor Randall Poster would create a soundtrack that doesn’t just feature Eno’s music but also score pieces from composers like Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, David Shire, Wendy Carlos, and Jean Constantin and music from other films by Harry Nilsson, Explosions in the Sky, Ra Ra Riot, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Cat Stevens, Lou Reed, and Roy Orbison.
The casting by Angela Demo is great as it features some notable small roles from Bobb’e J. Thompson as Earl’s older brother Derrick who doesn’t really like Gaines, Matt Bennett as the Goth kid Scott Mayhew, Masam Holden as the wannabe rapper Ill Phil, Edward DeBruce III as the young Earl, Gavin Dietz as the young Gaines, and Katherine C. Hughes in a wonderful performance as Gaines’ crush in Madison who would give Gaines the idea to make a film for Rachel despite his own reluctance to. Jon Bernthal is terrific as Gaines’ history teacher who would let him and Earl eat lunch at his office while watching classic film as he would give Gaines some very wise advice but death and what can be learned afterwards. Molly Shannon is fantastic as Rachel’s mother Denise who is a very sweet woman that is going through a lot as she also display a vulnerability as she copes with what she might lose.
Connie Britton and Nick Offerman are excellent as Gaines’ parents with the former as the one who would make Greg see Rachel and telling him to think about his future while the latter is an eccentric who likes to watch classic films while feeding his son and Earl some strange food. RJ Cyler is amazing in his film debut as Earl as this kid who says a lot of weird things yet is sort of the film’s conscience as this kid from the streets that is very kind and patient to Rachel while getting Gaines to deal with his own faults. Olivia Cooke is brilliant as Rachel as a teenager stricken with leukemia as she tries to deal with the seriousness of her illness while finding comfort in the presence of Gaines and Earl as she would also confront the former about his own worth as a person. Finally, there’s Thomas Mann in a marvelous performance as Greg Gaines as this jaded high school senior who is forced by his mother to hang out with Rachel where he tries to cope with her illness and ways to make her feel better where he is forced to deal with his own self-loathing and feelings about the ways of the world.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an incredible film from Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Featuring a great cast, a compelling premise, and a sensational film soundtrack, the film is a witty yet engaging story that explores life and death from the views of teenagers as well as the ideas of the world itself. In the end, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a phenomenal film from Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
© thevoid99 2016
