Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
“Griff the Invisible”: unconventional superhero
Aussie native Ryan Kwanten is a long way away from his “True Blood” character, Jason Stackhouse, in the new Australian film, “Griff the Invisible”, which had its world premiere on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“Griff”, directed by Leon Ford (most recently seen in the miniseries, “The Pacific”, as 1st Lt. Edward ‘Hillbilly’ Jones), is not exactly your typical caped-crusader movie. Set in Australia, Griff (played by Kwanten) is a socially awkward and bullied office worker — a la Clark Kent. At night, he assumes his alter-ego to protect his neighborhood in Melbourne.
He is able to juggle this double life, until he meets Melody (played by Maeve Dermody), a young woman who is just as socially awkward, but as the film describes it, “shares his passion for the impossible.”
If there is one similarity between Kwanten’s rather dim Stackhouse character and Griff, it is that they both exude a certain kind of vulnerability and innocence.
Vampire trend bites into big, small screens
(Writing and reporting by Laura Isensee)
These days vampires seem to be all love and no bite.
Or they bite mainly when they’re making love, as in the case of “True Blood,” the original HBO series that premieres its second season on Sunday, and is the focus of aggressive marketing with an advertisement that took over the front page of the ailing Los Angeles Times on Friday.
The series, based on Charlaine Harris’ book series called the “Southern Vampire Mysteries,” tells the story of telepathic Sookie Stackhouse, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton in a small Louisiana town where vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak.
