Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY - News & Discussion Thread- Page 82

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 3:49pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "I don’t understand the complaints about Rachel Zegler’s performance, or about the last scenes of the movie. Both were incredibly affecting, to me. But it was a stacked year for women in particular (isn’t it always?), so a snub was always inevitable. Ariana has always been the single actor guaranteed to be nominated from this cast, and is the favorite to win at this point. Let’s celebrate that."

Agreed.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 3:52pm

SisterGeorge said: "Seeing how very likely it is that DeBose will win, the producers of the Oscar show would be idiots not to go out on a limb and have Rita Moreno announce that category. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house."

Well, last time they tried something like that (just last year!), the show ended with a big whomp whomp when Chadwick Boseman DIDN'T win and Anthony Hopkins wasn't there to accept his award either. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 4:09pm

TheQuibbler said: "SisterGeorge said: "Seeing how very likely it is that DeBose will win, the producers of the Oscar show would be idiots not to go out on a limb and have Rita Moreno announce that category. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house."

Well, last time they tried something like that (just last year!), the show ended with a big whomp whomp when Chadwick Boseman DIDN'T win and Anthony Hopkins wasn't there to accept his award either."

Yes, having Rita announce that award would be a very risky move. No one knows for sure if Ariana will even win. 

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 5:11pm

SisterGeorge said: "Theatre Fan3 said: "yet it now appears the film is destined to be classified as a "boxoffice bomb" which seems unfair. Yes it may have "bombed" at the boxoffice...."

"Bombing at the box office" is pretty much the definition of a "box office bomb." Sad, maybe, if you love the movie. Unfair, no.

"

You have missed the point I was trying to make by taking a selective quote out of context to the whole point of my entire post.

 

[Wildcard]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 5:28pm

I enjoyed "Power of the Dog" which looks like it will be the eventual best picture winner but I found "West Side Story" to be more satisfying as a film. It felt more well-rounded and never was I bored during the movie.  Mike Faist deserved the nomination more so than Jesse Plemons did. He had more to do and the role was more complex and difficult. I don't think Rachel was robbed of an Oscar. She was good but not as good as those who were nominated. 

I also don't think "Don't Look Up" deserved that Best Picture slot. That should have gone to Tik Tik Boom.

[Musicnut82]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 7:36pm

Wildcard said: "I enjoyed "Power of the Dog" which looks like it will be the eventual best picture winner but I found "West Side Story" to be more satisfying as a film. It felt more well-rounded and never was I bored during the movie. Mike Faist deserved the nomination more so than Jesse Plemons did. He had more to do and the role was more complex and difficult. I don't think Rachel was robbed of an Oscar. She was good but not as good as those who were nominated.

I also don't think "Don't Look Up" deserved that Best Picture slot. That should have gone to Tik Tik Boom."

I will totally agree with you. Personally I feel The power of the dog is the better picture and deserves to win but if you ask me which picture you want to watch over and over again, WSS is a no brainer for me. I truly came out of the cinema loving it even more with every watch. I saw. The Power Of The Dog once snd said to msyelf “that is a well made movie and story, but  don’t want to watch it again”.

I also feel WSS got nominated in the categories it truly deserved apart from Male Support for Mike Faist snd Adapted Screenplay for Tony Kushner. I truly believe Toni deserved that spot. Everything else is spot on snd yes Rachel was overhaul incredible but I’ll share the same opinion others have voiced in this thread, her last 7-8 minutes sealed the deal for her not being in the Best Actress nomination conversation.

Ss far as Don’t Look Up it really puzzles my how on earth did it make it to Best Picture category? Tick tick Boom was way better.

Updated On: 2/8/22 at 07:36 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 9:51pm

Thrilled that ''West Side Story'' got 7 Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Production Design, Costumes and Sound. But if it were up to me, it would've gotten at least 4 more: Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Best Actress (Rachel Zegler) and Supporting Actor (Mike Faist). That would've been 11 nominations, matching with the 1961 original.

Oh, well, to put things in historical context, my favorite movie musical of all time debuted 70 years ago, and got a paltry 2 Oscar nominations: Supporting Actress and Musical Scoring. The big winner that year was ''The Greatest Show on Earth,'' now considered by many to be one of the worst Best Pictures ever. And my favorite musical that was largely ignored? ''Singin' in the Rain''!

Updated On: 2/8/22 at 09:51 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 4:25am

Rearding the whole box office bomb thing...

By any normal measure, West Side Story is a bomb. It won't make back its $100 million production budget plus all the money spent to promote it.

But here's what seems weirdly overlooked:

Every film nominated for Best Picture, with the exception of Dune, is a box office bomb. Or it was released pretty much solely on a streaming service, so no one really knows if it was profitable or not. The movie with the strongest case there might be Don't Look Up, which certainly was a big hit for Netflix on its opening weekend and had people talking long afterward. But it cost $75 million to make. Was it like Hamilton in 2020 and driving viewers to subscribe to its streaming service so they could see it? I don't think so, not $75 million worth. 

You can't count streaming releases at all. So let's toss those three nominees out: The Power of the Dog, CODA, and Don't Look Up. What's left?

- Dune. Production budget: $165 million. Box office: $399 million ($107 million in the U.S.)

- Belfast. Production budget: $25 million. Box office: $21.4 million (just $7.5 million in the U.S.). 

- King Richard. Production budget: $50 million. Box office: $33.4 million ($14.8 million domestic). 

