Steven Spielberg's West Side Story adaptation

[Sawyer]

 

[DJ Kornphlake]

 

[Dave McFly]

dammit my nose is burning from hot coca coming out of my nose at that one thanks for that

 

[sueb1863]

Hoping to see this this weekend.

 

[Prison Mike]

I’ll probably see it when it hits VOD.

 

[Erik20]

I’ll probably see it when it hits VOD.

Yeah I want to see the movie, but I'm in no rush. It's not something I would go to the theater for.

 

[DarkKnight88]

To be fair, Greatest Showman opened to just under 9 million in non-pandemic times.

Box Office: 'The Greatest Showman' Became One Of The Leggiest Movies Ever

Not saying it'll catch on like that, but a musical opening in December was always going to be a slow burn. I'm more curious what legs will be like for people not interested in Spider-Men or Matrix considering the acclaim it's getting.

 

[Prison Mike]

I read that Spielberg refused English subtitles for the scenes when they’re speaking Spanish. Kind of turned off by that, tbh. I guess I could figure out what they’re saying by the context of the scene, other body language, etc but if it’s a large chunk of the movie, I’ll be pretty annoyed.

 

[Drizzle]

I’ll probably see it when it hits VOD.

I'm not too surprised since this is definitely a movie that the over 50-60 crowd would be more interested in and they're not going to the movies as much these days because of the pandemic. Besides that, Spielberg aside, it's also still a remake. Still, I can see this having good enough legs until the new year.

 

[Brother Jack]

I'm not a big musical fan and I've never seen the original all the way through, but I caught this with some friends Friday and I was kind of blown away by it. It might be Spielberg's best in quite some time. It is visually resplendent, Kaminski operating at the height of his powers, and The Beard squeezes all the pathos there are out of the performances and story. If you have any doubt that the man still has it, check this out.

 

[Holy Slapper]

I’ll probably see it when it hits VOD.

It's because of racism:




We watched the original in music classes in our equivalent of high school and I just couldn't get into it at all. I don't even remember if we ever finished it even.

 

[Prison Mike]

Oh boy, they’re going to open up that can of worms?

 

[Drizzle]

I saw this last night with my girlfriend and the theater was mostly empty but that was also a big driving factor in us going anyway.

When the last trailer for this hit, I said in this thread that the acting and choreography wouldn't surpass the 1961 film. I stand humbly corrected. While the 1961 film is a classic, Spielberg definitely improved a lot here, and I'm not just talking about the casting for the Sharks either. I thought that with the exception of Riff and Anita being played just as strong as they were by Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno in the original, the main cast felt much more like real people in this version, specifically Tony and Maria. And I'd love it if Rita Moreno gets at the very least a Best Supporting Actress nod for this. I just wanted to give her character a hug by the end of it. She stole the show. A lot of the numbers felt a lot more vibrant here, like "America" and "I Feel Pretty" but that's obviously also because of how far filmmaking, and specifically the musical genre, has come in 60 years. The only numbers that felt stronger in the '61 version than in the '21 version were the Jet songs "Gee Officer Krupke" and "Cool". The latter worked better as a big group number in the original film.

Overall, this was Spielberg's best film in years but I'd really only recommend venturing out to see this in theaters if you're a big Spielberg fan or musical theater/West Side Story aficionado.

 

[Detective Conan]

To be fair, Greatest Showman opened to just under 9 million in non-pandemic times.

Box Office: 'The Greatest Showman' Became One Of The Leggiest Movies Ever

Not saying it'll catch on like that, but a musical opening in December was always going to be a slow burn. I'm more curious what legs will be like for people not interested in Spider-Men or Matrix considering the acclaim it's getting.

With an opening as weak and tepid as this along with its a hundred million dollar budget I don’t think it’s legs are going to save this one profit-wise. If this movie cost 50-60 million to make, sure, but I think the demographic most likely to gravitate towards seeing this type of movie would be older, like people well over thirty, and nowadays they aren’t flocking to the movie theaters thanks to an ongoing pandemic.

 

[Prison Mike]

Movies are hitting VOD a lot sooner too so it’s just easier to wait it out. Only very few movies have that need to see it opening weekend for me and that’s mostly MCU movies because of the chances of spoilers getting out quickly. I didn’t feel that urge to see Eternals right away (will watch it on D+ next month) but for Spider-Man NWH, I’ve got to see it opening weekend.

 

[sueb1863]

Saw it last night!

Spoiler

I really enjoyed it and thought they did a great job with it. My only real quibbles were that a lot of plot points and dialogue seemed rushed and not as clear as in the 1961 movie. For example, it seemed like we waited a long time to find out that Maria and Bernardo were brother and sister. I think some audiences who aren't familiar with the story might be confused at times.

