The Armond White Thread

[David Ehrenstein]

Armond is a pretentious twit, perpetually running for HNIC. I had my fill of that sort of charlatan in high school.

46 years ago.

[tavernier]

From Armond's anti-PTA rant:

It's strange to watch a confidently-made film by a director who doesn't know what he's doing.

The same applies to Armond's reviews.

[David Ehrenstein]

Armond White is a pompous idiot. There is no reason top pay so much as the slightest attention to anything he writes.

[HerrSchreck]

White made such an incredible public asshole out of himself on that recent Lumet on B4 The Devil... piece, that each year on the anniversary of the publication of that fucking interview, the NY & LA Film Critics Assoc memberships should individually and en masse fedex hundreds of actual uhm, squishy devices manufactured for moistening away that Not So Fresh Feeling (with his face glued onto on side of them, the article in a cartoon bubble on the other) to his mailbox.

plus = not THAT much postage...

[John Cope]

"Pompous" is in the eye of the beholder. What some call arrogant others would call assured, confident even.

As to his points, they may be and probably are hard to entirely justify but I'm personally drawn back to his writings because, despite his willful contrarianism, he seems to genuinely care about neglected aspects of the medium--what they used to call its humanist potential. I, too, weary of his blinkered partisanship but I'm also well aware of the fact that we all share that kind of fidelity to something to some degree and we all very rarely grasp how over-reaching a tendency that can be. Nuanced argument is obviously important and his is sometimes almost incoherent. Still, when it is not, and especially when he speaks for an unfashionable moral position (what I like is that he is so unhesitant about holding to unfashionable positions--what others dislike is that he is proud to do so), I pay attention, because to deeply value different things from the standard norm is attractive to me. This is especially true when those things mean so much to their advocate and are (in the case of compassion and human sympathy) so sadly undervalued by a culture obsessed with nihilistic self-hatred guised as supposed realism.

[David Ehrenstein]

"Pompous" is in the eye of the beholder. What some call arrogant others would call assured, confident even.

Who are these "others"? Where do they live? And most important of all, what drugs are they taking?

despite his willful contrarianism, he seems to genuinely care about neglected aspects of the medium--what they used to call its humanist potential.

"Contrarian" is just another name for asshole. See also Christopher Hitchens.

"Nuanced argument is obviously important and his is sometimes almost incoherent."

Sometimes?

Invariably!

"This is especially true when those things mean so much to their advocate and are (in the case of compassion and human sympathy) so sadly undervalued by a culture obsessed with nihilistic self-hatred guised as supposed realism.

Nihilistic self-hatred guised as supposed realism, thy name is Armond White.

[margot]

Armond White is an in real life troll.

[Slothrop]

Armond White is an in real life troll.

Worst critic in America.

A couple reasons why I can't stand Armond.

Anything ever made by Steven Spielberg: "absolute masterpiece--one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of human civilization." Anything ever made by Brian De Palma: "Jesus Christ himself directed this picture."

With his infantile, "left-wing" critiques of "liberalism," White is less provocateur than useful idiot for the Right. This clown thinks that embracing Bill O'Reilly's talking points about Hollywood "libruls" is some kind of radical gesture. Gag me.

Every fucking movie with this guy is either absolute garbage or a masterpiece. There is no in-between. Either this guy's bi-polar or no one is.

[tavernier]

Actually, Armond hates the new de Palma flick because it's liberal Hollywood garbage on Iraq, rather than right-wing Bush-loving talking points.

[David Ehrenstein]

"Christianity-bashing field day"

Now that's what I call a "money quote"! What we need are MORE Christianity-bashing field days -- especially in light of Mike Huckabee's stated intent of altering the constitution to make this a "Christian Nation."

[Slothrop]

I wonder if he's as much of loon in real life as he is in his writing.

[tavernier]

He is.

If you're in New York, you can see him do his video thing tomorrow night at Lincoln Center:

Program 14: Pop Video Artists and Hollywood Influence
Series: Dance on Camera Festival 2008 Runtime: 90

Armond White, film and pop-culture critic, traces dance — back to the future — from the soundstage to the street.