- Licorice Pizza. Production budget: $40 million. Box office: $21.8 million ($12.8 million domestic)

- Drive My Car. Production budget: couldn't find. Box office: $3.1 million ($944,000 domestic)

- Nightmare Alley. Production budget: $60 million. Box office: $29.8 million ($10.8 million domestic)

- West Side Story. Production budget: $100 million. Box office: $63 million ($36.7 million domestic)

So out of the Academy Award-nominated films, West Side Story drew more people to buy tickets at a movie theater than anything except for Dune. It's not close.

In the U.S., the disparity is even more stark. West Side Story has managed $36.7 million in the teeth of the Omicron wave. King Richard, released between variants, is second at $14.7 million.

Most of other nominated films suffered from the same pandemic problem, of course. But it's odd that West Side Story is the film that gets tagged with the "box office bomb" label more than any other. 

Updated On: 2/9/22 at 04:25 AM

[WestEndGal]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 6:39am

Musicnut82 said: "Ss far as Don’t Look Up it really puzzles my how on earth did it make it to Best Picture category? Tick tick Boom was way better."

I thought Don’t Look Up was insufferably smug and had a real Hollywood elitists thumbing their noses up at middle America vibe to it, so of course it was gonna get nominated by the Academy voters! 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 9:15am

Streaming on Disney+ beginning March 2

[The Other One]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 9:47am

"Most of other nominated films suffered from the same pandemic problem, of course. But it's odd that West Side Story is the film that gets tagged with the "box office bomb" label more than any other. "

Probably because of the pedigree of the original film and the Spielberg name.  Its box office failure was more of a surprise, and maybe more of an indication of how determined the mature set was to avoid being in crowded theaters.

"I thought Don’t Look Up was insufferably smug and had a real Hollywood elitists thumbing their noses up at middle America vibe to it, so of course it was gonna get nominated by the Academy voters! "

All of that, and also far less imaginative than many people realize.  It felt like a slick mash-up of Dr. Strangelove and Network, two far better movies.  Leo's character has the arcs of both of the male Network leads.  Neither of those films gave the audience the comfort of one-sided, superior politics.  They addressed, and intentionally rattled, everyone.

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 10:15am

WestEndGal said: "Musicnut82 said: "Ss far as Don’t Look Up it really puzzles my how on earth did it make it to Best Picture category? Tick tick Boom was way better."

I thought Don’t Look Up was insufferably smug and had a real Hollywood elitists thumbing their noses up at middle America vibe to it, so of course it was gonna get nominated by the Academy voters!

"

I couldn’t get through more than twenty minutes of it. One of the worst things I’ve seen in a long time.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 10:37am

I didn’t think Tick Tick Boom was Best Picture worthy though.

I liked it. It had some lovely standout scenes but it didn’t astound me and I thought the end sort of petered out.


It was a matinee type movie. 

 

That said Don’t Look Up is definitely not Best Picture worthy 

[robbie_731]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 10:56am

Looks like the reason Disney is delaying the streaming release of WSS is that there will be another theatrical push on the weekend of February 25th:

"Screen understands Disney is planning a big push for 20th Century Studios’ West Side Story on the weekend of February 25."

https://www.screendaily.com/news/distributors-set-us-theatrical-expansions-for-2022-oscar-nominees/5167396.article

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:12am

CarlosAlberto said: "Streaming on Disney+ beginning March 2"

It will also be streaming on HBO Max that day as well. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:37am

CarlosAlberto said: "Streaming on Disney+ beginning March 2"

Can’t wait to catch this again. Hopefully the other Best Picture nominees that are not on streaming platforms at the moment do so before the Oscars.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:49am

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/9/22 at 11:58am

 

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 2:31pm

CarlosAlberto said: "TheQuibbler said: "SisterGeorge said: "Seeing how very likely it is that DeBose will win, the producers of the Oscar show would be idiots not to go out on a limb and have Rita Moreno announce that category. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house."

Well, last time they tried something like that (just last year!), the show ended with a big whomp whomp when Chadwick Boseman DIDN'T win and Anthony Hopkins wasn't there to accept his award either."

Yes, having Rita announce that award would be a very risky move. No one knows for sure if Ariana will even win."

In this age when the winner of practically every award is a foregone conclusion, I think taking risks is what the Oscar show needs to do big time to not become an interminable bore. 

Also, I think the end of last year's show would have been a disappointment but perhaps not such a huge letdown had Hopkins actually been there to accept one of the evening's biggest awards. I'm guessing the only nominee in DeBose's category this year who might not show up is Dench?

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 3:37pm

Kinda wild this is going to Disney Plus. It's easily the darkest and saddest of their selections on there. 

And then officially there's a movie on Disney Plus that has an attempted rape. 

 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 3:40pm

It will also be on HBO Max on the same date which makes a lot more sense. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 4:01pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Kinda wild this is going to Disney Plus. It's easily the darkest and saddest of their selections on there.

I guess you've never seen OLD YELLER.
 

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 4:04pm

JSquared2 said: "rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Kinda wild this is going to Disney Plus. It's easily the darkest and saddest of their selections on there.

I guess you've never seen OLD YELLER.


"

lol West Side Story is much darker than Old Yeller. Nothing like what happens to Anita happens in Old Yeller.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 4:37pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "JSquared2 said: "rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Kinda wild this is going to Disney Plus. It's easily the darkest and saddest of their selections on there.

I guess you've never seen OLD YELLER.


lol West Side Story is much darker than Old Yeller. Nothing like what happens to Anita happens in Old Yeller."


Spoiler Alert:  The Dog Dies.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/22/22 at 11:21am

Home video release details announced