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    Mondo Cinema

    Who needs Hollywood? Strange love, Chris Rock & a Louisiana dynamo among indiefilms on Houston screens

    Joe Leydon
    Aug 24, 2012 | 8:00 am
    • Jennifer Devoldère’s The Day I Saw Your Heart, a seriocomic French import hasits H-Town premiere at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Aug. 30, and 5 p.
    • Trouble the Water makes a return engagement to 14 Pews.
    • Marcel Rasquin’s Hermano, a Venezuelan drama, opens Friday at the AMC Studio30.
      Courtesy photo
    • Chris Rock and Julie Delpy star in 2 Days in New York, opening at the SundanceCinemas Friday.
    • Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi, a bubbly Bollywood romantic comedy aboutromantically attracted fortysomethings appears at least partially inspired bythe U.S. sitcom Mike & Molly. It is playing at the AMC 30.

     Editor's Note: Each week Joe Leydon explores interesting and/or idiosyncratic movies outside of the Hollywood mainstream – be they in massive megaplexes or much smaller venues - in a column called "Mondo Cinema."

     Trouble the Water – the Oscar-nominated documentary returning this weekend to 14 Pews – reaffirms the immutable truth of the gospel according to Mick Jagger: Sometimes, when you can’t get what you want, you really do get what you need.

    Consider the case of filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Dean, veteran documentarians who had worked with Michael Moore on Fahrenheit 9/11. The couple journeyed to Alexandria, La., in September 2005, intent on shooting a movie about Louisiana National Guardsmen, newly redeployed from Iraq, who had been assigned to restore order in post-Katrina New Orleans. But when the Guard commanders declined to cooperate, they were ready to go home — until they met a human dynamo named Kimberly Rivers.

     

      Trouble the Water captures that fortuitous first meeting, when Kimberly approached the professional filmmakers with her amateur footage, promising: “This needs to be worldwide. Ain’t nobody got what I got.”

      An aspiring rapper and self-described “street hustler,” Kimberly had been living with her husband, Scott Roberts, in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina slammed into her city. Like many other residents of their predominantly African-American neighborhood, they lacked the wherewithal to evacuate, so they stayed put.

    At first, Kimberly was happy to pass the time by playing the role of “interviewer” with her recently purchased Sony camcorder, asking relatives and neighbors how they would ride the storm. But then the rains came. And the levees broke. Kimberly and Scott, along with a handful of others, wound up warily watching from their attic while raging waters flooded the streets — to the point of submerging stop signs — outside their home.

    And throughout it all, Kimberly continued to operate her camcorder, instinctively capturing indelible images that she would later show Lessin and Dean when, several says later in Alexandria, she fortuitously met them in a Red Cross shelter.

    “When she came up to us and said she had the footage ‘back at the house,’” co-director Dean recalled when he and Lessin visited H-Town in 2008, “I was a little confused at first. And I thought, ‘Well, how could she have a house here in Alexandria?’ But it turned out that she was talking about her uncle’s trailer, where she and Scott were staying. So we went back with them and got to know them a little bit better. And we didn’t really look at her footage for a couple of days.

    “But the thing is, we didn’t feel we really needed to. Because they were compelling enough with the stories they were telling.”

     Trouble the Water actually captures that fortuitous first meeting, when Kimberly – a large, swaggering 24-year-old woman with a disarmingly soft smile – approached the professional filmmakers with her amateur footage, promising: “This needs to be worldwide. Ain’t nobody got what I got.”

    Lessin and Dean quickly realized just how right she was.

    “When we finally did see it,” Lessin said, “Kimberly showed it to us on her camcorder, so we had to look at it through the viewfinder. And we were blown away."

    “And even then,” Dean added, “it was like she was still pitching it. She kept wanting to hit the fast-forward, saying, ‘Let me show you this part. Let me show you that part.’ And we had to say, ‘No! No! You’re gonna ruin the tape.’ And, yeah, we were really stunned by what we saw. It was very clearly not like anything we’d seen on television. And her voice, and her real-time description of what she was seeing, was just as powerful as the images themselves.