Some of the greatest pop musicians have also been dancers who blaze new trails, following previous, deeply admired footsteps. Certainly, pop music originates dance styles and trends ~ but this innovation is also a form of cultural development and curatorship. Armond White, one of the first culture writers to take music videos seriously and a perennial programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Video Scanners Festival, surveys how Hollywood musical choreographers inspired new generations of disciplined and eye-dazzling pop dancers.

Focusing on the era-defining music videos of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, White turns his sophisticated eye to how these pop video artists preserve the dance tradition while creating new ways of moving, grooving and art-making. He’ll discuss how Michael Jackson’s cultural impact preserves cultural continuity through the way this phenomenal artist uses dance and film for powerful personal expression.

Co-presented by Scanners: The New York Video Festival.

Armond White is film critic for New York Press and author of "The Resistance: Ten Years of Pop CUlture That Shook the World and Rebel for the Hell of It: The Art-Life of Tupac Shakur." White's music video programs, a popular part the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Scanners video series, have been invited to festivals around the world.

Playlist

Jam — Dir. Michael Jackson and David Kellogg (Choreography: Jackson)

Prologue (West Side Story) — Dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (Choreography: Robbins)

Beat It — Dir. Bob Giraldi (Choreography: Jackson)

Mein Herr (Cabaret) — Dir. Bob Fosse (Choreography: Fosse) What Have You For Me Lately? — Dir. Piers Ashworth (Choreography: Abdul)

Geechy Dan (Stormy Weather) — Dir. Andrew Stone (Choreography: Calloway)

Alright — Dir. Julien Temple (Choreography: Jackson)

The Girl Hunt Ballet (The Band Wagon) — Dir. Vincente Minnelli (Choreography: Kidd)

Smooth Criminal — Dir. Colin Chilvers (Choreography: Jackson)

Title Number (Singin’ in the Rain) — Dir. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen (Choreography: Kelly)

Black or White — Dir. John Landis (Choreography: Jackson)

[David Ehrenstein]

See? Michael Jackson IS Gene Kelly.

Shoot me now.

[miless]

This forum has too many Ebert-lites parading its threads. To be honest, it could use a few Armond Whites. At least he says something.

what? that mainstream cinema is the pinnacle of 'filmic' art?

[Marcel Gioberti]

Sure, why not?

[Andre Jurieu]

This forum has too many Ebert-lites parading its threads. To be honest, it could use a few Armond Whites. At least he says something.

I always thought Armond White just kept saying the same thing over and over again. He's interesting occasionally, but he just seems to be recycling the same points every week.

[Mr Sausage]

This forum has too many Ebert-lites parading its threads. To be honest, it could use a few Armond Whites. At least he says something.

I always thought Armond White just kept saying the same thing over and over again. He's interesting occasionally, but he just seems to be recycling the same points every week.

I always got the sense that he would be much happier in this world if all films were propaganda for his chosen politics.

[arsonfilms]

I get a little nervous now when we start calling people out... I'm going to have nightmares tonight about White joining forces with Feng to take over the culture section of the New York Times just to spite us all.

[tavernier]

...or Manohla Dargis. But that's for another thread.

[Antoine Doinel]

I like Mahnola though I miss her Q&A column she did while she has in L.A.

But God, do I wish Elvis Mitchell was writing regularly again.

[tavernier]

But God, do I wish Elvis Mitchell was writing regularly again.

[domino harvey]

His year-end lists are amazing-- I mean, we should have seen the Norbit-rave coming after he actually listed Mr. 3000 and Nacho Libre as some of the best films of the year.

[tavernier]

08. Out of Sight (Steven Spielberg)

Somehow I missed this Spielberg opus.

[arsonfilms]

08. Out of Sight (Steven Spielberg)

Somehow I missed this Spielberg opus.

Well, considering he was completely fucking wrong, he still came sort of close, right?

[Jeff]

08. Out of Sight (Steven Spielberg)

Somehow I missed this Spielberg opus.

The owner of that site was probably just used to typing Spielberg all over that page. Notice that every single film that Spielberg has directed during the past ten years (nine features) appears in White's top ten lists. Even The Terminal!