leethomas-11621
Great re-creation of fragility of relationships in a late-80s mainly NY setting. Performances and direction are first-class. (Watched 8/'16)
Thanos Karagioras
"Ten Thousand Saints" is a drama movie which takes place in 1980's and shows a boy who is living with his mother in Vermont and moves to New York City to live with his father. When he arrives in New York everything change for him but also for his father. Something new starts for both of them since they did not have the opportunity to know each other better before.I liked this movie because of the plot which I found interesting due to some twists. I also liked the combination of drama with music influence. I believe that the interpretation of Ethan Hawke who played as the father of the boy has to be mentioned because it was very good. In addition to this Asa Butterfield made a very good interpretation too. Also the title of this movie is very good because it makes you think a lot of different things about the movie but everything change when you watch it.Finally I have to say that "Ten Thousand Saints" is a nice movie to watch and shows plenty of interesting things not only about the relationships between people but also about music and the gentrification that exploded back then.
subxerogravity
Can't help but to love a movie that reminds me of old school New York. Was it really that great? That's how I remember it to be. Than again, I'm not old enough to have struggled on those streets, Squatting in houses and being semi homeless for my art, which the movie glorifies. They did a pretty good job at recreating late 1980s NYC with tight shoots to leave out how alphabet city has change and to keep how it stayed the same, using Super composites of CBGBs, old trains and even phone booths, plus old shots of world trade. It's cool that technology allows us to do that now.The movie's focus on that time period sometimes feels force with one liners explaining how that moment of the late 80s was about to spawn what that neighborhood next to Thompson Square park is now.I thought it was interesting that the actual band, Army of One is showcased in the movie, though not the center focus of the movie, it's about their tour Guitar player Jude and his life, based on a book that I did not read. Ethan Hawke as Jude's dad Les was charming and funny It's a hardcore punk version of Juno in a lot of ways, but all together a coming-of-age story with a lot of layers to it as it Centers around Jude and his friendships with other kids. It was a great ensemble cast. Definitely worth checking out.
Moviegoer19
I wound up liking this a lot more than I thought I would. For the first 20 minutes or so I felt it dragged but then picked up. Overall I thought the acting was excellent, especially Ethan Hawke who played his somewhat complex character splendidly. What I really liked was that most of the characters stepped outside of stereotypical bounds. Hawke's character was a stoner, but in some ways level-headed and responsible. Johnny, the punk singer and tattoo artist, was trying to stay straight and walk the spiritual path and succeeded reasonably well. I read other comments which complained that "nothing happened" in the film. This is not an action film; it's a relationship movie, and given that, I believe it worked well. Plus, the characters all showed some degree of evolution. The scenery, with 1980's East Village was done really well too, very realistic, Twin Towers and all.