10,000 Saints (2015)

The greatest movie ever made..!

People are voting emotionally.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Great re-creation of fragility of relationships in a late-80s mainly NY setting. Performances and direction are first-class. (Watched 8/'16)

I really enjoyed this movie, yes pretty much everyone in it is screwed up but it's also very realistic. Their depiction of bored boys in Vermont in the 1980s is dead on. What happens after is very interesting with the East Village, CBGBs and the relationships and how they progress. I recommend this movie and had no problem "figuring out" who was adopted etc. Then again, I like movies that don't spoon feed everything. I'm suppose to write 10 lines of text but don't want to include any spoilers. All the actors did a great job, especially Ethan Hawke and I love seeing Julianne Nicholson again in a movie. She is such a natural actress. I wasn't big on the actress who played the rich New York mother, however.

Based on the novel from Eleanor Henderson, 10,000 SAINTS is a classic styled drama set in New York where we follow some young and confused teenagers growing up and their crazed dysfunctional parents during the sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll era of the eighties. The first part of the film is really explosive and gripping but the further on the story goes it seems to get a bit stuck but keeps it curiosity until the end. This nostalgic trip through life gives you both smiles and tears while touching your heart and is a reminder of how fragile and short life is. A well-directed and written story by Sundance winners Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor) with impressive performances from this odd mixed but great cast featuring Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfield, Avan Jogia, Emilie Kirsch and Emily Mortimer.

I haven't been this disappointed by a film in a while.10,000 Saints has a lot of problems but no action or plot movement isn't among them. The film's core message, while it won't blow your doors off, does have some substance to it. The problem lies primarily with the three young actors who are left to prop up the movie --- Butterfield, Steinfeld, and Hirsch.Of the three, I've only been semi-impressed with Hirsch's work. Steinfeld and Butterfield flail madly (though in oddly inexpressive ways) trying to unsuccessfully ape more talented actors (Steinfeld - Natalie Portman, Butterfield --- too numerous to mention).It doesn't help that the screenwriters (who are quite engaging writers usually) give them a hackneyed cross between an after-school special and a lifetime movie in terms of story development.This movie's most intriguing messages lie under the plot and in the emotional depth of field of its characters --- what they're NOT saying and doing, since they're all dealing with intolerable situations set-up by their miscreant "parents". But they have neither the tools or road maps to find such jewels, so instead we get the usual floundering youth story (teen pregnancies, friendships betrayed, etc.). Hawke and Mortimer are okay but even the lack of energy finally drains them as it does us. If these pseudo "punks" are this boring now, imagine how quick they'll fade into suburbia as adults. Frightening.And of course, it's all bookended by a flashback monologue that makes you wonder exactly what the Butterfield character is even trying to tell us in terms of what this whole experience meant to him. It's all too nebulous and meaningless for anyone over 17 to care about.The soundtrack is decent, other than that it's an absolute misfire.