Armageddon Time

A very evocative tale of a young boy’s first experiences with privilege and discrimination that excels when it focuses on this instead of the more generic coming-of-age elements. A truly excellent cast, many of whom get their deserved standout moments, and great production design.

I wouldn’t call it all that piercing or unflinching, but it at least lacks the sentimentality or nostalgia for an era in the directors past or childhood that a lesser director might fall prey to. Because of the is it actually does feel pretty lived in and authentic. Kind of a mess politically or maybe just a bit limp?

It's a tough, slow watch, and you will sometimes despise the people on screen. But it is smart, honest, and somber. A tough but necessary pill to swallow.

Similar to Spielberg's autobiographical reminiscence, the plot is pretty slight, and I don't know how to feel about the ending. But on the whole Gray's personal coming of age musing is solid, and it benefits from Repeta's sensitivity and Hopkins' gravitas.

Like Spielberg's "Fablemans" released the same year, this seems loosely based on the filmmaker's childhood. Amazingly, it's an even worse movie. James Gray's fall from grace has me utterly stumped. He had been on decline for many years, but this script reads like it was written by a child, and it's an embarrassment to Anthony Hopkins.

Great cast (Hopkins, Hathaway, Strong) and mood. But read the other mini-reviews that are way better than mine.

Exactly what you could expect from a 80s set Gray coming of age film: somber, classy and somewhat disturbing portrait of working-class America.

The subtle shades of racism and privilege criss cross this story of family, friendship, and loss of innocence. Gray communicates a real sense of the world opening up to Paul, only for him to realize with disappointment that it isn't everything he might have hoped as a child. Gray manages to weave together not just Paul's personal experience, but also the social and political realities that swirl around him as well. Rewatch: love the color, lighting, and dark edges--evoking old photos or memories

Sketches for an unfinished mural.

A nice coming-of-age story that doesn't shy away from portraying its characters in an unsympathetic light when the story asks for it.

well acted with a strong cast. however, there was not enough story. not every film has to have a hollywood ending but even if the message is supposed to be "life is not fair", this felt incomplete.

Felt off

like all Gray’s a movie about using classical melodrama to subvert expectations. Where we are programmed to be waiting for this large moment of redemption for the autobiographical stand in. Where we are waiting for a deep lesson to be learned. But all we have really is indicators of class, race etc that form our memories and those impacts of what’s important. Beautifully shot movie where like to most children the parents are the stars of our lives and they’re shot like it here

Gray tries to create characters with more than one side, but they’re still quite far from being well-rounded. Hopkins is a strange casting choice that does not seem to suit the role at all. The film is not without a little complexity, but the hardships and challenges are a bit too familiar, and, if the lessons being taught are not trite, they nonetheless verge on being so. For sermons on fairness in the USA, allow me to recommend, as an alternative, Randy Newman’s “Roll With the Punches”.

While the film is commendable for presenting a challenging look at childhood during a tumultuous time politically and socially, it falls short in expanding the characters and important themes. The screenplay refuses to focus on the characters, making it hard to conclude what the director wants the audience to take away from his latest.

The cast really shines and I do appreciate that the story doesn't try to put a nice fairytale ending on its plot, which largely views class systems and systematic prejudices through the eyes of a young boy. At times, a little too on the nose, but there are some really great scenes here that will wrench your heart, particularly the relationship between the two boys.

Less of a "don't be racist!" movie than the trailer lets on, but it falls into a common place between woke and edifying that a lot of modern movies find themselves in -- unsure. In terms of evoking the '70s, all the dressing is there and it looks great, but it still feels like 2022, and it doesn't have much to say about this decade or that one (aside from some grumblings about Regan). Enjoyable enough to see the two boys misbehaving in their antics, but ultimately doesn't have a real conclusion.

NY80+iwannakillhisdadlol+startedniceandfriendshipwascoolthentrailedoff

"I prefer not to speak... if I speak I am in big trouble." (Jose Mourinho)

Nicely put together with a classy cast but I wasn’t sure what to take from this film, it all seemed a bit bleak with its underlying theme that life is unfair.

This is a movie that could very easily be mawkish and heavy handed, and while it still is to some extent Gray uses his trademark subtleness to tone those qualities down a lot. Everyone puts in a great performance. The cinematography is very much on point. I guess what holds it back for me is that it feels like a movie that would take place in the late 60's/early 70's. I think I just personally lack the context to know what is true to 1980 versus what gray is specifically imparting onto the film.

In the recent swath of semi-autobiographical films inspired by the lives of their respective directors, Armageddon Time feels refreshingly unaffectionate for the time period it's reviving. Not that James Gray doesn't occasionally use a means of nostalgic pop culture to flavor the picture, but he refuses to look at this childhood retrospective with rose-colored glasses. Gray handles this potentially mawkish material with sensitivity and intelligence and I really loved it.

Through the hazy filtered light of ace cinematographer Darius Khondji’s lens, the exterior and interior of Public School 173 in Queens, New York in 1980 makes James Gray’s new film Armageddon Time look like Radio Days, a warm nostalgia piece that looks fondly and irreverently a few decades into the past. But Armageddon Time is not the uplifting story of a bond that transcends racial barriers, but an honest and self-lacerating memoir about white privilege and its devastating side effects.