Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY - News & Discussion Thread- Page 65

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 1:04pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Scarywarhol said: "The film opened to a soft 800k Thursday night, same as Dear Evan Hansen. Here's hoping it gets the chance to leg out as musicals sometimes can. Spider-Man swallows most multiplex screens next Friday, but this seems like counter-programming."

I hate how no other film genre is subjected to this - - - only musicals.. If a film from another genre underperforms no one is quick to write that genre off.

It's like every musical film that comes out has to prove that the genre deserves to even exist.

It's bullsh!t"

Not that I don't disagree with you, but it's fairly typical that Wednesday or Thursday night grosses will be examined. I do hate that it's being compared to DEH, but it is a Spielberg film, so regardless of the genre, it's going to be closely examined. He's simply one of those directors who are a filmgoers' draw.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 1:42pm

There's legit buzz and a ton of press for WWS. Something DEH didn't have. There's evening slots at my local movie theater that are sold out this weekend. Not expecting this to break any records, but I still see it doing well.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 3:13pm

Just got out of an IMAX showing of the film. It was stunning!

[babyjunegem]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 3:46pm

Saw the film last night and my first thought was that Ansel should have been dubbed. I think that his performance was held back by his lack of vocal prowess. His performance wasn't bad per se, and the critics are overdoing it a bit. However, he absolutely cannot handle the vocal demands of the role. If someone dubbed for him, he'd have freed up himself to truly embody the part.

This just highlights how difficult a role Tony is to cast. Directors have gotten it wrong in the past. If you really want a Tony that sticks the landing, you need a character actor with leading man appeal and a great voice. In that sense, Mike Faist would have been an inspired choice. I find it baffling that Bobby Conte Thornton wasn't in consideration. 

[FosseTharp]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 3:58pm

There isn’t anything I can add that hasn’t already been said, but I found this film to be almost perfect. WSS is my favorite musical of all time, and dare I say, this was by far my favorite movie musical of the 21st Century.  I saw a 5:00 pm showing in IMAX last night and wanted so badly to go up to the box office and buy another ticket for the 8:00 IMAX showing. I  probably would have if I went alone and didn’t have my best friend with me who needed to get home. I plan to return for a few more IMAX showings before those screens are replaced with Spider-Man and The Matrix. 
 

The Power of the Dog sure has some competition in the Oscars race now and I can see both films dominating the Oscars  with nominations in almost every eligible category.  I still think it’s Jane Campion’s and Kodi Smit-McPhee’s to lose in Director and Supporting Actor, respectively,  but Kirsten Dunst is no longer the front runner soft Supporting Actress IMO and Best Picture will most certainly be between these two films. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:04pm

ACL2006 said: "There's legit buzz and a ton of press for WWS. Something DEH didn't have. There's evening slots at my local movie theater that are sold out this weekend. Not expecting this to break any records, but I still see it doing well."

I never even saw a commercial on TV for DEH meanwhile I see WSS every commercial. 

[FosseTharp]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:18pm

Also, as far as Box Office goes with this Film, Disney is trying something new with this film as everything has changed in these pandemic times.  This week is historically a slow time for movies and big budget films are rarely released this week.  Big budget prestige musicals are usually set for Christmas Day openings, but by Disney opening it now, they’re banking on Word of Mouth and counter programming to the big Tent-poles the next two weekends.  The Mouse House knows they have a winner on their hands and are banking on staying power through the holidays and awards season.  Plus, look at Christmas Day….. The only Wide releases being released are A Journal for Jordan and American Underdog with The Tragedy of Macbeth opening in limited release.  I don’t think this film will break any records, but I absolutely believe that it will do great for these pandemic times and word of mouth is going to help it have a healthy run.  Plus Disney only released it in 2,800 theaters.  They easily could have released it in more and I can see them slowly adding for theatre’s throughout the month.  
 

