Posted on 12/16/2021 8:34:21 PM PST by Borges
I have a hunch this is one of those films that performs slowly until it wins a boatload of awards, which it undoubtedly will. Then, people will notice it, and audiences will make it a smash in theaters and on video.
That happens quite a lot.
Parenthetically, I thought the television ads were quite weak, which sort of mystified me.
“It’s his take on the original stage production.”
Which is what the first one is.
That was ‘another’ take on the stage production. A far less adroit one.
The ads looked fine but they seemed to be trying to hide the fact that it’s a musical. Who did they think they were fooling?
Not too far off.
Maria loses “her” balls and member in the rumble scene shortly before that song. This enrages Tony who breaks up with Maria. The film ends on a happy note with Chino finding Tony and killing him for his inexcusable transphobia. The rest of the male characters castrate each other in solidarity as the final notes of Somewhere lead us into the credits. It’s a real tearjerker….
Nah, apparently it’s not as woke as you’d expect.
You hit the nail on the head EXACTLY. The music is classic, sometimes boisterous, sometimes heartfelt. It should have been center-stage.
I don’t recall “Chicago” ever shying away from the fact that it was a musical, and it did massive business.
Then the blacks will complain.
San Juan Hill was apparently a predominantly black neighborhood and I’ve heard complaints that they were left out of the film.
Oh, that is so cool. I love that! And I’d so rather see unknown talent playing those parts than a bunch of slick Hollywood stars.
“I love musicals. Yes, I know that’s geeky.”
Yeah, but West Side Story isn’t geeky the way most musicals are. I am not a fan of most musicals, but I am a big fan of the original West Side Story.
I’ll eventually see this version, I might even like it.
Me too....if she’s employed by NYT then she’s not worth reading IMO...
Whatever your opinion of either, point is both are film versions of the “original” play. I get a chuckle out of the BS line this new version shouldn’t be compared to the original because it’s from different material.....LOL.
Plenty of commenters seem to agree with the public panning this film as woke and not particularly for America.
Hollywood has betrayed America for too long. They are with with the media: enemies of the people.
wife and I saw it,wasnt impressed.the fact that half the movie was in spanish without subtitles pissed us both off.The girl playing maria had a horse face and reminded me of aoc.didnt care for the anybody character,felt they went over the top trans.prefer the original.
Good article.
I never saw WSS on stage, and I didn’t care for the original film. I do like musicals, some of them, but WSS never grabbed me. Matter of personal taste; I understand that it is an iconic film that should be somewhere on people’s cultural literacy list, and I saw it once years ago so I can check that box. At this point, however, I am rooting for every theatrical release to do well because I’m concerned for the survival of a distribution platform that isn’t completely controlled by the streamers. WSS doesn’t grab me enough to go to the theater, but I’m sorry it’s not doing better.
The three best movies I’ve seen this year, all in theaters: Old Henry; The Most Reluctant Convert; Montana Story. (Old Henry is the only one currently available for streaming.) I intend to get out to at least one more film in the theater before the end of the year. Belfast and C’mon, C’mon are the top candidates at this point. Four movies in the theater in one year would be a lot for me, but I’m trying to vote for good films in the best way I can.
[Btw, Barack Obama this week released his list of favorite movies of 2021. Fair enough. He did like Old Henry and The Last Duel (which I’ve not yet seen but which is on my list). I am willing to acknowledge the occasional moments when BHO gets something right. Check out Old Henry if you haven’t seen it already.]
Noonan emphasized the shared, communal value of people seeing movies in theaters. That misses the mark as far as I’m concerned. The shared experience is nice if people are well behaved. And frankly, I’ve not had any bad audience experiences, probably because I don’t go to the comic book movies that attract the sketchy teenager and young adult crowd. In my experience, if you go to an adult movie, you will find an adult crowd, and it will be well behaved.
Unfortunately, Noonan overlooks the bigger problem, which is the increasing vertical and horizontal integration of all communications media. I don’t want six giant global companies to control 99 percent of the information flow across all media. The streamers are in the process of swallowing the film industry and turning movies into generic television. Quality is spiraling downward. And as the streamers invest ever more heavily in content origination, the PC police and DEI committees shorten the leash on independent producers.
It may be time for some serious antitrust action to break up the giant media cartels. I don’t want the same companies that censor content and shadow ban or deplatform conservatives across so many internet platforms to also have complete control over what movies get financing and distribution. Independent theaters, independent film festivals and a healthy theatrical scene are important parts of maintaining a non-Borg distribution system.
Lol, and the whole concept of immigrants and assimilation has a little bit different tone than it did to folks who hadn’t seen much of it. The bloom is off the rose, the romance is gone.
The time for that was a long, long time ago.
Better late than never.
Sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers?
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