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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
I had never even heard of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints until I rented Charlie Countryman (2013) at the Redbox. When you rent Charlie Countryman, you get A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints as a bonus movie. They give you a two-for-one, a double sided disc for the price of one movie. It’s a Shia LaBeouf double feature. They are both indie films. This was all the more intriguing to me, so I watched each movie the other night. You can guess what one of my next reviews will be.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was based on the book with the same title. Surprisingly enough, the man who wrote the book, Dito Montiel, also directed the movie. The movie is a film adaptation of Dito Montiel’s life growing up in Astoria, New York in the 1980s. The story is a look into a messed up childhood in a rough part of the city. It follows the struggles of inner city teenagers, Dito (Shia LaBeouf plays young Dito, and Robert Downey Jr. plays grown up Dito) and his friends as they are becoming adults. The circle of friends are pitted against drugs, violence, sex, love, hate, loss, and hardship. All the while, Dito wants to escape New York and try to make a better life for himself somewhere else.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Channing Tatum, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, Rosario Dawson, Melonie Diaz, Martin Compston, Scott Michael Campbell, Anthony DeSando, Adam Scarimbolo, Peter Anthony Tambakis, Laila Liliana Garro, and Eric Roberts.
I’m surprised that this movie got past me 8 years ago, because the cast is excellent. I should have been aware of this film earlier. It’s another low-budget independent film that slipped through the cracks.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was hard to watch, at times, but it was also hard to stop watching. The film was an excellent depiction of how rundown certain areas of the country can be and how it affects the people living there. It’s indeed unfortunate, but it’s in-your-face honesty. Some people won’t be able to handle the honesty of this movie. The trashy characters, obscene language and other vulgarity, along with the sex, nudity, and mindless violence, among other things, will be too much for some.
But, you have to take the sweet from the sour. There is indeed a silver lining in this story. The headlining actors in this film are exceptional. The movie makes you feel like you are in the slums with the characters experiencing it all. The actors portray a remarkable friendship and camaraderie that helps you come back to the reality that people often try to be good even if they are bad.
The story is rigid and rocky, but the writing and acting make it all worthwhile. Here is an unknown gem for those who are willing to give it a chance.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, you might also enjoy the following movies:
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Trailer for Charlie Countryman (2013)
Charlie Countryman (2013)
Shia LaBeouf continues to accept darker, riskier roles. Rupert Grint appears like he is trying to shy away from Harry Potter-like movies.
The movie is about Charlie Countryman (Shia LaBeouf), a man who falls in love with a woman who seems to already be taken by an aggressive criminal.
The film is directed by Fredrik Bond and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, Melissa Leo, Vincent D’Onofrio, John Hurt, and Til Schweiger.
The movie appears like it will be pretty violent and twisted. The trailer doesn’t give away too much, but It looks like it will be pretty intense throughout. With a cast like this one, I think that it should be good enough to see in theatres.
The film is set to release on 11/15/13.
The Company You Keep (2012)
The Company you Keep (2012)
The Company you keep is based off of the novel with the same name written by Neil Gordon.
The film follows a journalist (Shia LaBeouf) who discovers the true identity of a former member of The Weather Underground (Robert Redford) who is wanted in connection to a murder.
I was excited to see this movie because I often enjoy movies about investigative journalism, not to mention the cast is fully loaded with talent. Redford directs and stars alongside LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Surandon, Stanley Tucci, Terrence Howard, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliot, Stephen Root, Anna Kendrick, Brit Marling, and Jackie Evancho. Redford may be getting old, but he still has the star power to bring together a big A-list group of actors to make a movie.
The Weather Underground is an anti-war activist group that was around during the Vietnam War era. I had heard about this group before, but I went into the film knowing absolutely nothing about them. The movie explains what the group was all about, but given the fact that the story is based off of a novel, they sort of mix fact with fiction.
Like most films about investigative journalism, the story moves along at a slow to steady pace as the reporter tries to figure things out about the story that he is trying to tell. There is plenty of time for character development and the dialogue is well-written. Great actors tend to pop up out of the woodwork like weeds when these types of movies are made and The Company you Keep is no exception.
