West Side Story

Watching west Side Stiry in a cold theatre with a mask, I was having a difficult time warming up to the movie. I kept thinking "why bother" with a remake. Then I realized the movie was still set in the 60's. And Spielberg wanted to set the record straight. The new West Side Story is about race.

In this production the Puerto Ricans were really Latino and spoke Spanish (no subtitles). The white kids were mostly sort of clueless, without much reason for being there. The Puerto Ricans had all the good lines, the believability, the energy.

I actually liked the performances a lot. Rachel Zegler as Maria was stunningly pure, almost unrealistically romanticized like a virgin princess. Ariana DeBose was tormented and fiery, and David Alvarez was the stealth show stealer of the production with his sexy, macho Bernardo.

The singing was outstanding. Rita Moreno sang and she still has a decent voice. But in retrospect, I was mist impressed with Ansel Elbert as Tony, who has been getting mediocre reviews for his lack of "soul". Ansel Elbert was hot! Elbert was singing tenor, sweet, clear and very emotional singing from his heart. What a concept.

It's not a common occurrence for a young person to sing so innocently these days, about true love, and Elbert, with his pouty lips and lanky working class presentation was so much fun to watch! Nobody believes in true love anymore. So it was a bit anachronistic to see this production based on the idea of true love. At the end when Maria cries her heart out over Tony laying in the street she is not only crying about the loss of her love. She also seems to be crying to the gang members looking on snd crying about their loss of innocence. In that regard she was crying for the audience, for me, Who cries about true love these days? True Love? It's actually counterrevolutionary.

Steven Spielberg remade the 10-time winner of the 1961 Academy Award and the musical known as "West Side Story." The film was definitely a remake, as it represents the conditions that were created in the 1960s, especially the social conditions and behavioral problems that existed in that decade. People waiting for a modern update will be really disappointed.

I must say right away that this is definitely my favorite piece of musical cinema. Based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet".

I really liked it, I advise everyone to watch it!!!

I absolutely loved the movie - I had a lot of high expectations. I grew up rewatching the borrowed DVD of the 1961 version from the library. I have the 2009 Broadway version memorized by heart. But this adaptation?? It did everything so, so much justice. The acting, the singing, the dancing. There was a tension that you should feel throughout. And so many Performances with a capital P - ESP Ariana, Mike and David. The shots were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The orchestra - EXQUISITE. This version of WSS actually broke me.

I want to watch it again. I look forward to owning this version on DVD.

I saw both the stage version live and the 1961 movie in the past, and even though I always loved the music and dance numbers, I was never really sold or engaged by the storytelling. I would go as far as saying that the story almost bored me on both the movie and stage musical.

This adaptation from Spielberg however manages to turn the characters into real people, the situations get higher stakes, the emotion is palpable. The quality of the songs and musical numbers are impressive, but they always were, you can't do West Side Story without it. But those numbers are greatly enhanced by a really dynamic direction from Spielberg. A direction, that stays masterful throughout and that is really working with the score of the movie.

The acting is so much more real that the 61 movie, Ariana DeBose is simply incredible at both singing and dancing, but her acting chops are really shining here. She carried the movie for me, even though to be fair, all the cast did a great job.

The focus on giving an emotional story and emotional performances from the actors was the way to go, and it is what makes this adaptation a great one. I cried so much (mostly thanks to DeBose and Moreno's performances) throughout the second part of the movie, while I had never shed one tear on the stage musical nor the 61 movie that never managed to move me.

Overall this new adaptation is clearly a love letter to the source material, not trying to reinvent what was already working, but enhancing what wasn't to make it a movie that can move people from our generations.

I was hesitant to go after hearing some negative reviews and stories of disapppointing box office after release.

But he music treatmeant of Bernstein's score, the choreography, the cast, were reallyjust excellent. Tony and Maria have more chemistry and talent than the originals (movie version), and I was blown away by the "I Want to Be in America" street scene. Not woke, not lame. See it.