The Disney+ release of West Side Story is reviving interest in a Steven Spielberg masterpiece before Oscar voting… but is it saving the movie?
Musicals are almost as old as the movies themselves, going back to the very first talkie, The Jazz Singer (1927). A movie like West Side Story is best suited for a giant screen with giant speakers and a giant audience, who together can get lost in a giant fantasy. West Side Story is a beautiful film that deserves to find an audience, and which deserves to be recognized for its achievements. As with Encanto, a whole global audience who didn’t venture to theaters for a movie that wasn’t a superhero sequel or spinoff is about to discover a giddy musical on the most family-friendly of services. As a harbinger for the future of cinema, it’s still not necessarily a wonderful thing. Yes, there was a pandemic, and yes there was a renewed anxiety due to the Omicron variant, but none of that stopped Spider-Man: No Way Home from becoming the third highest grossing movie in U.S. history and sixth biggest grosser overall, with a total cume of $2.2 billion. And for context, the last Best Picture winner to triumph without an Oscar nod for Screenplay and Editing was Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in 1949. Now, half a century later, Spielberg proves he had something else to say about West Side Story by making a film which reprised the awe and youthful exuberance of his earliest blockbusters. The filmmaker admitted he grew up adoring the original cast recording of the 1957 Broadway production as a child well before he saw the Wise movie that went on to win Best Picture. But by the way the clip went viral, and so many tens of thousands of folks acted stunned by Janusz Kamiński’s cinematography, it became clear that a lot of them—most of them—had never seen that shot or any other from Spielberg’s West Side Story. And these are folks who spend parts of their weekend tweeting about movies! It’s a magnetic achievement which most critics, and the small but dedicated audience who saw the movie, were shouting from the rooftops about last holiday season. As Guillermo del Toro marveled on Twitter, “[Spielberg] made the camera dance.” As a connaisseur and auteur of cinema, del Toro had of course already seen and studied the startling precision of Spielberg’s first musical. Forgive the glibness, but it certainly felt that way over the last week when Film Twitter was inundated by stunned reactions to a certain tweet which revealed just a single snippet of Spielberg’s lively cinematic remake of the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim musical.
Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" updates the 1957 musical in many innovative ways. It even introduces a transmasculine character (played by iris menas) ...
The next West Side Story could be a theatrical revival, a high school production, even a TikTok musical. Press materials for the film note menas’ pronouns as well as Anybodys’, with explanations of the character’s gender identity and pronouns. It ultimately impacts very little plotwise and would even let him participate in the final act as part of the gang. In the 1961 film, Ice and the Jets sing it after the rumble, once Riff has already been killed. In the original stage production, Riff and the Jets sing this song in Act 1 before the rumble. Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is a sumptuous and beautiful musical adaptation.
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for West Side Story. Fans of the 1961 West Side Story film were shocked when Steven Spielberg announced his ...
For example, at the end of the original film, Maria holds a dying Tony and sings "Somewhere," but in the 2021 version, she sings "One Hand, One Heart." Another significant difference between the original West Side Story and 2021 is the character of Anybodys. In the original, Anybodys is depicted as a tomboyish girl trying to fit in with the gang, but in the remake, Anybodys is a trans character portrayed by non-binary actor Ezra Menas. Anybodys is mocked for attempting to join the gang and for being trans but is eventually allowed to join the ranks of the Jets. One sweet update the remake made to the original film gives Tony and Maria a little more quality time together. The 2021 West Side Story arrived in theaters to critical acclaim and has seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. The question is, are there any differences between the original film and the remake? What Are the Differences Between the 1961 'West Side Story' and the 2021 Version? (SPOILERS)Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for West Side Story. Fans of the 1961 West Side Story film were shocked when Steven Spielberg announced his intentions to film a remake.
Watch it to see why Ariana DeBose is an Oscar-race hot topic.
That we still feel modestly invested in their tug-o’-war between their pasts and futures is a credit to the bountiful electricity surrounding them. Our Call: STREAM IT. The restless visual artistry of West Side Story finds Spielberg in top form, and he gives the melodrama the vigorous 21st-century thematic how’s-your-father it needs. It doesn’t happen right then and there though, in front of all the pretty girls in their pretty dresses, the guys having eschewed their (gasp) blue jeans for pressed slacks and trousers – but they make a plan to rumble later, tomorrow, midnight, a row that will live on in infamy, and nothing will stop it, not even almighty love itself. What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: I sense a generational battle brewing between the boomers and zoomers as to whether the new version will have the staying power of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 adaptation. Tony (Ansel Elgort) is an ex-Jet and ex-con given a second chance with a stockboy job and a bed in the basement at a drugstore run by Valentina (Rita Moreno). Across the way is Maria (Rachel Zegler), sister of Shark head Bernardo (David Alvarez), who’s not married to but is very much together with Anita (Ariana DeBose), and all three live together. Which isn’t to say that moony, pie-eyed love at first sight doesn’t occur between Tony and Maria, whose gazes lock from across a crowded room, and who steal a kiss behind the bleachers as they’re nearly slashed apart by LENS FLARE!, which serves to be only a symbolic threat, as the Jets and Sharks don’t take kindly to such inter-gang romance, and shove aside the countless and pervasive MOTES of LIGHT (so many MOTES, just HEAPS and HEAPS of MOTES of LIGHT) for another faceoff.
