James Gray looks back on his past in an anti-nostalgia piece, Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry dig into a low-key drama and Weird Al mythologizes himself.
I haven't seen Armageddon Time yet, but there's a very interesting and fraught split between the reviews I've seen like Scott's or Richard Brody praising it, and the reviews from Black writers like Odie Henderson pillorying it for its racial tropes. It's like they saw two different movies.
It's really wonderful that there's still space for someone like James Gray. I haven't seen all of his movies, but The Immigrant, The Lost City of Z, and Ad Astra are such different movies...and this one, too. Love that a director can work in so many different ways and pull it off.
Me too, the three I listed are the ones I've seen. Nothing's stopping me from watching the others, so I'm totally gonna do that -- looks like he's worked with Joaquin Phoenix a bunch of times, and also Mark Wahlberg a few. I remember watching The Lost City of Z and just really falling into that world of the explorer, and what happens to him was quite not what I expected.
FWIW, Kam Collins from Rolling Stone was also a fan. (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/armageddon-time-review-1234620221/). Obviously, I think the film's critics have it 100% wrong, though it certainly is an uncomfortable experience. Gray does indeed play on racial tropes, but he completely upends them. The way I've been putting it to people is that Armageddon Time is like that Godard line about how the best way to criticize a movie is by making another movie-- and in this case, the movie being criticized is Green Book and its ilk.
Henderson said something to the effect that it was My Best Friend Was Black: The Movie and that's not what I got from it at all. It seemed to be he was wrestling with something in his past that he was far from proud of.
Excited for Causeway as a fan of Jennifer Lawrence in indie mode, I remember watching Winter's Bone and immediately knowing she would be a movie star. (Same with Anya Taylor Joy.)
“Nostalgia pieces like this are supposed to engineer happy endings, when teenagers survive a bittersweet crucible and emerge as enlightened adults.”
I wouldn’t call this film’s ending happy, exactly, but it absolutely concludes by showing us evidence of Paul’s enlightenment. For all that Gray beats up his younger self, he couldn’t resist last-minute self-valorization of the “finished with this bullshit” variety. I’m perhaps being overly harsh toward the film as a whole due to hating that final shot so much.
Oh no no no. You have misremembered how the film ends. (Either that or I have.) I’m talking about a speech that takes place at school and Paul’s reaction to it.
Spoiler alert below, so for those who have not watched AT, be warned!
I'm of two minds about this final shot. Yes, you are absolutely right, Paul's exit from the speech midway is very much in victory mode. If Gray had Paul staying in the dance but closing his eyes while the three "memory" shots zoom out - the entrance of the school, a classroom, his dining room - that probably sends enough of a message of him checking out from his past and forging a new path onward.
But...that might be too subtle. It is a movie, after all, and having Paul walk out and turn back -- and then the three zoom--outs -- it's a stronger statement, more dramatic. But at a cost to alienating viewers like yourself, since the gesture is indeed self-aggrandizing. So you are 100% justified in hating that shot! :)
It's funny -- I just read Mick LaSalle's review and he absolutely detested Paul for all the horrible things that he does. Paul stealing his mom's cash reminded me of that sad moment in Sideways where Giamatti does the same thing, though of course with much more adult-level guilt. That guilt is nowhere in Paul, but instead of brattiness and entitlement, what I saw was the love of his parents. I was nowhere near as bad as Paul as a child, but I certainly got away with a lot more than I should have.
Well, I have a new favorite Gray film now. I could've spent ten hours in the world of Armageddon Time. That family...so much warmth and pain, inexorably bound together, like all families. How good was Banks Repeta? So amazing how good kid actors are nowadays. In case you want to read a great piece on this fantastic movie: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/james-gray-interview-armageddon-time-1234771770/
I haven't seen Armageddon Time yet, but there's a very interesting and fraught split between the reviews I've seen like Scott's or Richard Brody praising it, and the reviews from Black writers like Odie Henderson pillorying it for its racial tropes. It's like they saw two different movies.
Yeah, the Ebert.com review was by a white woman but similarly she thought Johnny wasn't very three dimensional.
It's really wonderful that there's still space for someone like James Gray. I haven't seen all of his movies, but The Immigrant, The Lost City of Z, and Ad Astra are such different movies...and this one, too. Love that a director can work in so many different ways and pull it off.
I really liked the three of his I've seen so far.
Me too, the three I listed are the ones I've seen. Nothing's stopping me from watching the others, so I'm totally gonna do that -- looks like he's worked with Joaquin Phoenix a bunch of times, and also Mark Wahlberg a few. I remember watching The Lost City of Z and just really falling into that world of the explorer, and what happens to him was quite not what I expected.
