Music central films are doing pretty good at the moment. Like anything , there are terrible films in any genre and then there are major successes.
Spielberg has been running hot and cold lately. Don't forget that War Horse was a disappointment and did not get the expected awards nominations, The BFG was a huge bomb, but Lincoln did extremely well and Ready Player One made a lot of dough.
Cast of young unknowns, thank goodness. I cant take anymore Ariana Grande shoved down my throat. Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ Finds Its Maria, Anita, Bernardo & Chino
OK everyone, predictions time: 1. "Cool" & "Krupke" a. stage sequencing b. screen sequencing 2. "America", part 1 a. just the girls b. the girls and the Sharks 3. "America", part 2 a. stage lyrics b. screen lyrics c. a combination of the two 4. Profanity a. none b. some c. lots 5. Anybodys played by a non-binary performer a. true b. false 6. Number of on-screen deaths, compared to 1961 a. the same b. fewer c. more 7. Number of songs with auto-tuned or dubbed vocals a. none b. one c. two or more 8. The story will be set in.... a. the original's timeframe b. the present c. other 9. Justin Peck's choreography will... a. borrow generously from Robbins b. pay homage to Robbins in places c. be entirely new 10. Musical arrangements a. Bernstein's original pit orchestra b. Irwin Kostal's full orchestra version c. something new 11. Ice a. yes b. no 12. Oscar nominations a. fewer than 11 b. fewer than 11 13. Tiebreaker. "Somewhere" will be sung by _________________
I understand that Rita Moreno (Anita in the original film) will be playing an updated version of Doc. I hope they write her lines that are not as drearily earnest as Doc had to deliver--boy, was it preachy. "Message!!!"
Just read an article over at Drudge about how apparently Spielberg & Co. had a meeting in PR at a college to discuss the film. Full disclosure; I'm a NYRican, born and bred in da Bronx, and have always felt a very personal attachment to WSS. Anyways, at the meeting, the inevitable questions were asked about the 'racist overtones' to the portrayals of PR's in the production, asking how those are going to be addressed. Sometimes political correctness makes me want to puke. Surprisingly, Spielberg & Co. didn't seem to have an answer, and immediately diverted to the Wall and how the movie will address the current political 'climate'! What!?….waitaminute, wasn't this supposed to be period piece, happening in the 60's? Reading this article completely wiped out any enthusiasm I had for this one, it's gonna be awful!
Good call on #12! I saw WSS on the big screen in 70mm in this decade. Although the were dubbed, the movie still holds up quite well. I would leave this one to community theater and high schools. There's really no need for a remake. Couldn't he remake 1941 instead but this time with a real script?
Disney Reportedly Concerned About Cigarette Smoking In Spielberg's 'West Side Story' As The Studio Continues To Look At The Incoming Fox Projects We are just over a month into the new Disney/Fox status quo. The Mouse House has become the industry’s first mega-studio by absorbing one of its biggest competitors in a deal that has had massive repercussions, already, with thousands losing jobs and films suddenly finding themselves without a studio. But there is a lot more at play in the merger than what many were probably considering, such as Disney’s morals. Everyone knows that Disney doesn’t make films the same way that everyone else does. The films under the Disney banner have a certain limit on how far they can go. Basically, you’re not going to see some hard-R films coming from the studio. About as far as it has previously gone is with Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, who both push the limit of PG-13. But with a new slate of Fox projects, Disney has to decide just how far the studio is willing to go. And while the mega-studio is going to use Fox as it’s own production studio and label, there are still some standards that will have to be maintained. And according to THR, one of the films that is finding that out is Steven Speilberg’s “West Side Story.” The report says that the folks at Disney, particularly executive Alan Horn, is concerned about releasing a film that includes young people smoking cigarettes, and is questioning if that’s appropriate for a Disney film, no matter if it’s based on a classic play and directed by Spielberg. There’s no resolution that has been mentioned yet. In a previous interview with the outlet, Horn talked about this sort of issue, saying, “With Fox, we can make movies that right now I say no to … We always have to think about the smoking policy. The audience for a Disney movie may not know what they are going to see, but they know what they aren’t going to see. There are certain things we just can’t include because we’ll get letters.” They could end up releasing “West Side Story” under the Fox banner, which is run by Fox film president Emma Watts and THR says will cater towards the PG-13 and R-rated films. Or, as it appears might be the plan, eliminate the smoking and whatever other questionable material might be in the film, and release it as part of Disney. We’ll just have to wait and see. But needless to say, Disney isn’t willing to bend its moral code just to cater to Fox films. At least, not yet.
Such insidious crap! Hate them! On the other hand, I hope that give Spielberg at lot of grief; especially with his Oscar comments about Netflix & his hypocritical alignment with Apple. May the film flop. We already have the definitive version anyway.
That's a buncha total bull***t. They really think smoking is that big a deal? Just show the smoking and then put a disclaimer at the end that they don't endorse cigarettes. I really hate smoking myself, but I think filmmakers should have the freedom to show smoking in films & TV shows if they want to. Especially if it's appropriate to the period. We're currently watching the HBO documentary series Tricky Dick (about the life of Nixon), and I've chuckled at the scenes of the 1950s and 1960s where people are chain-smoking in every other shot. And this is actual archival footage, nothing restaged.
My thoughts were, given the opinions that Mr. Spielberg has taken on what qualifies for a Best Picture. How about originality? How about if a remake of a movie cannot be considered for a Best Picture Oscar, simply on the grounds that a Best Picture Oscar should be given to an original movie, concept wise.
Yeah and Ben-Hur is a "remake" of a 1925 silent. So not exactly apples-to-apples either. Notice that the 1954 A Star Is Born - an AFI Top 50 film - wasn't nominated for BP; in fact it didn't win a single Oscar despite Judy Garland's for-the-ages performance.
I feel most of the lyrics for both Krupke and America from the film seem just as relevant today, as they were in back then. One alteration: if this new film is not a period piece, the term "social worker" in Krupke may not be familiar with some people today. Both songs listed the kinds of problems each group had in terms of trying to live a normal life amidst cultural and social problems of the time.
Though the 1937 original was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I liked the 1954 version better. But, then I am a die hard Garland fan. Yes, they should have pulled the plug on this one after Garland for sure. The thing is, Star is Born is not really that good of a movie and in itself. It was Garland who made the movie iconic back in '54.
Which is way Disney's 1990 movie, Pretty Woman was released under the company's Touchtone Pictures studio label, due to it's "R" rating. If a movie is more adult in nature, Disney just releases it under one of the studios that it owns. Disney doesn't have to concern them selves with films that push the limits. Those movie are a small percentage of the overall market. Besides, the Mouse is content in making billions of dollars off of comic book character's.
I don't mind adaptations like this. I think it is fine that The Magnificent Seven was a remake adaptation of the Japanese, Seven Samurai. Although they really didn't have to remake The Magnificent Seven again!
Was scrolling through my facebook and up came the cast photo of the film, looks somewhat interesting, to be honest.