the hos of houston

An insider's view of the Houston Ho family — HBO Max's newest stars

House of Ho centers on a wealthy Houston Vietnamese family.

Photo by Elizabeth Morris/HBO Max

A new, very affluent family has hit the reality-show scene — and they hail from right here in H-Town.

House of Ho premiered on HBO Max, starring the very rich Ho family of Houston. As for the fam: there’s powerful patriarch Binh Ho and his hard-to-please wife Hue, party-boy son Washington and his long-suffering wife Lesley, recently divorced daughter Judy, cousin Sammy, and the always unfiltered Aunt Tina.

Given that this is a reality show that gives a wealthy, Vietnamese clan a chance to shine, we thought we’d ask local Vietnamese writer and journalist Nguyen Le his thoughts on the Hos:

CultureMap: So, you’ve watched all seven episodes of the first season. What are your thoughts?

Nguyen Le: It is unexpectedly compelling. Normally, I would avoid shows that focus on dysfunctional families because the drama can be shamelessly manufactured, but this one seems to avoid that — or that it manages to do it without me noticing. And although the blueprint for exactly this is there, eventually it’s a deeper look into the generational differences and the culture.

CM: Have you heard about the Hos before the show?

NL: No, I haven’t! And I feel strange considering the family’s name receives a lot of emphasis.

CM: Are there any moments that stand out from the episodes you’ve seen?

NL: Lesley telling Judy, Hue and Tina of Wash’s alcoholism at the horse race track [in episode five]. It’s particularly brave for Lesley to do that, on top of steeling herself enough to fend off the excuses for Wash.

Aunt Tina not approving Nate because he’s not of the Brad Pitt, Chris Hemsworth, or Chris Pine type [in episode seven]. The love for Westerners and Caucasians is a real and strong thing in older generations of Vietnamese.

CM: Do you feel this show give a positive or negative representation of Vietnamese culture?

NL: Leaning positive. At the very least, the show will prove that not all Vietnamese are frugal or have small aims. Some of us do get to a point where we live in River Oaks and are driven in Bentleys.

CM: One review said it was bleak and disheartening watching Lesley and Judy bend over backwards for the disapproving parents. Do you agree or disagree?

NL: Strongly agree. At some point, protection becomes controlling, and that is exactly what Lesley and Judy feel in the household. It is especially tough being a woman in a hyper-patriarchal culture like Vietnam, and there are many exhibits here that show that.

I’m a Vietnamese guy and sometimes Vietnamese guys, no matter their age but especially the older generations, bore and unnerve me sometimes with their thoughts on women.

CM: Were there things you saw in the show that reminded you of your family or your upbringing?

NL: The Lunar New Year celebration sequence [in Episode Six]. Obviously my family can’t host one that lavish, but the atmosphere of it all is something that will never get old.

CM: Aunt Tina: yay or nay?

NL: Somewhat yay. I was quite surprised that for someone as outspoken and tight with Judy and Lesley as her would still make excuses for Washington’s alcoholism. Then again, I’ve encountered people like her in my family before — the one who works all the sides so that she can get the whole picture, ready to report afterward. Tricky!

CM: Do you hope House of Ho will get a Season 2?

NL: I won’t mind if there’s another. That new dynamic between new Judy (now with Nate) and the parents is something I’d like to see. But if there’s another, maybe the production should have a bilingual member on hand so that Hue and Binh get to be more involved — there are sections in season one where it’s apparent that the language barrier hinders the content/argument.

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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