'OWL AND THE SPARROW' ('CU VA CHIM SE SE')

Drama (Vietnamese, U.S.); Vietnamese; 97 minutes

6:30 p.m. Oct. 25, 12:30 p.m. Oct. 26; Dole

"You are useless," 10-year-old Thuy (Pham Thi Han) is told by her uncle (Nguyen Hau) after miscalculating a measurement. Thuy works in a bamboo-blinds factory, in this cinematic look at child labor in Vietnam.

She flees the factory to find a better life, and soon finds worth and promise as a matchmaker betwen two new pals. She is the bond between Mr. Hai (Le The Lui), a friendly zookeeper who is in the midst of a relationship going south — and faced with the prospect of losing his elephant — and Lan (Cat Ly), a flight attendant.

Directed by Stephane Gauger, the film is a revealing glimpse at day-to-day Vietnamese life — unglamourous and complex. We meet a girl who has to lie and steal to maintain her independence, both in an orphanage and at her uncle's; a couple who finds necessity in helping the child; an uncle who sees a child only as cheap labor.

Thuy writes in a tender note to a departing Lan that animals are like people — they get lonely, too.

The bottom line: Loneliness can be quelled by a sense of family — real, faulty or imagined.

'THE HOME SONG STORIES'

Drama (Australia, Singapore); English, Mandarin; 103 minutes

7 p.m. Sunday; Hawai'i Theatre

Joan Chen is Rose Hong, a Shanghai club chanteuse who relocates with her daughter and son to suburban Australia, where a marriage to a naval officer is short-lived, forcing relocation to Sydney, where she works in Chinese restaurants.

Out of need and responsibility, she tries to make another go with hubby in Melbourne, invading the home of his dubious mother and encountering a new beau in Joe (Yuwi Qi), a young chef in a Chinese eatery. It's a doomed, futile future, and her children, Tom (Joel Lok) and May (Irene Chen), seem to be a lot more sensible than their desperate, confused mom.

Writer-director Tom Ayres looks at fractured relationships, unrequited love, dashed hopes and a mother's dream of making a better life for her kids than her own. The plot upholds the need for companionship, the desperation and shame of overstaying a welcome and the wisdom of kids who are a lot smarter than parents often give them credit for. While the matriarch is at the heart of the struggle, the tale is told through the narration and eyes of the sensitive son.

'DARK MATTER'

Drama (U.S.A.); English, Mandarin; 90 minutes

6:30 p.m. Sunday; Dole

With Hollywood notables Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn, and the popular Liu Ye ("Curse of the Golden Flower") in the cast, this first film by opera director Chen Shi-Zheng is inspired by the real-life story of Chinese physics students entangled in the world of astrophysics and cosmology.

Liu plays Liu Xing, a bright degree candidate who ventures to Valley State University, where he works under the wings of cosmologist Jacob Reiser (Quinn) to formulate a model of the Big Bang, the origin of the universe. Heady stuff, indeed, with political and academic implications and interruptions, and his Xing character earns the support of Joanna Silver (Streep), a wealthy patron who wonders why his brilliance is not properly acknowledged.

Xing provides a likable and crucial element, with humanizing qualities of determination, aspiration and admiration in his research to shed light on the matter of the universe. A bright, revealing scene is when Xing conducts an on-stove experiment he considers a breakthrough in his research — only to be thwarted by his American professor.

The actor has a face that speaks volumes. His accented English is natural and his devotion and brilliance heighten the unplanned barriers down the road.

'THE YAKINIKU MOVIE: BULGOGI'

Comedy-drama (Japan); Japanese, 116 minutes

1 p.m. Oct. 27; Dole

A wise master says early on: "You can't trust your eyes, listen and cook with your ears."

"The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi" is a crude version of "Iron Chef," focusing on a cooking competition for the best kal bi recipe.

In one corner: Torao (played by Arato), a chef whose recipes are as big as his ego.

In the other: Tatsuji (Ryuhei Matsuda), a mild-mannered, efficient kitchen whiz whose specialty is "insides," meaning organs and entrails.

A Bobby Flay throwdown competition unites the two cooks, who don't know they're long-lost brothers from Korea. It's not the best recipe for a script, but there are outrageous vignettes about a bullying chain-building restaurant rep; and the charm of a simple izakaya where the masterful sage thinks it's not what you eat, but with whom you eat.

Director Gu Su Yeon has an appetite for playful ingredients that make for a silly film that, ultimately, makes you yearn for Korean barbecue.

'JUMP!'

Documentary (USA); English; 99 minutes

12:30 p.m. Oct. 27; Dole

Oh, what fun!

Jump-roping is not just for kids anymore. While not an Olympic event (yet), it's an athletic endeavor requiring skill and dedication — with a national competition and championship at stake.

"Jump!" follows six groups of teens as they show off their styles and superiority, with charming results.

They come with names such as River Valley Skippers (West Virginia), Ropin' Rockets (Ohio), Jumping for Joy (California), Razz Ma Tazz (Texas), West End YMCA Rope Twisters (Ohio) and Summerwind Skippers (Idaho).

The groups all share a common bond: an unending zeal to be perfect, to make sacrifices, to do their best. Winning is the cherry on the cake, but the doing is what makes "Jump!" come alive.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.