West Side Story (2021)

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Worth going to the movies just to hear the incredible score.  Try to see it in Dolby Atmos or IMAX.

Overall, it was Spielberg at his best.  Many, many moments were thrilling.  No weak links in the cast.  Cinematography was stunning.

Ariana DeBose will get an Oscar nomination (and should win).  Her Anita was sung, acted and danced beautifully.

The minor changes made to the book were helpful for film purposes. 

I really like that they included a good amount of spoken Spanish, but didn't opt to subtitle it.  If you're paying attention, you can deduce what they're saying even if you don't speak the language.

This film warrants many rewatchings.

[CuriousByNature]

2 hours ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

Worth going to the movies just to hear the incredible score.  Try to see it in Dolby Atmos or IMAX.

Overall, it was Spielberg at his best.  Many, many moments were thrilling.  No weak links in the cast.  Cinematography was stunning.

Ariana DeBose will get an Oscar nomination (and should win).  Her Anita was sung, acted and danced beautifully.

The minor changes made to the book were helpful for film purposes. 

I really like that they included a good amount of spoken Spanish, but didn't opt to subtitle it.  If you're paying attention, you can deduce what they're saying even if you don't speak the language.

This film warrants many rewatchings.

How was Rita Moreno and the role that was created for her?  Did it seem contrived at all?  It's impressive that she is still so active at 90 years old.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

How was Rita Moreno and the role that was created for her?  Did it seem contrived at all?  It's impressive that she is still so active at 90 years old.

Tony Kusher did an incredible job of not only adding her into the story, but sharpening all of the leads and sub-leads. 

I think that's what I enjoyed most about this remake.  It didn't feel forced.  It just felt improved upon.

I wasn't convinced in the beginning of Moreno singing Somewhere, but by the end of the song, it all worked beautifully.  Her character worked well as a 'Doc' that no longer exists in this version.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Benjamin_Nicholas

[BuffaloKyle]

It flopped at the box office this past weekend. Third musical in a row after In The Heights & Dear Evan Hansen to perform badly. One story I read says it's because older viewers still are not comfortable going back into theaters. See what kind of legs it has because while The Greatest Showman had a lower opening but had a great run it still wasn't during a pandemic and you have Spider-Man & The Matrix about to open.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

It's flopping because the general public has zero attention span to sit through musicals.

They see Marvel and superheroes as escapism, not singing and dancing.  That's fine. 

It's just a shame when you get films like WSS that have so much talent in them.

[jeezifonly]

15 hours ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

It's flopping because the general public has zero attention span to sit through musicals.

They see Marvel and superheroes as escapism, not singing and dancing.  That's fine. 

It's just a shame when you get films like WSS that have so much talent in them.

Probably needed more blood…

[pubic_assistance]

West Side Story is an American Film Classic.

In can't imagine a Hollywood schlock-master like Spielberg handling the script in an artistic manner. His work is always kitsch and grotesquely over-sentimental like a bad Broadway musical.

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

21 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

West Side Story is an American Film Classic.

In can't imagine a Hollywood schlock-master like Spielberg handling the script in an artistic manner. His work is always kitsch and grotesquely over-sentimental like a bad Broadway musical.

 

Have you actually seen it yet, or are you just spitballing?

[pubic_assistance]

14 minutes ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

Have you actually seen it yet, or are you just spitballing?

Spitballing.

I have seen enough of Spielberg's work to know why the critics are panning it as contrived and heavy on the social justice theme. So commenting on Spielberg and his work. I didn't give an opinion on a film I haven't seen

Edited December 14, 2021 by pubic_assistance
additional

[foxy]

I saw it this afternoon. First time in a movie theater in over 2 years. I liked it but can understand some of the negative criticism. Still the music is wonderful and the dance numbers are exciting. There were only about 4 other people in the audience. All with grey heads. I don’t think it’s going to make a lot of money. 

[+ Lucky]

We saw West Side Story this afternoon and really liked it. Sure, some of it is a stretch- those singing and dancing gangsters to start- but the essence of the original is beautifully captured. And, speaking of beautiful, Ansel Elgort worked for me!

There's a place for us!

[+ Lucky]

Just for the fun of it, we watched the original movie of West Side Story from 1961 this afternoon. It's just as good, if not better, than the current release. I actually liked the 1961 sets better, as well as the performance of the song about Officer Krupke. The cast was really good on that. Richard Beymer as Tony was the cutest guy in the cast.

