Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) - Montiel debuts with terrific autobiographical coming-of-age drama

8/25/2013

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) - Montiel debuts with terrific autobiographical coming-of-age drama

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Channing Tatum + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year

The Italian poster for Dito Montiel's A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a nicely balanced creation

Dito is a young man who feels trapped in Queens, New York anno 1986 by friends without a future, a stupid dog-walking job, violence and a father, who has surrounded his son in a fortress of his love. - So Dito escapes.

The first 20 minutes of this film made me want to turn it off, because it portrays a gang of very antisocial brats; but if you begin watching and feel like I did, I implore you to stay with them even still, because the story will get to you. - With a vengeance. In the group of juveniles here, I especially recognized the deeply rootless Antonio (Channing Tatum (She's the Man (2006))), who is indeed a character that is hard to forget.
The film is borne by debuting great New-Yorker writer-director Dito Montiel's (Boulevard (2014)) personal involvement, - which is natural since this is based on his own same-titled 2001 memoirs, - and Montiel's various more or less smart inventions in the storytelling, along with stellar performances from in particular Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale (1993)) as Dito's father, Shia LaBeouf (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)) as the young Dito, and Dianne Wiest (Cookie (1989)) as his mother.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a strong coming-of-age drama about the universal theme of leaving your crib.

Related posts:

Dito Montiel: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Son of No One (2011) or, The Past Returns!

Watch a video of Montiel, Tatum and Palminteri talk about the film in between clips from it here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints premiered in January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting took place mostly in the actual New York locations. Montiel has explained that most of the major characters are composites of different people he knew growing up. The film opened #41 in 8 theaters to a 94k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #40 and in 60 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 517k $ (26 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 483k $ (24.2 %) and Mexico with 323k $ (16.2 %). The film's budget was likely low, perhaps between 2-3 mil. $, which would still make it a huge flop. It was nominated for 3 Independent Spirit awards, won a National Board of Review award, 2 prizes at Sundance and 2 awards at the Venice Film Festival. Montiel returned with Fighting (2009). Robert Downey Jr. (Richard III (1995)) returned in The Shaggy Dog (2006); LaBeouf in Bobby (2006), and Palminteri in Push (2006). A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.57/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

8/25/2013

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) - Montiel debuts with terrific autobiographical coming-of-age drama

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

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