Posted on 12/16/2021 8:34:21 PM PST by Borges
make a movie worth going to see and we will go see it.
Keep making this woke shit and go fish.
Switchblades were terrifying cool in the 60’s.
******************************
So were homemade zip guns, in the ‘50-60s.
Now, the gang members have semi-auto and even auto guns.
A pet art-movie by Stephen Spielberg and we’re all supposed to bow down to it?
1) It’s a musical.
2) Very few people alive today have even seen the original all the way through.
3) It’s a musical.
OTOH, Hollywood would seem to have all its chips on the “Top Gun” reboot. They keep pushing the release date back on that one, trying to find a gap in COVID to get a major theatrical release. I think that will be the test as to whether America has permanently changed its viewing habits.
Noonan writes like she gets paid by the word,
They are all waiting for the next Spiderman movie, which should be a big hit.
“I love musicals. Yes, I know that’s geeky.”
I love old movies and one of our Christmas faves is “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. We watch it every year. Modern musicals just suck. We tried sitting through LaLa Land and it was awful.
That and we are really tired of the endless remakes. Hollywood hasn’t had an original thought in decades. And it seems they can’t help but “update” them for “modern audiences.” And that means jamming the political opinions of the makers down our throats.
Just leave them alone, for God’s sake.
Spielberg hates us “normals”. He makes that clear every time he opens his mouth. I’ll not put another nickel in his pocket.
L
Would I be amiss to propose that West Side Story is as much a period-piece as maybe, The Graduate? Kinda locked in its storytelling to another place and time, and full of context and commentary that ain’t everyman or universal to the human condition, dependent too much on the setting (time and place)?
I thought it was a long shot when I heard about it in production.
I maintain that the American musical theater is the highest expression of a number of arts. I love good music and good singing, and that’s the place to find both. And yes, I’m totally straight (my wife checked before marrying me :) ). I get that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but that’s okay- I don’t need other’s to validate my tastes.
The people actually seeing it are loving it.
It isn’t woke at all.
I have an HD projector that shoots onto a 12 ft. screen in my media room. No need to go to a theater.
I don’t think the movie theater is declining. People are just misreading what West Side Story was about (in the meta sense I mean). This was a passion project for Spielberg not a money maker. It’s a movie he loved, and he wanted to get into it the way you only can when you make it. It was never going to make money, the original is one of those legends that people talk bout but don’t actually watch. Gotten a couple of Broadway revivals but those have fairly short runs. This was the movie equivalent of a Vanity Press book. If it never left Spielberg’s garage he’s be fine with it.
Peggy Noonan was good. 40 years ago. But after 30 years as a single mom in NYC, she doesn’t know her butt from a hole in the ground. Only seen trailers for the new version. Wasn’t impressed but I’ll admit I didn’t love the original either.
BTW - I love a lot of musicals. But WSS just seemed strained. 7 Brides may have been highly choreographed but it was fun in a way. Maybe I just don’t like NYC....
She tried to backpedal in a subsequent WSJ article, then decided to own her "outed" RINO mentality.
This article is simply the latest in a 3 decade-long tragic train wreck, since she was a great speechwriter for Reagan.
I'm don't like musicals, though A Chorus Line and The Fantastics were great, as was the initial recording for Jesus Christ Superstar.
I used to love NYC (I worked there for decades) but even before the pandemic it stopped being cutting edge. Even for conservatives, Manhattan had a lot of offer in terms of innovation, culture, business, and insights into the human condition. Now, a good bit of that cutting edge spice has migrated nationally.
Indeed, in a classic example of success-breeding-failure, the national lurch toward leftism may have robbed Manhattan of its relevance. To wit: why bother dealing with all the NYC headaches when you can get that Manhattan spice in your local city or online?
Well the material is ingrained in the popular culture. The songs are still super famous. Usually that combined with rave reviews are enough to get people interested. But even film buffs I know are saying they will wait to stream it. That’s deflating for cinephiles like myself. Studios won’t pump money into projects like this unless people support it. This film will have a very long life. The IMDB user rating is very high for 10,000+ votes. It’s pleasing its core audience (theater buffs).
Not necessarily. Sure people know 3 or 4 of the songs, but they probably don’t even know where they know them from, just some damn thing their parents or grandparents listened to and they grew up around. The watching public really doesn’t pay attention to reviews. They’ve largely decided if they want to see a particular movie long before the reviews come out. I ain’t even gonna watch it on stream, I’ve seen West Side Story more times than I care to already in life, I don’t care what Spielberg fixed. It’s probably my least favorite Shakespeare and turning it into a musical really didn’t improve it any. IMDB ratings are almost as useless as CinemaScore. People who chose to watch movie X will usually (unless the previews heavily advertised a different movie, like Drive) like it. Cause they want to like it, cause they wanted to see it and then laid out the cash.
But you did hit part of why it’s having problems. Its core audience is theater buffs. But theater buffs in the modern age tend not to be into movies. That world has divided. So it self limited right off the bat by targeting an audience that’s not into THAT kind of theater. This movie was never going to make money.
That's because I get creeped out with all the people who still insist on wearing masks. Plus it's super unsanitary and gross. Watching a movie with a bunch of masked up people all around me does not sound very appealing.
Even though the mask mandate has been lifted in my area, folks still insist on wearing them wherever they go. Maybe they are into S&M and enjoy being in the slave role?
Least favorite Shakespeare that you’ve read anyway. :) R&J was actually a breakthrough (along with two other plays written at the same time, ‘Richard 2’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’) But this thing is one of the best pieces of pure cinema Spielberg has ever done. I’d call it a masterpiece actually. The fact that the leading parts are played by essential unknowns gives it an additional purity. You’re never distracted by “hey that’s so and so!”
The bullet we dodged.
Peggy “Feeeeelings” Noonan jumped the shark when she fell in love with Obozo. Remember her opinion that young black men will save America or some such thing? Based on what rational evidence, Peggy? A good portion of them seem to be killing each other or heading to prison.
If anyone saves America, not forgetting the grace and mercy of the Lord, it will be conservatives of all races/ethnic groups.
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