Manito

directed by Eric Eason
USA 2002

The film has been compared to Mean Streets and has the same driving energy as the 1974 picture. But some of Scorsese's characters wanted to be criminals--you could see that again in GoodFellas. The Morales family has had all the crime it wants, thanks to the father, and wants only to pay the bills, have a party, and see Manito succeed.

Where do the actors come from, who can walk into their first picture and act with such effortless effect? Franky G. has had three roles since he finished Manito, in big pictures like The Italian Job, and we'll hear more of him. Leo Minaya and Jessica Morales have not worked before or since, but what freshness and truth they bring to their performances.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Poster

Theatrical Release: 15 January 2002 (Sundance Film Festival)

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DVD Review: Mongrel Media - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Yunda Eddie Feng for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Mongrel Media Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	76 mins
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.68 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English
Subtitles	none (forced English for Spanish dialogue)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Mongrel Media Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • trailer for Water DVD Release Date: 1 March 2007 transparent keepcase Chapters 12

Comments:

Video:
The movie was probably shot with standard-definition video cameras, so the overall look is very, very rough. The 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen image suffers from the usual problems associated with inexpensive cameras--dull colors, extreme softness, a lack of detail, etc. The video was probably interlaced at the source--that is, the video cameras themselves were interlaced rather than progressive.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English track provides basic audio information without getting fancy (i.e. not a lot of stereo effects are used).

The DVD doesn’t have any subtitles except for Spanish-language snippets, which have forced English subtitles.

Extras:
The only disc-based extras are a trailer for Water and a note about Mongrel Media.

--Miscellaneous--
Through the transparent keepcase, you can see an ad for other DVDs in Mongrel Media’s “The Festival Collection” that was printed on the back side of the DVD cover art.

- Yunda Eddie Feng

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