Another (Positive) ‘Armageddon Time’ Reaction

it’s already a risky endeavour test-screening a new James Gray film, the 52-year-old director has the kind of classicist filmmaking style that the mainstream might deem “boring.” Critics, especially the French, love him and that’s why he’s likely headed to Cannes — yet again — this coming May.

When Gray does hit the mark (“Two Lovers,” “Lost City of Z”) something mysteriously beautiful is achieved, the kind of cinematic bliss that reminds us why we love the movies so much. That’s why I’m not ready to fully take these test-screening reactions of Gray’s latest (“Armageddon Time”) at total face value.

With that being said, I’ve finally received the first positive reaction to Gray’s latest, and it definitely renews my hope that this Cannes-bound film will deliver:

“Saw that you were posting reviews for the new James Gray and wanted to share my perspective. I'm an executive/screenwriter who made the trek from Los Feliz to the Landmark to see it. It's a beautiful and lived in movie. The immediate takes from the group and rows around me filling out their forms was not otherworldly but quite positive. Many homages to the 400 Blows but updating the themes of that story to reflect a contemporary American world. The Trumps are hardly in it but it presents the school they're a part of as a compelling dichotomy between the kind of person the central child of the story could become. And it plays with tropes like a multiracial friendship and an ailing grandfather with a kind of specificity that made me surprised how much they resonated for me. I don't know how it'd be positioned for Oscars -- I could see this being seen as a more cynical film compared to something like the Fabelmans, if that really hits -- but I'd be very surprised if Jeremy Strong isn't in the conversation. He hasn't done something like this before and is given two POWERHOUSE showcase-y scenes. Hopkins also crushes it, but it's a little bit more what we've seen from him (though if Dench can get nominated every year, then who knows).”