A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

A Guide to Recognizing your Saints There comes a time when motion pictures take an extraordinary turn, when and where that happens is irrelevant, although recently I've experienced a breathtaking turn in film making. The name of the experience is... Read more at imdb.com

My favorite movie of the year, thus far. While it might not leave any long-lasting impact on society or even win an Academy Award, it is one of the most impressive character-driven films that I have ever seen. Granted, there... Read more at imdb.com

I liked the direction and acting better than the screenplay, although Dito Montiel has written a very moving story. His use of different styles and techniques- most of which came from him just experimenting or not really knowing what "to... Read more at imdb.com

In this autobiographical coming-of-age piece, director Dito Montiel confronts his gritty past in Astoria, Queens. He tells the doomed story of a teenage boy who spends his days in the seedy hot crime-infested backstreets of 1980's New York City to... Read more at imdb.com

First time director Dito Montiel's "A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints" is a harsh autobiographical look back at his youth on the mean streets of Astoria, Queens in the mid 1980's. From the film's opening moments, Montiel introduces us to... Read more at imdb.com

I recently saw a screening of "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" without any prior knowledge of the subject matter or cast, which I am beginning to believe might be the best idea before seeing many of the smaller films... Read more at imdb.com

A staggering achievement, a work of art (the N.Y. Times) -- the kudos continue for first-time director/writer Montiel. Hopefully, they are the kind of comments that will compel people to see this this film, which to me is the best... Read more at imdb.com

An authentically heartfelt, and truly inspiring film, by a first-time filmmaker, Recognizing Your Saints, bellows deep in the heart and soul of everyone that is privileged to see it. Written and directed by Dito Montiel, from his autobiographical novel of... Read more at imdb.com

Most of the reviewers must be homesick New Yorkers, nostalgically longing for the "good ol' days." If you're looking for a fresh and original NY coming-of-age tale, you should avoid this film. You've seen it all before, done more effectively, with... Read more at imdb.com

What kind of writer reveals his troubled childhood, then directs a semi-autobiographical film about it, using a character with his own name? Bold, foolish or maybe both, that's exactly what Dito Montiel did.Reminiscent of Larry Clark's Kids in Manhattan, it... Read more at imdb.com

Downey is hypnotic, especially in scenes where he revisits haunts from his youth. He shares some lovely moments with Rosario Dawson as the girl Dito left behind. ... Full Review

Slapping a film with the phrase based on true events is almost like a get out of jail free card, due to the fact that it could be the most horrible film on the planet, but Ill still sit through it if the events are not as exciting as they should be for a film, but still interesting enough to have really occurred to someone. ... Full Review

Meanwhile, Dito's lifelong pals get into increasingly bad trouble. Dito's rapport with his parents isn't much better. His mother (Dianne Wiest) suffers through all the fights, but can't stop them. ... Full Review

The film's use of actual Queens locations gives the it an intense verisimilitude and the performances of the ensemble cast are excellent. The story could use a little tightening in places where the pace slackens, but overall this is a lovely debut. ... Full Review

The escalation of violence against the backdrop of poverty leads to an enviable conclusion. As a writer Dito Montiel does a wonderful job of layering dialogue and pacing the performances. ... Full Review

NOTE: I am reviewing this now based solely on recommendations by readers over the past year or so to check it out in an effort to change my negative opinion of Channing Tatum and what I believe to be his... ... Full Article

NOW CLOSED. WINNERS: George and Christie WIN: one of two posters from the new independent film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints HOW: send an email with your U.S. mailing address THE RULES: Here's a gimme contest for ya: No ... Full Article

) and his life growing up in Astoria, Queens, New York. His group of friends, Nerf, Antonio, and Giuseppe, are an eclectic mix of troublemaking youngsters with nothing to do during the hot summer days but complain about the heat. ... Full Article

In the new movie "A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints," the director Dito Montiel gets to go home again. The film and memoir on which it is based are an homage to the New York that he knew as an ... Full Article

And even as he gets lost in the big brown eyes of his girlfriend, Laurie (Melonie Diaz), Dito still cant wait to get away from home from the noise and violence of the streets, and from the cramped chaos of... ... Full Article