The BO grosses will also be heavily looked at by studios because this is the only big budget film for adults that isn’t a franchise or sequel.  If it bombs at the box office, don’t expect any studios to put money into more big budget non franchise films as long as Covid still keeps older movie goers away from the cinema. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:27pm

Just got out from seeing this. Holy cow, this was absolutely breathtaking. Beautifully shot. The slight changes were well placed. The flaws that the original had, they fixed. DeBose tries her best, but nobody will compare to Rita Moreno(or Chita).  Didn't really have an issue with Ansel's voice, but again, nobody will sing this score like Larry Kert. I'd expect a ton of Oscar nominations for this and hopefully one for Moreno for supporting actress.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:47pm

ACL2006 said: "There's legit buzz and a ton of press for WWS. Something DEH didn't have."

Also, I haven't had to explain WSS to anybody, even friends who aren't into theatre. If they haven't seen any version of it, they at least know of it and the first movie, and the basic storyline. DEH would've taken a lot more convincing if you're trying to go with a group of friends of varying theatre-caring levels.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:51pm

Dear Evan Hansen is also not fun?

On premise alone was that ever gonna pack a movie theater?

West Side is sad but it's already known that it has incredible dancing and beauty. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 4:58pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Saw it again last night - going again tonight.

Some plot points that resonated with me aside from the tragic love story:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Contentitthia

Both gangs needlessly fighting for territory that ultimately will no longer exist anyway due to slum clearance.

Riff buying the very gun that will ultimately kill Tony.

Chino helping Tony get into the salt shed where the rumble is taking place. A rumble that will not only seal the fates of their very closest friends, but their own as well.

Chino, a book smart guy with so much hope and promise breaking down and losing it all by turning into a cold blooded murderer.

Anita, who dreams of making it in America and constantly pests Bernardo and Maria to practice their English and telling them "In English please" only to chillingly get those very words thrown back at her by Lieutenant Schrank when she and Maria are speaking in Spanish during the interrogation. Any hope and promise she had for a better life in America are destroyed by the Jets' brutal rape atteThe last scene didn't completely land with me. It was too brief and it did not quite move me as it

Rachel cannot even come close to Natalie Wood's completely gut wrenching breakdown from the original film. It moved me, but Natalie Wood always moves me to tears...even after 1,000 viewings.

I just wish there was a little more of an investment made in that final scene in the new film."

This was my real only issue with the film. The ending just fell flat and rushed. Some have issues with "Cool", I enjoyed the placement but felt it ended up as a reduced number with only 6 actors involved. "Krupke" was a bit of a let down as it's location felt out of place and should have been bigger.

[Huss417]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 6:40pm

There isn't much I can add to the conversation other then saying I loved the film.

I saw it on Imax this afternoon and the theatre was pretty empty. Possibly 8-10 people.

I would recommend seeing it on Imax but would say it loud sound is an issue skip all the movie trailers/coming attractions and walk in when the actual film starts.

I felt at times I was sitting in the middle of the orchestra. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 8:22pm

Normally, I love previews...but good lord: 25 minutes of them?  

 

The film was terrific.  While I didn't love Ansel, I thought he held his own. But the others? Wowza.

[SoCalDirector]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 8:56pm

While I enjoyed reading a lot I have to give this one to Ariana. For no other reason than she does her own singing and Rita was dubbed by in part by both Betty Wand and Marnie Nixon.  And I think the dancing was more extensive and Ariana nailed it.
 

ACL2006 said: "Just got out from seeing this. Holy cow, this was absolutely breathtaking. Beautifully shot. The slight changes were well placed. The flaws that the original had, they fixed. DeBose tries her best, but nobody will compare to Rita Moreno(or Chita). Didn't really have an issue with Ansel's voice, but again, nobody will sing this score like Larry Kert. I'd expect a ton of Oscar nominations for this and hopefully one for Moreno for supporting actress."

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 9:14pm

I thought Ansel was fantastic and sang very well.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 9:23pm

Having not seen either yet, I wonder what the Venn Diagram of people who don’t like Ansel in this and those who don’t like Lenk in Company would look like. Lol 

[SoCalDirector]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 9:25pm

While I enjoyed Rita as Anita a lot I have to give this one to Ariana. For no other reason than she does her own singing while Rita was dubbed by in part by both Betty Wand and Marnie Nixon.  And I think the dancing was more extensive and Ariana nailed it.
 

