It is Thanksgiving night in 1983, Marty Pascal is returning home to see his family for the holidays. Marty (Josh Hamilton) is bringing along his new fiancee, Lesly, played by Tori Spelling. Marty has not fully prepared his bride-to-be for the experience that is the Pascals. In their posh Washington D.C. estate, the family was shaken by their father’s disappearance on November 22, 1963, also the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Since the event, nothing but family dysfunction has followed (although it is pretty safe to say there was a lot before that day).

Marty is the only member of the family who has left their big white house. Marty’s mother, played by Genvieve Bujold, is the type of passive-aggressive matriarch who comes off as very nice at a cocktail party, but is absolute hell to live with. His young brother Anthony (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is a simpleton who cannot do anything on his own. And then there is Marty’s twin sister Jackie-O. Played with great aplomb by indie film queen Parker Posey, Jackie-O is obsessed by the former first lady by the same name. Known for wearing a pink Channel suit and pillbox hat with macaroni and cheese glued to it, Jackie-O is certifiably insane and any added stress in her life could push her over the edge. In the film’s best scene Jackie-O and Marty reenact the Zapruder film footage of JFK’s assassination as she shoots him and then cups his head in her arms. The scene is at once both shockingly funny and deeply disturbing.

Due to a bad storm the house loses power (a trite movie cliché) and all the characters have nothing to do but talk to each other. Lesly soon learns that she is in over her head with this family. In the course of one evening she is seduced by Anthony, admonished by Mrs. Pascal, and learns more deep dark secrets about her fiancee and his family than she would care to remember. By the next morning all emotions come to the surface; however, because before anyone leaves Jackie-O demands that Marty join her one last time in an assassination reenactment, “one more time Marty, for old times sake!”

The House of Yes was adapted for the screen from a Wendy MacLeod play by first time writer-director Mark Waters and the film as a whole still has a very theater-like feel to it. However, none of that matters when Parker Posey is on the screen. Honored at last year’s Sundance Film Festival for Best Actress, Posey makes one of the best comedic turns in recent years as Jackie-O. As an actress, Posey has perfected the caustic persona and she takes that to a new level by adding mental instability and an often deadpan delivery. Freddie Prinze Jr., who also recently starred in I Know What You Did Last Summer, is great as the dim-witted brother. Genevieve Bujold and Josh Hamilton also deliver strong performances. The disappointment in the film comes from Tori Spelling. The film would have been more interesting had the character of Lesly been a stronger character and played by a better actress. Spelling’s Lesly does not deserve to be on screen with Posey’s Jackie-O. In a classic exchange between the two, Lesly shows that she knows different languages by using sign language to say,“I love you.” Jackie-O hesitates for a second then turns to her brother and says, “Keep this one away from any handsome deaf-mutes, Marty. That’s my advice to you.” Game, set, match Ms. Posey.

The House of Yes is certainly not for all tastes. Without Parker Posey’s performance the film could have easily crossed the thin line between social commentary and exploitation. Its deeply black humor will offend some, however, others will find it creepy and funny.

The American Film Institute (AFI) recently celebrated its 100th anniversary by compiling their list of the 100 greatest American films of all-time. Any list like this is certainly subject to intense scrutiny, however, few can fault their selection of Citizen Kane as number one.

Orson Welles’ masterpiece is viewed today as a classic as much for how it was made as its cinematic achievement. The film is a story about the rise and fall of newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane. After Kane dies alone in his Florida mansion, a young reporter is given the assignment of finding out the significance of Kane’s final word, “rosebud”. The rest of the movie is a retelling of Kane’s life and how one of the most powerful men in the world ended up dying alone.

Welles made Citizen Kane when he was just twenty-five. In today’s world where directors get three picture deals based on student films and script treatments, such an accomplishment is not that huge of an achievement. But, in 1941 it certainly was. Welles also wrote and starred in the film in an era when actors acted, writers wrote, and directors directed. Add in the fact that Welles made the film “his way” with his intended vision ending up on the screen in the era of the big Hollywood studio system, it is an absolutely earth shattering accomplishment. Citizen Kane was a film unlike any other of that time period.

Cinematically, Welles and his director of photography, Gregg Toland, created a dark vision of how greed and avarice can destroy a man. The film is draped in shadows and loaded with inventive angular camera shots that cannot be fully appreciated in one viewing. It tells a story with a non-linear narrative about a character who is not necessarily very likable. In fact, the character draws obvious comparisons to real life publishing magnet William Randolph Hearst. When the contents of Welles’ and co-screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz’s Academy Award winning script leaked out, Hearst tried to stop the film from being made entirely. After its release, Hearst refused to run ads for Kane in any of his publications. Despite this, Welles emerged with his head held high and went on to direct several films including two acclaimed Shakespearean adaptations (MacBeth and Othello) and the AFI Top 100 snubbed A Touch of Evil. However, he was forever looked upon as an outcast in Hollywood and thus became a maverick in his own time and a lasting inspiration to all aspiring filmmakers.