The cast was all great except for Ansel Elgort, who just sort of said the lines and sang OK but only really seemed on par with the rest of the cast in his dramatic nonsinging scenes. I'm surprised they didn't go with a stronger singer here considering how many young Broadway musical performers there are.

I wish the Jets had been more differentiated, I couldn't tell them apart. The only one I could pick out was Baby John because he was pretty obvious.

There were very few people at our 7:20 showing, I'd say maybe fifteen at most. I'd say it's mostly because of COVID, a lot of people still aren't boosted. And people just might not be interested in seeing a movie they think they've already seen. Maybe this should have been released next summer, it might have done better.

As a side note, my sister and I bought our tickets the day before, but when we got to the theater, there was nobody taking tickets. We could have just waltzed right in without paying a dime! Is this a new thing at theaters or something?

 

[CaptainWagner]

Can't wait to see this, but I'm holding off til I can see it with my family over Christmas. Thrilled to hear such good word of mouth.

 

[Mysteryman]

I am Very Excited for this film.
I Fully Intend to see this in the weeks to come.
Having said that,I FLATLY REJECT this notion which suggests, if a large number of people choose not to go to a movie that they MUST be Racist.
That tweet from John Rocha is JUST WRONG!

 

[Mysteryman]

Saw it last night!

Spoiler

I really enjoyed it and thought they did a great job with it. My only real quibbles were that a lot of plot points and dialogue seemed rushed and not as clear as in the 1961 movie. For example, it seemed like we waited a long time to find out that Maria and Bernardo were brother and sister. I think some audiences who aren't familiar with the story might be confused at times.

The cast was all great except for Ansel Elgort, who just sort of said the lines and sang OK but only really seemed on par with the rest of the cast in his dramatic nonsinging scenes. I'm surprised they didn't go with a stronger singer here considering how many young Broadway musical performers there are.

I wish the Jets had been more differentiated, I couldn't tell them apart. The only one I could pick out was Baby John because he was pretty obvious.

There were very few people at our 7:20 showing, I'd say maybe fifteen at most. I'd say it's mostly because of COVID, a lot of people still aren't boosted. And people just might not be interested in seeing a movie they think they've already seen. Maybe this should have been released next summer, it might have done better.

As a side note, my sister and I bought our tickets the day before, but when we got to the theater, there was nobody taking tickets. We could have just waltzed right in without paying a dime! Is this a new thing at theaters or something?

Yes.
This is its first weekend.

 

[Erzengel]

I've listened to the 1957 & 2009 Broadway and obviously watched the 1961 movie. How does the music in this movie compare? I favor the 1957 one but there are some ones from the 2009 one that I think make it stand out for me such as Tonight being sung in Spanish by the Sharks. The 1961 has always been my least favorite.

 

[Mysteryman]

dammit my nose is burning from hot coca coming out of my nose at that one thanks for that

My Young Padewan, You must learn to Practice Safety At Home, While Reading Your Internet!

 

[Sithborg]

Just saw this. Pretty good movie. The cinematography is fascinating. The cast is generally wonderful. All of them are talented enough to be in this production. The only issue I have is Ansel Elgort, who did not have chemistry with Rachel Zegler, thus making Tony look very, very creepy. He handled the songs and acting stuff fine, it just sort of kills one of the central cores of the show. Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose were god damn amazing though. Good job on not downplaying the racism involved. Also, making Anybody's trans was a neat surprise.

I read that Spielberg refused English subtitles for the scenes when they’re speaking Spanish. Kind of turned off by that, tbh. I guess I could figure out what they’re saying by the context of the scene, other body language, etc but if it’s a large chunk of the movie, I’ll be pretty annoyed.

It a significant chunk, it felt like. Granted, there weren't exactly large portions of it all together, but one or two sentences here or there. And even then, not having the subtitles worked, because a lot of times, there was a character who said "In English. Got to practice English", and the stuff would be repeated. I loved that part of the movie. I don't understand Spanish, and I never really felt I was too lost. But a lot of what it conveyed was really beautiful.

 

[Detective Conan]

With just $36.6 million in ticket sales, ‘West Side Story’ is officially a box office bomb

 

[TheVileOne]

It's because of racism:




We watched the original in music classes in our equivalent of high school and I just couldn't get into it at all. I don't even remember if we ever finished it even.

Eternals is the first Rotten MCU movie because it was directed by a woman and because all critics are racist, sexist, misogynist, and homophobic, and Disney didn't clear their checks to give it all positive reviews.

 

[Prison Mike]

Hopefully it will go to VOD soon