Loretta
This was the perfect Pavement documentary. The humor, the peek backstage, the archival footage, the rehearsals, the musical, and Joe Keery as Stephen Malkmus was brilliant casting.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
06/13/25
Full Review
AgeofAdhz
As an OG Pavement fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this film but honestly could have done without so much of the “Range Life” mix film footage and just more Pavement footage. But overall, it was a fitting, lovely ode to one of the best bands of the 90s.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
06/13/25
Full Review
Jon K
If you like Pavement, you will love it. If you never heard of them, you will be like wtf did i just watch?
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/13/25
Full Review
Stephen C
Real footage in 2 hours and 8 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/12/25
Full Review
Robin C
“Pavements”
In the 1990s, the band Pavement had some middling success, though I had never heard of them. Documentary director Alex Ross Perry shows us those early days and brings us up to date with a unique imagining of the band, past and present, in “Pavements.”
I read a description for this clever amalgamation of fact and fiction and it fits the film perfectly - experimental docufiction. The story about the band, their music and their “fame” in the 90s and early 2000s and is done in a normal documentary way things seem to go along in as prescribed. Then, director Perry and his crew create something quite unusual.
The lines between the reality of the band in its early says and the modern day imagining of their life after break-up blur as the filmmakers go back and forth in Pavement “history.” The modern day “band” has a stage show, a museum honoring things like a band member’s toenail, a musical in the works, a planned tour and are imaginative, tongue-in-cheek creations that pokes fun at the music industry - and the band, too, but all in good-natured and fun way. Their 2022 reunion, though, was real
I may have absolutely no previous knowledge of Pavement and what I heard made me go “meh,” but there is, apparently, a loyal fan-base dedicated to the band. “Pavements” is aimed directly at that base and it hits its mark in the jumble of reality and fiction.
“Pavements” will not likely develop a new fan following for the band but, if their faux grunge rock and roll appeals to you, you will be exposed to an a true experimental docufiction that the viewer, fan or not, will find entertaining.
B+
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
06/06/25
Full Review
Marco L
(CASTELLANO) Pavement no es una banda cualquiera. Es, para muchos, la banda. Y Pavements, el documental de Alex Ross Perry, no es solo una celebración de su música o de su legado, sino un experimento extraño, mutante, divertido, desarmante y profundamente emocional que, al menos en mi caso, me ha hecho llorar desde que empezó hasta que acabó.
No es un documental al uso. Lo avisa desde el principio: Perry no está interesado en hacer una crónica ordenada, ni en seguir la lógica de un biopic tradicional. En lugar de eso, mezcla archivos, entrevistas, ficción, recreaciones imposibles y metacine para construir un collage sobre Pavement, sobre lo que significaron (y significan) y sobre lo inasible de su espíritu. Lo de menos es si todo lo que vemos ocurrió realmente o si estamos ante un Mandela Effect. Lo importante es que respira Pavement por todos los poros.
Quienes ya los queremos, vamos a disfrutar cada guiño, cada aparición, cada fragmento de tema o de ensayo. Quienes no los conozcan, probablemente saldrán desconcertados o directamente aburridos. Pero Pavements no intenta gustar a todo el mundo. Como la propia banda, se mueve mejor en los bordes, en ese terreno difuso entre la parodia y la verdad emocional. Hay una escena con Slanted! Enchanted!, el musical, que está rodada de forma tan ridícula que por momentos parece una burla... pero de repente, sin darte cuenta, te encuentras emocionado. Así funciona esta película.
Stephen Malkmus, claro, es el eje. Siempre lo ha sido. Carismático, críptico, irónico hasta el final. Y también vulnerable. Verle caminar por el "museo Pavement", entre objetos que parecen reales y otros que probablemente no lo son, tiene algo de viaje interior. Como si también él intentara entender qué fue Pavement, qué significa ahora, qué quedó de todo aquello.
La película acierta también al incluir música de bandas actuales que versionan temas de Pavement, como Soccer Mommy o Snail Mail. No es solo un homenaje, es una forma de mostrar que siguen vivos en otras voces, en otros estilos, en otras generaciones. Y en medio de todo, suena Circa 1762, una de sus canciones más bellas y olvidadas, como un regalo para quienes llevamos su música clavada desde hace décadas.
Lo único que podría pedirle es que terminara con Carrot Rope, su último tema, esa despedida camuflada de chiste que, sin decir nada, lo dice todo: "I’ve got the carrot, I don’t have the rope". Porque eso es Pavement. Surrealismo, melancolía, juegos de palabras, melodías rotas que de repente encajan, un universo que no necesita explicarse porque se siente.
Pavements no es para cualquiera, pero si ya amabas a Pavement, es muy posible que acabes como yo: con una sonrisa y lágrimas en los ojos. Sería maravilloso que la banda se reuniera, que se hiciera una película, un musical completo, que ese museo existiera de verdad. Pero mientras tanto, tenemos esto. Y es mucho más que suficiente.
(ENGLISH) There are movies you enjoy and then there are movies that completely overwhelm you. Pavements did just that to me. I’ve been crying from the first second to the last, carried away by emotion, memory, and music. This is not just a documentary; it’s a strange and beautiful hallucination about my all-time favorite band, Pavement, and about Stephen Joseph Malkmus, who’s long been something between a musical idol and an emotional reference point for me.
The film is not made to convince new fans. It doesn’t explain much, nor does it follow a clear linear narrative. It’s messy, meta, ironic, sometimes even absurd—but deeply heartfelt. Some will adore it, others will detest it or simply not understand a thing. But for those of us who have carried Pavement in our veins since the ‘90s, it feels like a gift. A rare, chaotic, and unpredictable gift, just like the band itself.
I found it bold, innovative, and refreshingly different from typical rock docs. There’s a museum (both real and surreal), there's a jukebox musical, and there’s even a fake biopic that hilariously hits every cliché of the genre while still conveying the real drama behind the band’s history. And in between, the music—always the music—guiding every emotional beat, every twist of nostalgia. When Circa 1762 started playing, I broke down. It’s one of my favorite, most overlooked songs from their catalog, and hearing it in this context felt like a private message.
If I miss something, it’s that Carrot Rope doesn’t close the film. That song, that farewell disguised as a joke, would have been the perfect ending. But maybe that’s also part of the spirit of Pavement: never giving the expected, always choosing the offbeat road.
Would I love for them to reunite for real, to tour again, to make a movie, to turn the museum into something permanent? Of course. But for now, this film is enough to make me cry like the first time I heard Gold Soundz. A kaleidoscopic, loving tribute to a band that changed my life—and continues to do so.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
05/16/25
Full Review
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