"The Invite" - Living on a Reza's Edge

Angela (Olivia Wilde) and music teacher husband Joe (Seth Rogen) have the house to themselves, so Amanda has (to his chagrin) invited their noisy neighbours Hawk (Edward Norton) and Pina (Penelope Cruz) for a dinner party, something she has never done before.

(Slant Magazine)
A return to form for Olivia Wilde, getting her and her co-stars' teeth stuck into some truly juicy scripting and dialogue (by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack of all people!) reminiscent of "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza (there's a funny little nod to "Art" with Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton discussing identical shades of paint on a bedroom wall) tackling relationships and manners in a witty, extremely funny 4-hander. It has its stumbles (the soundtrack bumbles in at clunky moments) but the acting and writing are top notch, and Olivia Wilde directs it so as to not simply feel like a televised play adaptation (I rather liked the 70s style opening credits), and keeps a tight reign on things so it doesn't feel like farce. It's a far better examination of marriage and awkward character drama than that last fucking awful Bradley Cooper project.
A good, funny, clever time, and Rogen in particularly has never been better.

"Asteroid City" - Review

Our host for this evening (Brian Cranston) tells a story of a playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), and his efforts to have his play concocted. It's a story of a group of child prodigies in the titular "Asteroid City", particularly one Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), whose father (Jason Schwartzmann) has brought him and his trio of sisters here for space camp but also is attempting to break the news of their mother's death. The eclectic group of people in this tiny town meet, interact, fall in love, and live their lives, as a special event begins to unfold...

If you don't like Wes Anderson, don't watch this.
It's a very "Wes Anderson" film: long rat-a-tat camera shutter dialogue, completely deadpan sensibilities, immaculate summetrical sets, an eye for Americana, and a coffeeshop hipster sensibility.
If you like Wes Anderson? This is your jam, there are some good jokes, there is a strong pace, it feels like his Middle class reflections on quarantine, and its bizarre, out-of-this-world plottings (I couldn't resist) are reacted to with a droll eye and a raised eyebrow. I chuckled a lot.
It loses itself a bit in its "wake up, go to sleep" scene at the ened, but enough things are rolling along by that point that its ending is earned.