Almost Home is the best indie film that no one is talking about. Ellie is a 13 year old girl getting bullied outside of school when a homeless teenager, Tracy, intervenes and puts a stop to it. Friendless, Ellie latches on to Tracy and invites her to her house. Tracy combs the place and steals some cash and food, and in Ellie’s stepbrother’s room, sees pictures of a naked Ellie on his computer. Ellie admits the stepbrother made her do it, and Tracy allows Ellie to run away from home and buddy up with her on the streets. For awhile, things are fine, even good. Tracy teaches Ellie the ropes and how to be as safe as possible, and they hang out with other homeless teens. But life on the streets of LA can’t be good forever. More dangerous people enter their circle, and Tracy’s heroin addiction threatens Ellie’s safety as well. Yes, the film is cheesy and at times predictable, but there’s some really fine acting from the young leads, Hannah Marks and Rachel Zimmerman (though not always from the other supporting cast). It’s a wonderful, real film about the dangers faced by homeless teenagers, as well as a story about standing up for and being true to yourself. ★★★★
Critical Thinking is based-on-the-true-story of a high school teacher, Mario Martinez, teaching chess in the multi-cultural Miami Jackson public schools. The kids have a diverse background from white to black to latino, including some for whom English is not their first language. The chess program is actually very good thanks to Martinez’s drive to help these kids, who live in a rough neighborhood. As the school year goes along, and the chess team keeps winning and advancing to regionals, state, and finally nationals, they have to raise money along the way, as the school system is unable to provide funds for travel, food, etc. We also see some of the rough home environments that a few of the kids are dealing with outside of school. It’s about as exciting as a chess film can be (the great Searching for Bobby Fisher notwithstanding), but way too formulaic, with downright corny dialogue. If not for the constant F bombs, it would seem right out of Disney studios in the vein of Glory Road or McFarland USA. The picture stars and is directed by John Leguizamo and, despite his long career, is his directorial debut. I’d say he still needs to polish those skills. ★★
House of Hummingbird is a Korean film about a young girl, 8th grader Eun-hee, as she finds her way in a sometimes harsh world. She goes to a good private school, but doesn’t have many friends amongst the rich kids, who look down on her and her working class parents. At home, she is constantly beat by her older brother, and the home simmers with angst over the not-so-hidden secret of her dad’s infidelity. Eun-hee has a boyfriend, who doesn’t stand up for her when his mom puts her down in public, and when she starts feeling attraction to a girl, she is rebuffed there too. Eun-hee isn’t a good student but does dream of going to school to study art, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to get the chance, as the family only has enough money to send one of their 3 children to college, and are going with the boy (an even worse student than Eun-hee). Through it all, she’s having to face medical problems, when she finds a lump in her neck and has to have surgery to get it removed. Eun-hee sees a glimmer of hope when she gets a new teacher, a woman who Eun-hee maybe has a school girl crush on too. This is the first film from director Kim Bora, and there are some really good moments, but it does suffer from one major flaw: the director thinks a slow pace equates to a profound film, but unfortunately this movie has only one of those qualities. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad picture, just slow, and there’s not much of a payoff in the end. Fans of Asian art films may like it, but you should know what it is (and what it isn’t) before going in. ★★
Over the Moon is a beautiful film, gorgeously animated, and a total bore. Director Glen Keane is a former animator with Disney, and it shows, as the film looks great, but that’s all it has going for it. Fei Fei is raised on stories of the moon goddess from her mother, who dies when Fei Fei is still a little girl. A few years later, when her dad has found a new love and is looking to get married, Fei Fei feels he isn’t respecting the memories of her mom, and that he has forgotten her. Fei Fei devises a plan to build a rocket ship and travel to the moon, to prove that the stories her mom used to tell of the goddess are real, in hopes of reminding her dad of what they shared. She is able to get there, along with a stowaway (her soon-to-be stepbrother), and finds the goddess is indeed real, though maybe not what she was expecting. And… that’s as far as I got. I wanted to like the film, because it is a beauty to watch, but the plot is a rehashed story we’ve all seen a million times, and the songs are no where near the catchy, hummable quality that you can expect from director Keane’s former bosses. A single star for the eye candy. ★
I’m not much into horror films. If you’ve followed my blog for awhile, you know I rarely write about a scary movie. Ones I do enjoy have more that just frights, but some kind of human story in the middle. One such revelation is His House, from new director Remi Weekes. This one is a good one, about 2 Sudanese refugees granted temporary asylum in the UK. After surviving the perilous boat trip to flee their country, a voyage that saw them lose their daughter, Bol and Rial now have a second chance. Until their formal plea can be heard, the government gives them a ramshackle apartment in London. Immediately upon moving in, that first night in fact, Bol starts hearing sinister sounds in the wall, and both begin to see visions of terribly maimed beings, as well as occasional visits from their dead daughter. These visions make Rial think of a story she heard as a little girl, which she relates to her husband. She thinks they are being haunted by an evil spirit called an abeth, which once haunted a neighbor of hers in Sudan. The abeth came when the neighbor had stolen, and will now continue to haunt them until they “repay their debt.” Bol vehemently denies that they owe anyone anything, and the viewer doesn’t know the debt to which Rial refers until later in the film. As the spirit and other evil entities get more aggressive, the deadly tension continues to build until the fateful climax. This is more than your typical spooky story though. While the jump scares do get a little cliche after awhile, there’s a reason this abeth has chosen this couple, and the revelation, when it comes, hits you right in the face. A very nicely done thriller, with some frightening scenes that will stick with you. ★★★½
Jons Movie Takes 