[Doe Be Doe]

Saw it today. I’m not a movie critic nor Broadway expert but I thought this film was fantastic. The music was incredible and the dancing riveting. I’ll have to see it again. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Doe Be Doe

[mplo2022]

Hi, Lucky!  I totally agree with you here.  The old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story is my all time favorite movie, hands down, and I've seen it more times than I'm able and/or willing to count (but who's counting? lol).  I saw parts of the 2021 reboot/remake of the film version of West Side Story not long ago on a TV program that emphasized the comparisons of both the old and new film versions of West Side Story.  Between that particular TV program, having seen a couple of trailers and extra photographs of the reboot/remake of the film version of West Side Story, and, more recently, listened  to the soundtrack of the new film version of West Side Story on youtube just out of curiosity, my preference for the old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story was re-enforced.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

36 minutes ago, mplo2022 said:

Hi, Lucky!  I totally agree with you here.  The old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story is my all time favorite movie, hands down, and I've seen it more times than I'm able and/or willing to count (but who's counting? lol).  I saw parts of the 2021 reboot/remake of the film version of West Side Story not long ago on a TV program that emphasized the comparisons of both the old and new film versions of West Side Story.  Between that particular TV program, having seen a couple of trailers and extra photographs of the reboot/remake of the film version of West Side Story, and, more recently, listened  to the soundtrack of the new film version of West Side Story on youtube just out of curiosity, my preference for the old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story was re-enforced.

You can't really compare until you've seen both, entirely.

Watch the remake.  It's not the original, but again, it's not trying to be the original.  It's a companion piece.

[big-n-tall]

I loved the original (seen it countless times) and own the special edition blu-ray set that came out sometime back.

With that said, I actually like the remake better.

[+ azdr0710]

will probably finally go see a matinee of it sooner than later....by myself, big pail of popcorn (extra butter please), and a couple smuggled-in sodas......

the opening "overture" graphic for the original movie has always been very clever to me....I remember the first time seeing it and wondering what all those vertical lines were supposed to mean......

 

[Nvr2thick4me]

7 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

will probably finally go see a matinee of it sooner than later....by myself, big pail of popcorn (extra butter please), and a couple smuggled-in sodas......

the opening "overture" graphic for the original movie has always been very clever to me....I remember the first time seeing it and wondering what all those vertical lines were supposed to mean......

 

Vertical lines are an abstraction of NYC - lower Manhattan 

[+ azdr0710]

2 hours ago, Nvr2thick4me said:

Vertical lines are an abstraction of NYC - lower Manhattan 

Yes. Did figure that out after the scene of the city came on. Fantastic visual. Thanks. 

[mplo2022]

On 1/13/2022 at 7:34 AM, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

You can't really compare until you've seen both, entirely.

Watch the remake.  It's not the original, but again, it's not trying to be the original.  It's a companion piece.

I disagree with you here, Benjamin_Nicholas.  I've seen enough of the new 2021 film version of West Side Story so that I can form an opinion of it, plus the stuff that came out about Ansel Elgort has re-enforced my decision not to see the whole thing.  

I can also judge whether or not I want to see a movie by watching trailers or previews of it, as well.

[mplo2022]

On 2/14/2022 at 8:22 PM, azdr0710 said:

will probably finally go see a matinee of it sooner than later....by myself, big pail of popcorn (extra butter please), and a couple smuggled-in sodas......

the opening "overture" graphic for the original movie has always been very clever to me....I remember the first time seeing it and wondering what all those vertical lines were supposed to mean......

The entire opening of the old, original 1961 film version of West Side Story is one of the reasons that I prefer the old, original film version of West Side Story over the 2021 film version.  Steven Spielberg's done some really good films, but I feel that this remake was totally unnecessary, and that he went way overboard with it.  

 

[mplo2022]

On 1/13/2022 at 7:34 AM, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

You can't really compare until you've seen both, entirely.

Watch the remake.  It's not the original, but again, it's not trying to be the original.  It's a companion piece.

Sorry, Benjamin_Nicholas, but I stand by everything I've said, and will not watch the reboot/remake, especially  not in a movie theatre.  To be truthful, I've always been resistant to remakes/reboots of older classic films, generally--especially something like the original 1961 film version of West Side Story.  It's a gut reaction with me.

[mplo2022]

On 12/13/2021 at 11:33 PM, jeezifonly said:

Probably needed more blood…

It probably flopped at the box office because not as many people were interested in Spielberg's reboot/remake of the film version of West Side Story as  he and/or lots of other people believed.

I know that in my area (i. e. the Boston, MA area),  the new West Side Story film version  is not doing well.

[mike carey]

Given that it's a remake of a somewhat older love story in a different time and on a different continent, remaking the film for a new time seems unexceptional. I haven't seen this recent version, but I have seen and enjoyed versions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas placed in a contemporary context*, so I'm quite open to a remake. I realise remaking a film has a different 'feel' than re-staging a live performance, they are not all that different.

*A Canadian production of the Pirates with the major-general singing about matters bilingual in that patter song made me laugh.

[+ poolboy48220]

it hit HBO last night, I watched the first half of it. I wasn't impressed. I couldn't find any fault with it, it just seemed unnecessary.