    “That’s when we decided to go back to New Orleans with her and Scott, and make them the focus of our film.

    Lessin and Deal adroitly use Kimberly’s stunning footage as a kind of thematic thread while crafting a nonfiction narrative charged with alternating currents of outage and regeneration, tragedy and transcendence, while charting the frustratingly slow post-Katrina recovery process in The Big Easy. Predictably, Trouble the Water is in many ways an angry film. And yet it ends – almost miraculously — on a note of triumph. You can see for yourself when the documentary screens at 7 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at 14 Pews.

     Foreign influences

    The lovely and talented Mélanie Laurent – best known as the vengeful femme fatale of Inglourious Basterds – plays an X-ray technician who tries to analyze her unsatisfying love life while dealing with her overbearing dad’s health issues in Jennifer Devoldère’s The Day I Saw Your Heart, a seriocomic French import having its H-Town premiere at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Aug. 30, and 5 p.m. Sunday, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

     

      Two soccer-playing siblings on the verge of going pro must cope with the violent death of their father in Marcel Rasquin’s Hermano.

      Two soccer-playing siblings on the verge of going pro must cope with the violent death of their father in Marcel Rasquin’s Hermano, a Venezuelan drama opening Friday at the AMC Studio 30. At the same location: Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi, a bubbly Bollywood romantic comedy about romantically attracted fortysomethings that, judging from its raucous coming-attractions trailer, appears at least partially inspired by the US sitcom Mike & Molly.

     Love is strange

    With 2 Days in New York, French multi-hyphenate Julie Delpy attempts to make lightning strike twice by fashioning a sequel to 2 Days in Paris, her 2007 debut feature that was acclaimed by many people a witty Woody Allenesque romantic comedy. (Not by me, you understand, but by many other people.)

    The new flick reintroduces Marion (director and co-writer Delpy) a few years after her breakup with the neurotic boyfriend (Adam Goldberg) who loomed large in the previous film. She’s living in New York, raising the child she and her ex had at some point between the two movies, and sharing an apartment with another single parent, Mingus, a journalist and radio host played by Chris Rock. Yes, that Chris Rock.

     

      Dark Horse is written and directed by Todd Solondz, who also gave us Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse, so I wouldn’t count on too much happily-ever-aftering here. 

    (Hey, if the dude can direct, co-write and star in a remake of an Eric Rohmer movie, who’s to say he can’t handle the demands of a French-flavored, American-set rom-com?)

     2 Days in New York opens Friday at the Sundance Cinema, which also will be hosting a one-week engagement of Dark Horse, a black comedy about the unlikely romance of two thirysomethings (Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair) mired in arrested adolescence. It’s written and directed by Todd Solondz, who also gave us Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse, so I wouldn’t count on too much happily-ever-aftering here.

     (Not just) Kid stuff

     I Can Do Anything! – an ambitious amalgam of animated shorts and live performance – will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday at Aurora Picture Show. The free-admission program, according to an Aurora spokesperson, “celebrates children who truly can do anything because they still know how to dream.”

    Specifically, the program will include a concert by the Girls Rock Camp of Houston All-Star Band, and a collection of animated shorts about youth empowerment produced by Texas filmmakers and curated by Sarah Gish.

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    Here are the 15 best things to do in Houston this 4th of July weekend

    Craig D. Lindsey
    Jul 2, 2025 | 6:30 pm
    Shell Freedom Over Texas
    Courtesy of Shell Freedom Over Texas
    The city has revealed the performers for its July 4 celebration.

    The 4th of July lands on a Friday this year, which means things will get especially patriotic this weekend.

    We’ve already listed all the fireworks celebrations and restaurant specials that’ll be popping off on Friday. (Don’t forget about the screenings of Independence Day at River Oaks Theatre, Rooftop Cinema Club and Marriott Marquis Houston.) But there are also other must-see events happening this weekend, including a LEGO convention, the second anniversary of a Third Ward eatery, the return of a Stanley Kubrick classic, and an outlaw music festival featuring Willie Freakin’ Nelson and Bob Freakin’ Dylan!

