Sunday, January 2, 2022 3:51:46 PM | (Age Not Specified)
Liked the old cars! Would have liked a better Tony, Bernardo and Riff tho.
Dancing was very good. Loved Rita Moreno! Only 9 people in theater. Regal in Clarence was very dirty!
Thursday, December 30, 2021 4:05:34 PM | (Age Not Specified)
I'm not a musical kind of guy but I was so impressed by the whole package under Steven Spielberg's direction. Choreography, execution, the mixing of the music and sequences, the actors as Tony and Maria, and the gangs and the cops. Really drew me in. I hadn't paid attention to West Side Story since grade school. This version has the old one beat. I recommend it.
Saturday, December 25, 2021 4:54:14 PM | (Age Not Specified)
Loved the dialogue and the expanded backstory of the main characters. The acting, singing, costumes, direction, sound editing, and dancing were outstanding. Spielberg managed to take an old musical and make it feel modern-honoring its past while updating it for the present. There were lines in Spanish that I didn’t fully understand but it mirrored beautifully the experience of trying to adapt in another’s environment/culture. I’ve traveled a lot and often been in a country where I didn’t understand what was being said. The choice to include Spanish dialogue served to remind English speakers of the experience of non-native speakers. A story deals with topics that are still relevant today: toxic masculinity, anti-immigration, transphobia, and interracial relationships. Oscar worthy picture.
Saturday, December 25, 2021 3:21:12 PM | (Age Not Specified)
As a New Yorker , Puerto Rican & from growing up in the 50/60’s in NY I know first hand the life in the ghetto streets. The original , while flawed in several areas portrayed the life and anger of the streets.
This re-creation badly missed its mark. Various actors were mis casted: riff was a mouse voiced guy, Bernardo and several other Hispanic actors were obviously in their late 20’s to 30’s. Maria & Anita were effective. Rita Moreno took an interesting role as the shop keeper. The real anger and hatred that each group had fir each other was missing.
All in all it tried to re-create the past but it had no soul.