ACL2006 said: "Just got out from seeing this. Holy cow, this was absolutely breathtaking. Beautifully shot. The slight changes were well placed. The flaws that the original had, they fixed. DeBose tries her best, but nobody will compare to Rita Moreno(or Chita). Didn't really have an issue with Ansel's voice, but again, nobody will sing this score like Larry Kert. I'd expect a ton of Oscar nominations for this and hopefully one for Moreno for supporting actress."

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 9:44pm

I really enjoyed it. I definitely had some issues with it, but there were things I absolutely adored and gave me chills. I feel like some of the numbers were staged ingeniously especially in the first half. The dancing is so gorgeously captured. I personally LOVED what they did with Cool, Prologue and Dance at the Gym.  Boy Like That/I Have a Love and One Hand One Heart made me sob.

Rachel Zegler walks away with this movie I think. She will without a doubt get an Oscar nomination. It really felt like thought was put into her character. She felt real. 

Tony Kushner's script punched up a lot of Laurents awkward dialogue. But dear lord there is some HAM FISTED "this is the message" moments. I felt EVERY single "we're drawing more attention to this to show audiences we have a 21st Century sensibility here". At times, it felt corny, it felt like the Spielberg tropes that have bugged me for the last few years. What Valentina says to the jets after Anita leaves-WOULD someone say that in the mid '50s? It just felt so on the nose.

What I love so much about the original show and film I realized watching this is what ISN'T said or what's alluded to. "You make this world lousy" "We didn't make it Doc" was missed for sure. 

As well as Tony Kushner wrote scenes that just felt too long to me. He's a great writer but there's a pace to musical theatre and often times I felt like I was trapped in a stagey book scene as apposed to "this is a movie." The original film has this issue too with some scenes just feeling like "here's a long book scene." 

Also people had cool back stories but Kushner wrote them in often like clunky exposition

i.e. Remember when I lived here for five years without you before you came Bernardo? 

And as for the ending- I could not help but compare it to the Natalie Wood breakdown. Which just endures as masterfully raw in a movie I get, has a lot that hasn't aged well. THAT ending is still why it's Best Picture. Spielberg also made a mistake by underscoring Maria's monologue with music. It's quiet for her entire gun moment in the original and the stage play. What they did wasn't terrible. But it just was hard to not go "wow, that was done so much better in the other."

Songs like Maria, Something's Coming and Tonight- I don't know how to explain it but they're odd to see in this type of realist film making. They're so old school in sensibility (Going mad shooting sparks into space felt strange coming out of their mouths.) that I just wasn't sure if they translated. 

I thought Ansel was inconsistent. I thought he had really charming moments and some wooden disconnected ones usually during song. Even though I think his singing voice is lovely.

I think it will grow on me with re watches. And I absolutely teared up several times. I think we are lucky to have two versions of this beautiful piece of art and I think neither film fully eclipses the other. Some things here are much better handled than the original and then some things in the original are untouchable. (Ariana was fabulous but there was something about Rita's Anita that just is so definitive. I don't know if anyone could yank that role from her completely.)

I hope it's loved and I'm glad it's loved! When you love this material for so long sometimes it's hard to let go of certain things.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 9:50pm

TotallyEffed said: "I thought Ansel was fantastic and sang very well."

I thought his voice was great, too, and, even if he's not up to the level of Rachel Zegler, he sings as well as a gang member just out of jail should sing. I think that having a world-class singer in the role would have taken away from the gritty realism that Spielberg was going for. When Ansel sings, you can still clearly hear his speaking voice, which I loved. I was reminded of Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, who sang quite capably, but, more importantly, sang with heart, and Ansel is an even better singer than he was.

 

Updated On: 12/10/21 at 09:50 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:07pm

babyjunegem said: "Saw the film last night and my first thought was that Ansel should have been dubbed. I think that his performance was held back by his lack of vocal prowess. His performance wasn't bad per se, and the critics are overdoing it a bit. However, he absolutely cannot handle the vocal demands of the role.If someone dubbed for him, he'd have freed up himself to truly embody the part.

