Review: The Invitation

A dinner party reunion of estranged friends sets the stage for director Karyn Kusama's unnerving and twisted micro-horror The Invitation. The film's marketing has wisely eschewed going much further than that vague synopsis, for this one is most rewarding when experienced fresh. But don't just expect surprises with what unfolds, but from what's underneath the plentiful chills.

Shot almost entirely within one swanky Los Angeles home, the modest production is deceptive for how easily it gets under your skin and rattles. Its slim budget is hidden by a glossy presentation and a production design that finds the right alchemy of alluring and demonic (paging Daniel Walber!). Kusama treats this house as she does the many characters, all hidden corners of darkness packaged within a polished facade. If you watch The Invitation on VOD, prepare to have home jealousy, for this is pure house porn. And you'll definitely want a glass of wine.

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Twins: Band of Marshall-Green-Hardy Brothers

twins daily @ 2:22 PM during Gemini

Rising star Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) --  who we were recently talking about since he's about to play Tennessee Williams --  is pictured left... or is it right? He has a twin brother named Taylor (who is not an actor) also pictured to your left... or right. They are not actually identical but fraternal according to Logan but they coulda fooled me.

To make things more confusing (and more delightful for the internets) people keep mistaking Logan for another rising star Tom Hardy (Bronson, Inception, This Means War). Hardy does not share DNA with the Marshall-Green twins having been born to totally different parents on a different continent 10 months apart. 

And yet...

 

To make things more confusing⁴...

• Tom and Logan both made their screen debut in Band of Brothers (2001). Tom played a Brit and Logan a German.... but still. How weird is that as coincidences go? 
• Tom & Logan seem to have similar taste in (changing) hair affectations.
• Tom (Lawless) & Logan (Prometheus) are both currently co-starring with Guy Pearce (albeit in separate movies).
• Tom came to the recent Prometheus premiere which Logan also naturally attended being one of its stars. Unfortunately the internet has (at this writing) denied us pictures of the two twin-like actors standing in each other's general vicinity. Damn you internets!

Over the course of the past four years Tom Hardy's career has been going supernova whilst Logan Marshall-Green has been sexing up Marisa Tomei. So it's kind of a draw.

Marisa & Logan, who aren't photographed much together, in 2010

Maybe Logan and Taylor and Tom should have all played "Number 14" together in Battlestar Galactica instead of wasting time with sci-fi pictures like Prometheus (Logan) and Star Trek: Nemesis (Hardy). Or maybe Marisa and Logan should've replaced Reese & Chris Pine and co-starred with Hardy in a better sexier smarter version of This Means War or maybe th--- okay, okay. I'll stop now. But the point being: The Film Experience ♥ twins.

P.S. I have not yet seen Prometheus but I'll rectify the situation tomorrow and we'll discuss.

Biopics With No Oscar Heat?

Here at the Film Experience we probably complain too often about Oscar's absolute obsession with the biopic genre. One reason we hate this that we don't talk about much is that the films don't tend to age well. If you don't believe me try watching all the Oscar nominees from any particular year in a single lead acting or Picture category. Guarantee that 9 times out of 10 the bio in the mix is the one most likely to cure your insomnia.

Because of annual biographical awards love  it's easy to forget early in each new film year that Oscar history is littered with bios that didn't catch on. I was just thinking about this because today is the Centennial of the Ty Cobb related Detroit strike. Cobb (1994), which you can watch on YouTube, was Tommy Lee Jones' chaser to his Oscar winning turn in The Fugitive. Come to think of it another Detroit related biopic Hoffa with Oscar's beloved Jack Nicholson also sank (mostly) with Oscar. Perhaps Detroit is an Oscar jinx for biopics? I'm calling it now: whoever plays Aretha Franklin when they get around to that biopic will be snubbed.

Which biographical films heading our way do you have the least faith in? Spielberg's Lincoln, Alfred Hitchock and the Making of Psycho with Anthony Hopkins, The Girl (another Hitchcock picture) with Toby Jones, Hyde Park on Hudson, Lovelace, Steve Jobs biopic written by Aaron Sorkin, Barbara Jordan biopic starring Viola Davis, Caught in Flight (Naomi Watts as Princess Diana), All is By My Side (Andre 3000 as Jimi Hendrix), Untitled Dr Seuss project with Johnny Depp. Etcetera. Which do you care about?

P.S. And how do you feel about Logan Marshall-Green playing a young Tennessee Williams in the Jena Malone headlined Carson McCuller's biopic Lonely Hunter? I don't have strong feelings for LM-G as of yet but Tennessee Williams is my all time favorite playwright. Have you ever read Carson McCuller's classic novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"? So so so good.