I've finished all of his movies I've seen thinking, "I can't believe he got this made." That's a compliment.
Of course he got them made! Just look at that box-office track record! One sensation after another.
Keep watching! We Own the Night, Two Lovers, The Yards-- all excellent.
FWIW, Kam Collins from Rolling Stone was also a fan. (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/armageddon-time-review-1234620221/). Obviously, I think the film's critics have it 100% wrong, though it certainly is an uncomfortable experience. Gray does indeed play on racial tropes, but he completely upends them. The way I've been putting it to people is that Armageddon Time is like that Godard line about how the best way to criticize a movie is by making another movie-- and in this case, the movie being criticized is Green Book and its ilk.
Anyway, a film worth wrestling with.
Henderson said something to the effect that it was My Best Friend Was Black: The Movie and that's not what I got from it at all. It seemed to be he was wrestling with something in his past that he was far from proud of.
oh, man. I am so disappointed to hear that about Al Jankovic
In fairness, "good enough for me to learn what Roku channel is" was pretty high bar to clear.
Causeway's running time gives me hope for the future. I'm sure Tar is great and anything, but jeez that length
Excited for Causeway as a fan of Jennifer Lawrence in indie mode, I remember watching Winter's Bone and immediately knowing she would be a movie star. (Same with Anya Taylor Joy.)
“Nostalgia pieces like this are supposed to engineer happy endings, when teenagers survive a bittersweet crucible and emerge as enlightened adults.”
I wouldn’t call this film’s ending happy, exactly, but it absolutely concludes by showing us evidence of Paul’s enlightenment. For all that Gray beats up his younger self, he couldn’t resist last-minute self-valorization of the “finished with this bullshit” variety. I’m perhaps being overly harsh toward the film as a whole due to hating that final shot so much.
That is a very harsh interpretation of that shot. Let's Rot13 this to avoid spoilers:
V'z nffhzvat lbh zrna gur fubg bs bhe Tenl fheebtngr fghqlvat ng uvf qrfx? Gb zr, gung frrzf yvxr gur evtug erfcbafr gb jung unf unccrarq. Bar bs Cnhy'f ceboyrzf, juvpu jbhyq or n ceboyrz jvgu znal xvqf yvxr gung va uvf fvghngvba, vf gung ur'f abg njner be greevoyl gubhtugshy nobhg enpvny cevivyrtr. Ur unf abj orra znqr njner va gur zbfg qverpg naq puvyyvat grezf cbffvoyr: Uvf sevraq unf orra yrsg jvgu n greevoyr sngr naq uvf sngure unf tvira uvz n fbhy-fvpxravat zrffntr nobhg ubj gur jbeyq jbexf. Fb qevsgvat guebhtu fpubby yvxr vg qbrfa'g znggre vfa'g na bcgvba sbe uvz nalzber. Ur pna'g tb onpx gb gur qbbqyvat pynff pybja ur bapr jnf.
Oh no no no. You have misremembered how the film ends. (Either that or I have.) I’m talking about a speech that takes place at school and Paul’s reaction to it.
Oh right! I mean, okay. Thought it was a low-key, peace-out moment with a good song.
Spoiler alert below, so for those who have not watched AT, be warned!
I'm of two minds about this final shot. Yes, you are absolutely right, Paul's exit from the speech midway is very much in victory mode. If Gray had Paul staying in the dance but closing his eyes while the three "memory" shots zoom out - the entrance of the school, a classroom, his dining room - that probably sends enough of a message of him checking out from his past and forging a new path onward.
But...that might be too subtle. It is a movie, after all, and having Paul walk out and turn back -- and then the three zoom--outs -- it's a stronger statement, more dramatic. But at a cost to alienating viewers like yourself, since the gesture is indeed self-aggrandizing. So you are 100% justified in hating that shot! :)
It's funny -- I just read Mick LaSalle's review and he absolutely detested Paul for all the horrible things that he does. Paul stealing his mom's cash reminded me of that sad moment in Sideways where Giamatti does the same thing, though of course with much more adult-level guilt. That guilt is nowhere in Paul, but instead of brattiness and entitlement, what I saw was the love of his parents. I was nowhere near as bad as Paul as a child, but I certainly got away with a lot more than I should have.
Well, I have a new favorite Gray film now. I could've spent ten hours in the world of Armageddon Time. That family...so much warmth and pain, inexorably bound together, like all families. How good was Banks Repeta? So amazing how good kid actors are nowadays. In case you want to read a great piece on this fantastic movie: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/james-gray-interview-armageddon-time-1234771770/