For his new take on “West Side Story,” director Steven Spielberg pulls from the beloved 1961 movie musical as well as the original Broadway stage show, ...
With one of the catchiest Broadway scores ever written (including "Luck Be A Lady," "If I Were A Bell," and the upbeat title number), even this uneven movie adaptation is a tuneful joy to watch. Gypsy (2015): Like "West Side Story", "Gypsy" also features a book by Arthur Laurents and lyrics by the legendary Stephen Sondheim. Working with composer Jule Styne, the trio tell the story of Mama Rose, the ultimate show business mother. Guys and Dolls (1955): For a classic musical that’s just a touch lighter than "West Side Story," there’s this beloved tale of gamblers, nightclub singers, and missionaries. The platform gives fans of entertainment, news and sports an easy way to discover new content that is available completely free. And this 2015 production filmed live at London’s Savoy Theatre lets Oscar-nominee Imelda Staunton ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix") chew the scenery with the best of them. Howard High (2022): A modern-age "Bring It On," "Howard High" is an energetic teen musical that follows a high school performance group who must compete against a rival school in order to save their arts program. And like the best elements of "West Side Story," it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible. About the writer: Caroline Siede is a film and TV critic in Chicago, where the cold never bothers her anyway. A triple threat of the highest degree, DeBose emerges as the soul of the film — the performer who best embodies everything Spielberg and Kushner are trying to do with this grim, gritty, but still joyful adaptation. It’s one of the performances of the year. This is "West Side" as you’ve seen it before, and also as you haven’t. Here, however, Spielberg stages that moment as a more realistic meet-cute where Tony and Maria sneak behind the bleachers for a private dance.
Spielberg's take on the classic musical will introduce a new generation to the story. All the songs are great, but some stand above the others.
The song bounces to a Puerto Rican beat and is by the far the most memorable number in Spielberg’s West Side Story. This joint number between Anita (Ariana DeBose) and Maria is the most serious in West Side Story (2021). The spitting staccato of the lyrics in the first half of the song frames Anita’s anger towards Maria for choosing to be with Tony in spite of Bernardo’s murder. Showing off the more humorous side of West Side Story, this Jets tune is a hilarious critique of the societal handling of juveniles in the middle of the 20th century. This addition to the soundtrack of West Side Story (2021) is not an original, although it is the first time it has been used in service to the story. It also feels the most familiar to the Romeo and Juliet premise from which it is adapted (the musical is one of many Hollywood versions of the Shakespeare play), as Tony sings conversationally with Maria first from beneath a balcony before climbing up it. Elgort sings it well, but this is the slower of Tony’s ballads making it a slightly less exciting moment in West Side Story (2021). The 1961 movie placed the song following the rumble in which both Riff and Bernardo die but Spielberg returns it to its place from the stage show, prior to the rumble. This song works the most in his favor, as Tony sings the song to Valentina while moving dynamically around her drugstore. This duet between Tony and Maria is pretty and purports the admirable ideal of commitment in a romantic relationship. People have been singing the songs of West Side Story for decades—here is a ranking of all 13 songs featured in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of the musical. While this song may be a favorite for some, it falls to the bottom of this list because of its slowness. The songs have left a lasting impression on the world, inspiring and influencing current songwriters and playwrights such as Lin-Manuel Miranda. The 1961 film adaptation of the movie has been well-regarded over time, leaving many wondering if Spielberg could live up to its legacy.
Landing the role of Jets leader Riff in West Side Story has taken Mike Faist from the New York stage to the movie big league — and a Bafta nomination.
“I definitely want to come back to theatre. He excitedly thrusts part of a tea set in front of the camera, sent by producer Kristie Macosko Krieger and Steven Spielberg to mark the Bafta nomination for his supporting role as Riff in West Side Story. “He can do absolutely anything.” “Mike Faist is one-of-a-kind,” Spielberg has said. We were a tribe. Faist was Tony-nominated for his role in Dear Evan Hansen in 2017. We were a family. “I asked my agents, ‘Do I have to dance? “The movies that I grew up with were the old MGM films with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and West Side Story, and Steven Spielberg movies like the Indiana Joneses. It really is crazy. At 17, he enrolled in a New York conservatory. “Moving by yourself to New York City, from smalltown Ohio at 17, was terrifying,” he recalls. Landing the role of Jets leader Riff in West Side Story has taken Mike Faist from the New York stage to the movie big league — and a Bafta nomination.
Disney has released a new music video of Academy Award-nominee Ariana DeBose perform 'America' as Anita in Steven Spielberg's award-winning, ...
The film is produced by Spielberg, p.g.a., Academy Award®-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, p.g.a. and Tony Award®-winning producer Kevin McCollum. "West Side Story" has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway show. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose) and 11 Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno), "West Side Story" is the winner of three Golden Globe® awards-Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy; Best Actress, Musical or Comedy (Rachel Zegler) and Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose). Directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner Tony Kushner, "West Side Story" tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City.
The original 1961 film still reigns as one of the most lauded cinematic musicals in history, having won 10 Oscars at the 34th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in ...
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Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort take on the lead roles as Tony and Maria in the film. Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Maddie Ziegler, Mike Feist and Rita Moreno ...
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