It was refreshing to see Robert Redford acting again. He hasn’t been in a movie since Lions for Lambs (2007). Although he has always been a tremendous actor, he really has aged. They tried to make him seem younger in the film by dying his hair and having him jogging in one scene. But, when all is said and done, the movie icon was too old for the part he was playing. This fact took a little bit away from the film.
The person that really stood out the most was Shia LaBeouf. He has strong screen presence, and when he is not doing a Transformers movie, his charisma can really take over a movie. The rest of the cast played their parts well but, LaBeouf was the glue that held the film together.
The Company you Keep was quality filmmaking with a few flaws. The flaws weren’t very noticeable until a little over halfway through the film. Redford did his best with the story that he had, but ultimately the movie was anticlimactic and it became predictable. The dialogue was great, the acting was superb, but there were few surprises along the way to make the movie stand out.
The film was worth seeing, if only to watch masters of the acting craft at work.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked The Company You Keep, then you will probably enjoy the following films:
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies
Having trouble deciding which movie to rent at the Redbox? This list just might help you make a good decision on what to rent. Hopefully it will save you from wasting your money renting a bad movie.
Along with my list, I have given my rating and a “Quickie” review.
Quickie review = A film review in 13 words or less. If a title does not have a quickie review then you may click on it for my full review.
I cannot say that I have seen all of the movies that are currently available at the Redbox, but I have seen 62 of them. Of those 62 titles, here are my top 13 favorite movies that are currently available at the Redbox:
Rank Title 13movies Rating
1. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) 10
Quickie: Johnny Depp excellent! Young Leonardo DiCaprio maybe even better. Fun, touching, drama. Great!
2. The Machinist (2004) 10
3. Ted (2012) 9
4. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 9
Quickie: A grand final chapter in the Christopher Nolan directed Batman Trilogy. Epic film.
5. The Raid: Redemption (2011) 9
6. Looper (2012) 8.5
Quickie: Joseph Gordon-Levitt + = Bruce Willis in a time travel thriller puzzle.
7. Titanic (1997) 8.5
Quickie: Who hasn’t seen this? Ship sink. Dreadful historical event. Well made recreation. Iceberg.
8. Frankenweenie (2012) 8.5
9. Flight (2012) 8
10. Moneyball (2011) 8
Quickie: Brad Pitt spectacular performance! Jonah Hill proves acting capable. Interesting, solid baseball story.
11. Men in Black 3 (2012) 8
Quickie: As good as 1. Josh Brolin as Tommy Lee Jones. Will Smith reloaded.
12. Total Recall (2012) 8
Quickie: Colin Farell in updated Schwarzenegger role. More fun than original. Kate Beckinsale badass!
13. Lawless (2012) 8
Quickie: Shia LaBeouf gets big. Tom Hardy tough. Jessica Chastain shows, proves herself. Bootleggers.
Those are in my opinion the best movies that are currently at the Redbox.
If you would like to read Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 2, click on this link. from 3/14/13
Click on this link for Vol. 3. from 4/21/13
Click on this link for Vol. 4. from 5/9/13
Now that you have seen my recommended Redbox movies, check out my list of movies to stay away from. Click on the link below:
Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies
Here is how the rest of the movies currently at the Redbox that I have seen rate:
21 Jump Street (2012) 8
Quickie: Hilarious Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill buddy cop comedy. One of funniest movies 2012.
The Grey (2011) 8
Quickie: Liam Neeson fighting wolves bare-handed after a plane crash in Alaska. Period.
Dark Shadows (2012) 8
Quickie: Johnny Depp as a vampire in a comedy. Rarely does he disappoint.
The Dictator (2012) 8
Quickie: Sacha Baron Cohen’s funniest movie ever. All levels of humor and raunch. Absurdity.
War of the Worlds (2005) 8
Quickie: Tom Cruise fighting aliens to try to save the world. Steven Spielberg directs.
.
The Bourne Identity (2002) 7.5
Quickie: Matt Damon gets amnesia. He gets chased not knowing why. He fights back.
Seven Psychopaths (2012) 7.5
Quickie: Sam Rockwell steals the show. Witty, dark comedy. Clever characters. Great dialogue!
