Friday Favorites- 7/17/26

HEATHER: THE INVITE- in theatres

My plan this week was to see Obsession with my friend Ellie (a great movie buddy) and see what all the hype is about and how a movie that cost $750K has made close to $400M.But in typical fashion, I waited too long and the times weren’t great. The good news is Obsession comes to Peacock today, so I’ll work up the nerve to watch it soon.

Thankfully, Ellie suggested we see The Invite. I didn’t watch the trailer. All I knew is that it was directed by Olivia Wilde, and I didn’t even know the cast. Then Hollie said she heard Seth Rogen on The New York Times Interview podcast talking about his role in it, and she wanted to see it (likely months from now when it’s streaming). I did peek at the Rotten Tomatoes scores and was excited when I saw both critics and audiences gave it high scores. For all you IP fans, this is an English-language remake of the 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs (Sentimental) by Cesc Gay. The screenplay was written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.

There’s something so fun going into a movie without knowing anything, especially since modern trailers tell you everything. After watching the film, I went back and saw the trailer, and while it isn’t the biggest offender, it does show a few fun moments that are better discovered while actually watching the movie.

The movie stars Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton (and I couldn’t help thinking how much agenting went on to get “In Order of Appearance” on the screen instead of a fight for top billing). The story centers on Joe (Rogen) and Wilde (Angela), a married couple whose relationship is, shall we say, challenged. Angela has invited the upstairs neighbors Piña (Cruz) and Hawk (Norton) for a dinner party and Joe is less than thrilled. What unfolds is not your typical dinner party.

I am going to be very vague in my review because I feel like it’s better to experience it as the party unfolds as if you were a guess. The movie is funny and sad and makes you think about relationships, love, sex and life. The whole cast is phenomenal, but my favorite is Penelope Cruz. I’ve always loved her, including her early performances in Blow with Johnny Depp and in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (not sure that one holds up) and her roles in Pedro Almodovar’s movies, especially All About My Mother. But this is by far my favorite performance of hers. She is so sexy, funny and intense. I would love it if she were nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this role. It’s early days but based on Edward Norton’s performance with the big monologue he gives in the movie, he could also be in the awards conversation. His monologue was one of two times that moved me to tears. He also wrote and improvised that monologue!

My only complaint, in the opening of the movie, Joe and Angela’s bickering felt slightly grating, but once Pina and Hawk arrive, you’re in for a treat!

HOLLIE:

BAIT- now streaming on Amazon Prime

This week’s favorite is a British pick, a show that may not be everyone’s cup of tea (I couldn’t help myself!) While I’d heard of Bait, and seen plenty of clips on TikTok of star Riz Ahmed promoting the new comedy satire, once I learned Ahmed was nominated for an Emmy, I knew I had to watch.

Bait is about a London-based actor, Shah Latif, who suffers from an existential crisis when his life spirals out of control after auditioning for the role of a lifetime, playing James Bond.

Bait has this unique distinction of being a show I liked (not loved) while also being a show I’d tell anyone, especially writers to watch. Why? It’s so specific and risk-taking, and is so personal to Ahmed’s experience (and the writers in the room) that it felt like no one else could have made this show.

It’s especially refreshing since these days so many shows feel like paint-by-numbers (or worse, created by AI!) Not this one! Ahmed developed Bait with Ben Karlin, an American Emmy-winning writer known for The Onion, The Daily Show, and Modern Family.

I couldn’t help but wonder how the two were paired up since it didn’t seem like they previously worked together. What I read was pretty vague, but it did seem like a classic “actor” needs a writer, and Karlin was the one for the gig.

Ahmed and Karlin began to collaborate, knowing they wanted to create a show using Ahmed’s experience as an actor for the jumping-off point and balancing his personal experiences as a British Pakistani actor.

But it wasn’t until Ahmed started talking about his experiences during Star Wars and the juxtaposition between his real life and his on-screen life that the idea solidified. He tells a wild story of getting Star Wars while in the same week being banned from Tesco’s, a British grocer, when he forgot to scan birthday candles, and they accused him of shoplifting.

I’ve been a fan of Ahmed since his amazing performance in HBO’s The Night Of, and his Oscar-winning nominated role in The Sound of Metal proves in this show why he’s a star. Heather and I always talk about actors we love who are true movie stars because they possess this incredible ability to be still, and Ahmed is quiet through a lot of the show but says so much with his eyes and his physicality.