    Thursday, July 3

    Brick Rodeo
    Brick Rodeo is a family-friendly event that features hundreds of custom models and displays made from LEGO bricks. Creators from Texas and around the country will be available to talk about their creations. Fans who want to display their own creations, attend workshops, and participate in all the activities should purchase an All Access Pass. Families and individuals who want to spend a day viewing incredible custom creations, talking with builders, and shopping with vendors should purchase a public exhibition ticket. 9 am (8:30 am Friday-Sunday).

    City Place presents Young Audiences of Houston: Painting with Watercolor Pencils Art Workshop
    This free art workshop, hosted by Young Audiences of Houston teaching artist Judy Malone Stein, transforms City Place’s central waterfront plaza into a classical art studio with easels and other essential supplies. Participants are introduced to the medium of watercolor pencils and will learn basic color theory which includes the color wheel and primary and secondary colors, along with complimentary colors. They will also focus on creating compositions, using traditional visions (portraits, landscapes, still life) as their subject matter. 9:30 am.

    Improv Houston presents Dustin Ross
    Dustin Ross is a NAACP Image Award-winning host, writer, and producer. Fans of The Read podcast may know him as a longtime guest/friend to the show. These days, you can hear him on two pods: The Friend Zone, with co-hosts Hey Fran Hey and Assante; and Holding Court, with Eboni K. Williams. He has also hosted seasons of Bet on Black, REVOLT TV’s competition series, Bet On Black. As an on-air contributor, Ross has appeared on multiple platforms, including MTV, BET, Bravo TV, HBO, FUSE TV, GLAAD, Fox Soul, and more. 7:30 pm.

    Friday, July 4

    Freedom Over Texas
    With an average of 50,000 people in attendance, Freedom Over Texas has become Houston’s annual, signature July 4th celebration. The live, televised event will feature local, regional, and national entertainment, headlined by Ashley McBryde and Lee Brice, and will be capped off with a musically choreographed, “Texas-sized” fireworks finale. It also features a unique non-profit component, as the event will donate a percentage of food and beverage sales to the Houston Food Bank. 4 pm.

    Ensemble Theatre presents The Tap Dance Kid
    Over at The Ensemble Theatre, The Tap Dance Kid is about a 10-year-old African-American kid named Willie who doesn’t want to be a lawyer like his well-to-do strict father, and dreams of becoming a dancer like his talented Uncle Dipsey, an aspiring Broadway choreographer. The final production in the theater’s 2024-25 season, this musical is filled with imaginations of stardom that keep us tapping along. Through Sunday, July 27. 7:30 pm (2 and 7:30 pm Saturday; 3 pm Sunday).

    Dan Electro’s presents The Broken Spokes & Oliver Penn 4th of July Party
    Freedom, music, and a 4th of July Party will be going down at Dan Electros. The show will feature a performance from traditional Texas country band The Broken Spokes, a well-seasoned outfit that’s put in the time honing their craft in honky tonks across Texas,. Also performing will be Rhode Island-born, Houston-based country singer Oliver Penn, who has shared the stage with Charley Crockett, Shakey Graves, Randall King, The California Honeydrops, and Shinyribs. 9 pm.

    Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra presents Graveyard Shift: Attack the Block
    Guy Fawkes Night in London is a time for fireworks, fooling around, and an occasional surprise or two. But when vicious extraterrestrials decide to crash the hellraisers’ holiday, a time for making merry quickly turns scary. Writer-director Joe Cornish also ensures it’s frequently humorous as well. This frisky, vigorous 2011 spoof — propelled by an insistent electronic score by Steven Price & Basement Jaxx and a star-making lead turn from John Boyega — shows a similar sensibility in its breezy blending of goofiness and gruesomeness. 10 pm.