This just highlights how difficult a role Tony is to cast. Directors have gotten it wrong in the past. If you really want a Tony that sticks the landing, you need a character actor with leading man appeal and a great voice. In that sense, Mike Faist would have been an inspired choice. I find it baffling that Bobby Conte Thornton wasn't in consideration."

I have to disagree. I felt Ansel's vocals were excellent. His singing was exactly right for the character he was playing. If anything, his height was a disadvantage to his characterization and he LOOKED  Polish!

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:32pm

I think Ansel has really great moments and weak moments. I think the initial meeting of Tony and Maria is better than we've ever seen it in every way. It's really flirty in this charming way.

I love their day at the Cloisters. 

I think here and in the first film- I really have trouble wrapping my head around her having sex with him after he killed her brother. I don't know why it's never directed like they're so traumatized and upset that all they an do is make love. Cause here and in the first film- it just feels like why?

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:38pm

Dollypop said: "babyjunegem said: "Saw the film last night and my first thought was that Ansel should have been dubbed. I think that his performance was held back by his lack of vocal prowess. His performance wasn't bad per se, and the critics are overdoing it a bit. However, he absolutely cannot handle the vocal demands of the role.If someone dubbed for him, he'd have freed up himself to truly embody the part.

This just highlights how difficult a role Tony is to cast. Directors have gotten it wrong in the past. If you really want a Tony that sticks the landing, you need a character actor with leading man appeal and a great voice. In that sense, Mike Faist would have been an inspired choice. I find it baffling that Bobby Conte Thornton wasn't in consideration."

I have to disagree. I felt Ansel's vocals were excellent. His singing was exactly right for the character he was playing. If anything, his height was a disadvantage to his characterization and he LOOKED Polish!

"

I saw the film today in IMAX and thought it was fantastic ... planning on seeing it again on Sunday.  I too don't  find Ansel's performance a "weak link" ... I think he was spot on considering the backstory they gave him of having been in prison for the past year and realizing during that time that he wanted his life to take a different path than what he had been on ... one not so filled with anger and aggression ...  I think he longed for a calmer, quieter future ... filled with love, not hate ... something that became all the more real to him the moment he laid eyes on Maria.  

I swear I read somewhere, after Sondheim pass away, that the studio was sending the theatres a clip to add on to the film dedicating it to Stephen Sondheim but I sat thru all of the credits until the screen when blank and the house light came back up and I never saw it ... did anybody else see if their presentation included that?

And yes, the screening I attended also had 25 minutes of trailers before the actual feature started it was ridiculous ... and most of those trailers were not something that the majority of the "West Side Story" audience would be interested in ... they were obviously placed there because they were upcoming IMAX presentations.

 

Updated On: 12/10/21 at 10:38 PM

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:40pm

I caught the 11:30 AM showing at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood…on the IMAX screen. It was my first time back in a movie theatre since the March 2020 shutdown.

The film exceeded all of my expectations. I expected to like it, but I didn’t expect to love it…and I loved it. All of the technical credentials were outstanding and Oscar worthy (for what that’s worth): Cinematography, Costumes, Production Design, Orchestrations, Editing, Sound Design…you name it.

The cast was uniformly excellent and that includes Ansel. I thought he was perfect for the role…especially as the character was written by Kushner. I also thought his vocals were fine as they really did match his speaking voice (as Dramamama mentioned earlier). 

Rachel Zegler was so perfect as Maria. I can, however, see why some here thought Natalie Wood’s final moments in the 1961 original were perhaps more powerful, but I still teared up at Zegler’s performance of the finale. Rita Moreno’s “Somewhere” was heartbreaking. I could go on and on, but as I’m pecking this out on my iPad, it’s probably time to call it quits for now…

Finally, Steven Spielberg is a National treasure…deservedly joining Bernstein and Sondheim in that pantheon.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:55pm

This is without question the best movie musical I have seen in nearly 20 years. I was greatly impressed all the way around.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 10:59pm

dramamama611 said: "Normally, I love previews...but good lord: 25 minutes of them?



The film was terrific. While I didn't love Ansel, I thought he held his own. But the others? Wowza."

Happy my theater had 2 previews which were about 2 minutes a piece. Couldn't tell you what they were either as I was trying to figure out how to recline my chair in the dark...haha