Like Heather, I’m going to keep the details of the plot to a minimum. It’s really one of those shows that’s so out there and weird in the best possible way that you really need to see for yourself.

I love Riz Ahmed, but my favorite character was Zulfi, Ahmed’s cousin played by Guz Khan, a British comedian. He challenges and frustrates Ahmed and at times the audience, but he’s so funny and honest, and to me he stole almost every scene.

The other standout in the show was Sir Patrick Stewart (of course) who appears only as the voice of “Pigtrick Stewart,” a talking pig and podcast host. The pig head was tossed through Shah’s window and throughout the season, his conversations with Pigtrick drive the story. It’s as wacky and weird as it sounds but it was such a fun way to externalize a lot of what Shah is thinking.

As a fan of great titles, Bait works on many levels. In British slang, it means attention-seeking; but in Arabic and Hebrew it means home, and in Urdu it signals loyalty. One word that manages to convey so much.

While Ahmed is a star, I still wondered how the heck they were able to use the James Bond name (Amazon bought the rights, so I thought that might be it), but Ahmed said he took the scripts to Barbara Broccoli, who is still a co-owner of the rights to get her approval. She understood the story wasn’t really about Bond, but about Shah’s search for identity.

My favorite part of the whole show was the last line, but I won’t spoil that. All I know is I’m rooting for Ahmed at the Emmys and hoping that producers and executives realize there’s a market for diverse stories and unique experiences.

There I Almost Am: On envy and twinship (An Essay)

The one thing I love about social media is being connected to people who recommend great things. This week, Rio , a writer, director, and fellow Substacker, sent me the link to this Yale Review essay and said she thought I might like it. She was right!

There are countless stories and essays on being twins, but rarely do they capture the true essence of the intricacies. In a recent issue of The Yale Review, Jean Garnett talks about how wonderful it is to be a twin. The attention you get, the admiration, how you’re always grounded by the presence of your other half. But she also gets into the challenges that come with having someone who is so close to you but is also not you.

It’s not a long essay so I don’t want to go into too much detail about it, but it’s an excellent read if you’ve ever wanted to be inside the mind of a twin (often a deep dark place.) Some of it I didn’t relate to quite as much since she talks a lot about her and her sister’s workplace competition and Heather and I have worked in the same industry but adjacent jobs. Or that’s what I thought at first, but then I remembered in high school when Heather beat me at every drama and writing competition or my jealousy in college when Heather got cast in Crimes of the Heart and I did not. Or when she seemed to find living in New York, partying and meeting guys so easy. She had her own struggles during my career highs, so I realized it wasn’t that far off. Now that we’re working together, we’re experiencing what it’s like to collaborate while also wanting to kill one another (often in the same ten minutes.)

What author Jean Garnett does really well is put into words something I’ve struggled to articulate and that’s how twins see one another. Sometimes I feel like I see the best of Heather. Like if she’s looking extra thin or having a great hair day, this weird sense of jealousy washes over me. Or I’ll think, “Ugh, I know I don’t look that good. But if she’s tired or her hair isn’t great or she’s had a big lunch, I wonder, “Wow, do I really look like that?”

This paragraph stopped me in my tracks.

I remember how in our early twenties, when my sister was at her thinnest, I was always angling for a view of her, using barback mirrors and public bathrooms and shop windows to catch secret glimpses. I remember how perverted I felt whenever our eyes met in the reflection and she caught me in the act of envy. I am never more disgusted with myself than when I am engaged in this covert looking and assessing, treating her body as a human mirror. But I still do it. I spy on her. She’ll be walking or crying or dancing or getting dressed or trying to tell me something important, and I’ll become aware that my eyes are scanning her as though she were a bar code. You want your identical twin to be beautiful, to confirm that you are beautiful, but you also want her to be ugly, to confirm that she is uglier than you.

When I read this, I wondered if a non-twin might read it and think “That’s pretty screwed up,” but it’s also true and pretty much sums up one of the many multitudes that come with being a twin.

This essay is definitely worth a read and if you’re a twin, I’d love to hear how it made you feel.

What are you watching, reading and listening to now? We’d love to hear about it in the comments and let us know if you’ve checked out any of our favorites.,