    Saturday, July 5

    Rado Market 2 Year Anniversary Celebration
    Chef Chris Williams’ market and cafe at the historic Eldorado Ballroom will celebrate its two-year anniversary with a celebration that’s free and open to the public. The event will include complimentary champagne during the first hour, food specials from chef Jaden Gaines, and live music from a DJ for the first two hours. Guests can also browse and shop from a curated lineup of local vendors offering various products for sale, including Posh Body, Ambrosia Nectar, 77 Stash, and Juxx. Patrons can also enter two raffles featuring Radiant Aura samples and other giveaways. Noon.


      
     
     
     
     
     
     
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    Winnie’s presents Labubu Face Tattoo Korean Corn Dog Karaoke Party
    Never has an event’s name been a more complete description of what’s happening at the Midtown sandwich shop/cocktail bar on Saturday. Artists from Rodeo Tiger will be tattooing Labubu, the must-have accessory that feels destined to become the Beanie Babies of 2025 ($25 minimum, $50 for both sides, and $100 for full face custom work). While you wait, snack on a Korean corn dog created by chef Jennifer Hoffman. Karaoke starts at 8 pm. 1 pm.

    The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Barry Lyndon
    This weekend, catch the 50th anniversary screening (in glorious 35mm!) of Stanley Kubrick’s lavish, Oscar-winning 1975 adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s 18th-century novel. Forced to leave Ireland after killing an English officer in a duel, young Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal) seeks his fortune as a soldier in Prussia, as a spy, and then as a gambler living among the elite of Europe. He changes his name and marries an aristocrat (Marisa Berenson) for her wealth, but will he finally gain the acceptance he seeks? 5 pm (2 pm Sunday).

    Kings Harbor Waterfront Village presents “Fireworks on the Pier”
    Looking for a post-4th of July throwdown this weekend? Kings Harbor Waterfront Village in Kingwood will have its annual “Fireworks on the Pier” celebration, a patriotic evening of family fun, live entertainment and a spectacular fireworks display. Festivities include family-friendly games like Connect Four, a balloon artist, face painting and bubble stations for kids. Local restaurants will be serving up a variety of delicious food and drink options throughout the evening. A dazzling fireworks show over the pier will begin around 10 pm. 7 pm.

    Movies at Miller: Wicked
    We know there is a lot of y’all who can’t wait for Wicked: For Good to drop in multiplexes this winter. Before that happens, head over to Miller Outdoor Theatre and revisit the Oscar-winning Broadway musical adaptation that set it all off. In the magical Land of Oz, Wicked covers the first act, following Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her friendship with Galinda (Ariana Grande), the future Glinda the Good Witch. The audience is encouraged to come in costume. 8:30 pm.

    Sunday, July 6

    Eldorado Ballroom presents Ball N’ Parlay
    Dubbed “A 1st Sunday Vibeout,” Ball N’ Parlay is a vibrant, Third Ward day party that’s going to be held outside the legendary Eldorado Ballroom. They’re really hyping this one up, calling it “the Sunday you’ve been waiting for, where music, community, and culture meet.” We’re just psyched that some of our favorite DJs will be doing live sets, including DJ Elevated, Maiya Papaya, Alist, and DJ Bloom. 3 pm.

    Outlaw Music Festival
    If you grew up going to Cactus Music and picking up the latest issue of No Depression, looking for the latest in outlaw country releases to scoop up, a fest full of iconic, guitar-strumming banditos will be making a stop at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend. The 10th anniversary tour of the Outlaw Music Festival will feature an unparalleled lineup of legends and superstars, including Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, and Tami Neilson. 4:05 pm.

    CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
    As of this writing, we don’t know who will be playing in the final match of the soccer championship known as the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, going down this weekend at NRG Stadium. What we do now is that the winners will be determined on Wednesday night, when the semifinal matchups – the USMNT vs. Guatemala and Mexico vs. Honduras – will take place. This also marks the first time the Gold Cup Final will be held in the state of Texas. 6 pm.

    Freedom Over Texas
      
    Courtesy of Freedom Over Texas
    The Freedom Over Texas celebration takes place on the Fourth of July.
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