Trouble with the Curve (2012) 7.5
Quickie: Amy Adams helps aging father Clint Eastwood try to keep baseball scout job.
The Bourne Legacy (2012) 7
Quickie: Jeremy Renner replaces Matt Damon in the series and is more qualified.
Safe House (2012) 7
Quickie: Ryan Reynolds tries to take fugitive Denzel Washington down. Good action. Good twists.
Paranorman (2012) 7
Quickie: PG Suggested. Delightful animated story about a kid who sees the dead. Amusing.
The Watch (2012) 7
Quickie: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, hysterical buddy comedy about aliens at Costco.
A Christmas Carol (2009) 7
Quickie: Amazing animation retelling of a classic story and voiced by Jim Carrey.
Alex Cross (2012) 7
Quickie: Tyler Perry plays a game of cat and mouse with Matthew Fox.
Arthur Christmas (2011) 7
Quickie: Family friendly animated Christmas movie. Fun to watch around the holidays. Unique.
Seeking Justice (2011) 7
Quickie: Nicolas Cage wife assaulted. Guy Pierce help. Rift after favor not returned. Solid.
Brake (2012) 7
Quickie: Stephen Dorff kidnapped for information about the president. Won’t give up. Tense. Exciting.
Dredd (2012) 6.5
The Words (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Bradley Cooper plagiarizes a story and it comes back to haunt him.
The Campaign (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Will Farrell runs against Zach Galifianakis. Dirty politics and humor ensue.
The Expendables 2 (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Sylvester Stallone brings action hero friends back together for round 2 of battle.
Premium Rush (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Joseph Gordon-Levitt freestyle fast and furious bicycle messenger hide and seek
Wanderlust (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd turn into tree hugging hippies. Funny moments. Tacky moments.
The Raven (2012) 6.5
Quickie: John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe investigating crimes that he wrote. Good enough.
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) 6.5
Quickie: Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer try to slay lions while lions slay others.
Why Stop Now (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Jesse Eisenberg tries to drug free mother and get into music school. Laughs.
People like us (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Dysfunctional drama. Lost siblings try to find each other after father’s death.
Red Lights (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Robert De Niro has mind powers. Cillian Murphy Disagrees. Their minds tango.
American Reunion (2012) 6.5
Quickie: One sequel too many. Funny parts. Same old story. Slight variation. Decent enough.
A Thousand Words (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Eddie Murphy shares life with tree. He speaks, leaves fall. Comical and stupid.
Being Flynn (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Robert De Niro, Paul Dano bad father son relationship. They both write.
Spider-Man (2002) 6.5
Quickie: Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst are unpleasant. Spiderman is okay. Other cast helps.
The Avengers (2012) 6.5
Quickie: Cool Special effects technology. Robert Downey Jr. carries the movie on his back.
The Expendables (2010) 6
Quickie: Too many action heroes take away from plot. Fun to watch though.
Officer Down (2013) 6
Quickie: Stephen Dorff tries to repair his life after being a dirty cop. Mediocre.
The Three Stooges (2012) 6
Quickie: Great impressions of original stooges. Especially Curly. Humorous at times.
Get the Gringo (2012) 6
Quickie: Mel Gibson goes to Mexican prison. Trying getting out is the fun part.
Savages (2012) 6
Quickie: Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta make movie better.
The Liability (2012) 5.5
Quickie: Tim Roth is fun as a hit man. Film dwindles halfway through.
That’s My Boy (2012) 5
Quickie: Bad movie that gets better towards the end.
All about Steve (2009) 5
Quickie: Sandra Bullock is funny at times.
Tropic Thunder (2008) 4.5
Quickie: Robert Downey Jr. is a riot as a black guy.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011) 4
Quickie: The title says it all and that’s about it.
In Bruges (2008) 2
Quickie: The only thing worse are the 2 movies below this one.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) 2
Are you a fan of Netflix? Click on the following links below for Netflix related material:
Netflix Watch Instantly Movie Reviews September 2013
20 Best Drama Movies Based on Real Life Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
20 Best Classics Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Mind-bending Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Romantic Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best War/Military Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Gritty Action/Thriller Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
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