Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY - News & Discussion Thread — Page 84

Starts playing March 2 on HBO Max

Ariana DeBose made history Sunday night as the first Latina to win a Screen Actors Guild film award. Her Supporting Actress victory for ''West Side Story'' also marks a first for a queer woman of color at the SAG Awards.

Backstage, DeBose said: “The legacy of Anita means a great deal to me, for many different reasons. I’m a Broadway girl at heart. We speak so frequently about Rita Moreno, as we should, she’s legendary. But the OG Anita on stage is Chita Rivera, and I have looked up to Chita for such a long time. She [paved the] way for me on the stage for me to be able to do what I do in that facet of the industry. So, to be able to be a part of the legacy of Anita that includes both Chita and Rita—and now Ariana— it’s really special to me. And we’re all very different types of Latinas, that’s beautiful and important too. There’s no one way to be Latina or Hispanic. There are many beautiful ways. I think each one of us is a testament to that.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zn5cpz6D1Y

Updated On: 2/28/22 at 08:03 PM

After watching the ending again- it’s not the MOST horrible. It’s just very fast and not nearly as emotionally rich as the original.

I think the one thing that stood out this time in the end is Valentina gently turning Chino in. That is interesting.

Chino has a really tragic arc. It’s just a shame Spielberg directed Rachel’s moments so poorly at the end. Also why put the score under her monologue? The music goes silent in that moment and it’s all the better for it usually

BrodyFosse123 said: "The finale of the film is covered extensively on the fantastic The Stories of WEST SIDE STORY feature on the Blu-ray. They also go into why they didn’t have her sing “Somewhere.” Spoiler: the scene was shot on location in Paterson, NJ and not on a soundstage."

I thought the Blu-ray didn't come out until March 15th ... how have you seen this already? Just curious.

BrodyFosse123 said: "The finale of the film is covered extensively on the fantastic The Stories of WEST SIDE STORY feature on the Blu-ray. They also go into why they didn’t have her sing “Somewhere.” Spoiler: the scene was shot on location in Paterson, NJ and not on a soundstage."

Also of note in the featurette focusing on the finale they show (very briefly) a very different take when Rachel says the line "I hate now" which IMO sounded much more impactful/forceful than the take that made the finished cut.

BrodyFosse123 said: "Theatre Fan3 said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "The finale of the film is covered extensively on the fantastic The Stories of WEST SIDE STORY feature on the Blu-ray. They also go into why they didn’t have her sing “Somewhere.” Spoiler: the scene was shot on location in Paterson, NJ and not on a soundstage."

I thought the Blu-ray didn't come out until March 15th ... how have you seen this already? Just curious."

That’s the general release date but the press/media was sent the Blu-ray weeks ago in order to review it in advance. I’m fortunate to “know people.”

Ah, that's nice. I'm really looking forward to getting my copy on the 15th.

EDSOSLO858 said: "HOW DID SPIELBERG MAKE IT BETTER THAN IT ONCE WAS?

Simply blown away after watching all the way through on Disney+. Choreography is perfect, direction spot-on, and new screenplay brilliant.West Side Storyis more than a remake - it is a love letter to both Bernstein and Sondheim, with so much exceptional Broadway talent involved I could pass out. Man, 2021 was quite the year for the movie musical.

The cast fires on all cylinders. Elgort and Zegler make a heartbreaking couple, and DeBose is DYNAMITE as per usual. The Supporting Actress Oscar is hers. Moreno’s Valentina is a touching new addition.
Kushner didn’t necessarily have to Valjean-ize Tony, but at least it gives him a reason to be skeptical of fighting. Fresh out of prison, I could see the promise in Tony’s eyes as he was trying to start anew - which only makes the ending even more melancholy… and more effective.


The new locales for some of the musical numbers were some of the best choices of this film. A loving tribute to Leonard and Stephen, as mentioned above.


Mandatory viewing for all. Don’t miss this one!
"

From the sounds of your post I take it that you had not seen it in a theatre before watching it on Disney+ ... that's a shame ... if this is your reaction from watching it on streaming imagine what it was like watching it in IMAX.

Saw it again on Disney+ and it is just as great as I saw it the first two times. After seeing the bonus feature on the ending, I kind of prefer the final version because I appreciate that Rachel was going for a quiet rage in her "I hate now" line. To me it gave me the chills.

Mike Faist is trending on Twitter, finally.

The special features can be found under this account on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/CineramaMag/videos

Interesting forty minute discussion with Spielberg, producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, Rita Moreno, Ariana DeBose, and Tony Kushner, produced by the Hollywood Reporter:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-videos/steven-spielberg-west-side-story-ariana-debose-1235099329/

Interesting article by David Fear for Rolling Stone:

‘West Side Story’ Is Classic Spielberg, Classic Moviemaking — Just Classic, Period.

It’s a really great movie. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been an awards and Oscars frontrunner - it’s a shame that it was released during the omicron wave and it’s perception as a box office “flop” has seemingly harmed the movie’s chances, especially when 90% of awards movies these days are obscure and watched by hardly anyone!


I thought Ariana de Bose and Mike Faust were the standouts but all the casting is great tbh. For her first movie Rachel Zegler was wonderful, and I thought she and Ansel shared a nice chemistry.

The direction and cinematography was just outstanding too. The choreography could maybe have been a bit more exciting but it worked.

My only real disappointment, like others have said, was how rushed it all felt at the end, and it definitely detrimentally affected the emotional heft of the tragic ending. Feels like they crammed 15 mins into just 5 mins, and it could have done with some more flesh at the end. The movie didn’t feel overly long.