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A Few Words About A few words about...™ West Side Story -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

haineshisway

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This is not the first production of West Side Story to use new dancing, and I believe the Spielberg will also feature new dancing, but perhaps with nods to Robbins. I doubt the Spielberg film will have the ballet, just as the Wise film didn't have the ballet. As to I Feel Pretty, it serves a purpose in the show - it's a moment for its leading lady, a moment for her to feel JOY and a comic moment that the show sorely needs and, in the show, the act two opener after the audience knows the tragedy that ended act one.
 

usrunnr

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This is not the first production of West Side Story to use new dancing, and I believe the Spielberg will also feature new dancing, but perhaps with nods to Robbins. I doubt the Spielberg film will have the ballet, just as the Wise film didn't have the ballet. As to I Feel Pretty, it serves a purpose in the show - it's a moment for its leading lady, a moment for her to feel JOY and a comic moment that the show sorely needs and, in the show, the act two opener after the audience knows the tragedy that ended act one.

I agree. Also, the poetry of the lyrics throughout the work is a reflection of the characters' thoughts, whether it is in their vernacular or not. Side bar: I've seen "West Side Story" on stage at least a half a dozen times, and none of the productions used the Robbins' choreography.
 

Will Krupp

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This is not the first production of West Side Story to use new dancing, and I believe the Spielberg will also feature new dancing, but perhaps with nods to Robbins.

ISide bar: I've seen "West Side Story" on stage at least a half a dozen times, and none of the productions used the Robbins' choreography.

I stand corrected on that point.
 

Chelsearicky

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Ok. So what we now have is:

A. Ethnically-correct casting??
1. The new movie will feature Puerto Rican actors. The Puerto Rican demographic is 60-70 European, so it will be interesting to see if this fact is observed in the casting, or if they will all be dark-skinned.
2. The role of Tony is being played by Ansel Elgort, whose background is Russian Jewish and English. In the play and film, Tony is explicitly said to be Polish Catholic. No ethnically-correct casting here.

B. New character
A new character, Valentina, has been added to allow Rita Moreno a part. She replaces Doc. Doc was an important character because of his presumed ethnic heritage as a Jewish-American. He could thus stand outside of the rivalry. It will be interesting to see how the Doc role is rewritten to carry the same weight as Valentina. [This looks like stunt casting to me, sorry.]

C. New dancing
Apparently the new Broadway version will feature new dancing instead of the iconic Jerome Robbins dancing. Will the movie also have new dancing?

D. Book/Screenplay
We know that Arthur Laurents and Ernest Lehman's original work has been replaced for the movie. What about the new Broadway version?

E. The new Broadway version will drop I Feel Pretty and the Somewhere ballet. The ballet is one of the most important parts to me.

How long will it be before we return to the original play and movie?? Or will there be more revisions and versions in the future? Perhaps a new version can use The Taming of the Shrew as its origin?
Moreno’s Valentina is not only stunt casting at its most cynical, it is also perplexing. When the film was announced, Moreno publicly stated she would ‘definitely NOT become involved, that it was time to step aside and let a new generation of creative artists take over’ blah blah blah. Her two week turnaround on this issue was jolting, to say the least.
 

usrunnr

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Moreno’s Valentina is not only stunt casting at its most cynical, it is also perplexing. When the film was announced, Moreno publicly stated she would ‘definitely NOT become involved, that it was time to step aside and let a new generation of creative artists take over’ blah blah blah. Her two week turnaround on this issue was jolting, to say the least.

Chita Rivera had a walk-on cameo in "Chicago" which I thought was a nice remembrance/tribute of/to her original performance. I'm looking forward to seeing Moreno as the store owner.
 

haineshisway

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Link, please, because whatever it is I took a look at four weeks ago was the exact same transfer as the Blu-ray, hence ancient, with the same overture mistake. Are you actually saying this is a new transfer? Are you saying the overture has been fixed?
 

Mark-P

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I noticed that.....the quality is also inferior to the HD version.

Yes the iTunes 4K and Dolby Vision is spectacular. "America" truly shows what a 70mm in 4K should look like. Dazzling!

Ken, the first quote was your response to the Vudu version. Are you sure you were actually watching it in 4K? The reason I ask is because with Vudu the 4K and HDX files are separate and they never bother to update the HDX file with the same master from the 4K. With iTunes you get the new master in all resolutions.
 

OliverK

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Oh, iTunes. I need to know if the overture has been fixed - if not, it's just the same old transfer and I have no interest.

Might be the same old transfer with more resolution. Does not make much sense though as it is not that hard to fix the overture for a streaming version.

Oh well, I will probably wait for a UHD disc instead unless there is a sale that is too tempting.
 

MatthewA

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It adds a fadeout and fade-in before the main title that was never there before in any print, videotape, laserdisc, or DVD and should not be there at all.

MGM has really screwed this title over, let's face it. Sure they gave it some great extras, but they stiffed the actual film's presentation in numerous ways. The old special edition box set had sound that was way out of sync at times, then they pulled that for a featureless pan-and-scan only version* before this botched Blu-ray came out. They need to remaster it and let Criterion take the rights back since that was one of their laserdisc titles.

*See also: The original DVD of Chitty Bang, the 30th anniversary MAR Willy Wonka DVD, or the "special" anniversary edition of John Huston's nni.
 
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Stephen_J_H

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Then it's just the same old older scan and who needs that - certainly not this guy.

I didn't pay for ; it was automatically upgraded to 4K. All I can say is that it does look better than the HD version....and it was free.
I don't doubt that it looks superior, but it's still wrong. Fix the fade; is that too much to ask?
 

Robert Crawford

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I don't doubt that it looks superior, but it's still wrong. Fix the fade; is that too much to ask?
TBH, I looked at my DVD and that 4K Digital today so I understand the sentiment that the film should be presented as intended by Wise and Robbins, but, you're asking the wrong person is it too much to ask.
 

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