Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

nataliercurtiss Pelo Malo is a subtle, touching movie. The dynamics between the characters are complex and realistic. It is sad, difficult and, for an American audience, appears to be a very extreme situation, but it never crosses the line into feeling melodramatic or overly exaggerated. The messages of the movie were primarily expressed through movement and imagery. The language, of course, was relevant and told the story, but the interactions between the characters were often indirect, expressed through facial expressions and body movements. The mother, Marta, in particular, expressed her feelings toward Junior in a mostly nonverbal way. However, her dislike of him is made very clear when she avoids him on the bus, when she makes faces at him, and especially when she pretends to be asleep when he is holding her. Though she never says so, it is implied that these negative feelings come both from concern for his well-being and concern for her own reputation. The subtlety with which this is expressed is very impressive. The lack of very direct language regarding her feelings towards him is both a reflection of culture and the family dynamic, and serves to emphasize Samantha Castillo's acting. The visual environment of the movie is simple. There is a limited color palette and the homes and streets are not glamorous. The buses are crowded with average people. It is clear that the family is struggling and Junior does not appear to have an escape from this community. His dreams of being a singer are his chance to not only live somewhere else, but to be another person; in essence, it is not his family he wishes to escape, but some element of himself. His obsession with his hair is representative of a childlike concreteness of thought. His frustration with his race and upbringing is taken out on one symbolic feature. All in all, this movie was entertaining, sweet, and sad. The clips of the child singing during the credits helped to lighten what would have otherwise been a pretty heartbreaking movie, without distracting from the message. The acting was excellent, even in the children. It gives a really interesting look at the realities of childhood in Venezuela, and tells a very complete story of one summer in the life of Junior.

Martin Bradley "Pelo Malo" may turn out to be one of the great films about childhood. It is also one of the few movies that could loosely fit into the criteria of New Queer Cinema since it deals with the subject of a nine year old boy who almost certainly will grow up gay. He lives in the slums of Caracas with his mother and baby brother and it's his obsession with his hair, among other things, that leads his mother to conclude that he might, indeed, be gay and she's not the type of mother who wants a gay son. Fundamentally the issues on display here are notions of machismo and homophobia and they are treated with a good deal of sensitivity and some humour by the director Mariana Rondon.As the boy, little Samuel Lange Zambrano is really quite extraordinary and Samantha Castillo is equally good as the mother struggling to keep her family together. Indeed, the naturalistic acting of the whole cast is to be commended. This is largely down to the intuitive direction of Rondon whose documentary-style approach is not far removed from Italian neo-realism and, although this is only her third feature in 16 years, marks her out as someone to watch.

Honest Reviewer I had high hopes for this movie, believing that it would address the issue of finding one's identity and coming of age as a hispanic person, no matter what complexion you are. This movie is the Spanish language version of the movie Precious. The intended audience is mostly likely middle to upper class whites, to invoke empathy and disgust for the plight this boy faces and the abuse he endures from the people closest to him. This movie has very little to do with "Pelo Malo" or bad hair, and is mostly about a boy who grows up with very little parental supervision or guidance, and always ends up in situations where older adults are trying to take advantage of him sexually and force him into certain abnormal gender roles (aka being tricked into becoming homosexual). I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak here for saying this, but this is a movie about underage sexual child abuse and neglect. If you're into that sort of thing, then this movie is for you(imho, this movie should be banned or come with a stern warning at best). If you're looking for an intellectually stimulating movie that touches on issues of race and coming to terms with one's identity, steer clear of this movie. It will leave you shaking your head. It is a bewildering roller coaster ride of sexual innuendo involving children, and ultimately, very depressing and anti-climatic.

Movie-Jay One of the hidden gems at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) that really stayed with me is "Bad Hair", an observant character drama from Venezuela that studies poverty and gender norms. I think if you love contemporary indie dramas like "Raising Victor Vargas" and "Pariah", you'll love this one, too.Junior is a 9-10ish yr-old boy who lives with his mom Marta and baby brother in a tenement building inhabited by the working poor. Marta is her own worst enemy, not being able to hold onto steady employment, and we soon see her losing her cleaning job at a rich woman's house when Junior is caught in the lady's jacuzzi when he was supposed to be cleaning it on a day when he's tagged along with her to work.Desperate, she goes to great lengths to get her old security guard job back. Marta is a pretty hot woman, but she's been hardened by her circumstances, and takes things out on Junior, who is an easy target because he's not like most boys.Junior is obsessed with straightening his hair. He dances "funny". He holds long stares at the older teen boy who runs the little convenience stand outside their building. Why does he like that boy? "He has amazing eyes!". Not the right answer for mom, who feels responsible for the idea that her son is going down the gay path.The movie observes their relationship with perception and sensitivity, with one honest scene building upon another. And those two lead performances are excellent. You never catch them acting, particularly by Samuel Lange as Junior, who has a very difficult task of suggesting things about gender and sexuality but in a way that a 10 yr-old doesn't quite understand yet.This is a first-rate coming-of-age story, directed with assurance, with two performances that have stayed with me all week. Wonderful film. Should make it to the art-house circuit by next spring.