West Side Story – Spielberg remake (2 Viewers)

[Chris Will]

Found this on the Film Score Monthly forums, 9 minute End Credits track!

Track times:

1 Prologue (5:54)
2 La Borinqueña (Sharks Version) (1:06)
3 Jet Song (2:11)
4 Something's Coming (2:30)
5 The Dance at the Gym: Blues, Promenade (2:11)
6 The Dance at the Gym: Mambo (3:19)
7 The Dance at the Gym: Cha-Cha, Meeting Scene, Jump (3:28)
8 Maria (3:05)
9 Balcony Scene (Tonight) (5:24)
10 Transition to Scherzo / Scherzo (2:14)
11 America (4:57)
12 Gee, Officer Krupke (4:20)
13 One Hand, One Heart (3:45)
14 Cool (4:03)
15 Tonight (Quintet) (3:28)
16 The Rumble (3:10)
17 I Feel Pretty (2:58)
18 Somewhere (3:10)
19 A Boy Like That / I Have a Love (5:25)
20 Finale (3:36)
21 End Credits (9:03)

TOTAL TIME - 1:19:17

Tracks 1, 5-7, 10, 16, 20, 21 have no singing, though there's some dialogue in 6 and 16

 

[bujaki]

I first saw WSS in Miami, FL, in June '62. A glorious presentation. 70mm, 6-track stereo sound (those opening whistles!), slightly curved, huge screen. I had just turned 12. Of course I snickered when those tough guys started doing those "sissy" moves (hey, cut me some slack here, I was 12 and unenlightened!), but I soon accepted that and was engrossed by those very moves and by the glorious music. By the end of the film I was a sorry, blubbery mess, sobbing quite loudly. Loved every minute, including all the uncalled insults hurled at my little island and my people (go with the flow, I told myself).
I re-watched the film that summer many times, still in 70mm, and kept loving it.
But, and that's a big but, as I grew older, I found that the film, except for the music, the choreography and some dynamite performances from the supporting cast, was just not that good. It was leaden, creaky, and it stopped dead on its tracks whenever there was no music or dancing.
I can still watch it with pleasure, but with reservations.
I am looking forward to the Spielberg/Kushner version. I have avoided trailers and snippets of music, so I have no preconceived notions.

 

[Wayne_j]

WSS was one of the last films I saw projected in 35mm. I was glad I saw it but the print was clearly faded. A few months later at the same theater I saw the last film I saw projected, Pulp Fiction.

 

[Chris Will]

WOW! I’m not a great writer so I’m not sure how to convey my feelings very good. The orchestra’s performance is amazing, powerful, heartwarming and emotional. Maybe that doesn’t make sense but that is the words that came to mind. The Prologue and End Credits tracks are the standouts for the orchestra, great bookends for this album.

I think the singing is fantastic throughout. Elgort is the weakest link but, I think his performance is fine. He definitely gets overshadowed by everyone else around him though. The standout numbers for me are America, Gee Officer Krupke (I love the slow beginning), Rita Moreno in Somewhere and A Boy Like That / I Have a Love. It’s WSS so all the songs are great but those stood out to me on this album.

You know, when it was first announced that Spielberg was making this I had my doubts that he could pull it off in a memorable way compared to the original film. If this album is any indication, this film may be even better.

 

[SFMike]

In the Heights is a terrific film and probably still at the top of my list of favorites for this year. I was disappointed that more people didn't find it when it was in theaters.

Has everyone forgot that you could watch In The Heights for free if you have an HBO Max account? That's where I saw it and I'm sure that cut heavily into it's box office especially during the various lockdowns. I enjoyed it but overall felt there wasn't much diversity in the music as most of it was upbeat and kind of repetitive. A good movie but not a great one.

 

[Chris Will]

I watched In the Heights on HBO Max as well. I loved it and it’s my favorite movie of the year. That’s not saying much though because I have only seen a handful of new movies this year, I have not gone back to a theater yet. WSS will probably get me back into a theater and the kids are dying to see Spider-man. The last movie I saw in a theater was Onward on March 13, 2020.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I think the only shot this film has at an Oscar is Best Director IF Steven is nominated (and he probably will be). Otherwise trying to get around Belfast is too much to ask probably.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Has everyone forgot that you could watch In The Heights for free if you have an HBO Max account? That's where I saw it and I'm sure that cut heavily into it's box office especially during the various lockdowns.

I don’t believe that to be true. The HBO Max people said in an interview with the trades that the day and date performances on their platform all year basically mirrored what was happening in theaters. Movies that had low turn out in person also weren’t highly watched at home. Movies that did very well in theaters were equally well viewed at home.

I said at the time that as much as I enjoyed In The Heights, it was very much a piece of inside baseball - it’s a hyper-local story about one very specific neighborhood within a specific city, and even though the themes can be universally appreciated, that doesn’t mean that people will universally turn in. Yes, Hamilton is possibly the biggest Broadway hit in a generation, but Broadway success doesn’t necessarily translate to a general audience, and success in one venture isn’t transferable these days in the way it once was. The studio made a lot of assumptions about what audience would show up for the film and I’m not sure all of those were completely sound. Kudos to them for making it, but I don’t think it was ever the surefire hit they assumed it could be. For better or worse, if you live in Minnesota or Duluth you could be forgiven for seeing the trailer for In The Heights and thinking that nothing about this movie would speak to you. That’s why it underperformed in my view, not because it was on HBO Max.

 

[DarkVader]

Found this on the Film Score Monthly forums, 9 minute End Credits track!

Track times:

1 Prologue (5:54)
2 La Borinqueña (Sharks Version) (1:06)
3 Jet Song (2:11)
4 Something's Coming (2:30)
5 The Dance at the Gym: Blues, Promenade (2:11)
6 The Dance at the Gym: Mambo (3:19)
7 The Dance at the Gym: Cha-Cha, Meeting Scene, Jump (3:28)
8 Maria (3:05)
9 Balcony Scene (Tonight) (5:24)
10 Transition to Scherzo / Scherzo (2:14)
11 America (4:57)
12 Gee, Officer Krupke (4:20)
13 One Hand, One Heart (3:45)
14 Cool (4:03)
15 Tonight (Quintet) (3:28)
16 The Rumble (3:10)
17 I Feel Pretty (2:58)
18 Somewhere (3:10)
19 A Boy Like That / I Have a Love (5:25)
20 Finale (3:36)
21 End Credits (9:03)

TOTAL TIME - 1:19:17

Tracks 1, 5-7, 10, 16, 20, 21 have no singing, though there's some dialogue in 6 and 16

Beautiful work by Dudamel, David Newman, The NY/LA Phil and the cast. Zegler sings like an angel and DeBose makes a fierce Anita - her "A Boy Like That" gave me chills! The End Credits Suite is amazing! I love how they incorporated a musical section of the "Somewhere" ballet. I love the new dance break incorporated into the "Mambo" talk about latin fire!!! I wanted to get up and dance!! So much to love here!

 

[cinemiracle]

Has anybody read the U.K. review of West Wide Story in Total Film magazine yet? Not a good review at all. The film got the thumbs down. The film was said to be very dated and the guy who played Tony was as bland as the guy who played him in the Robert Wise film (is that possible?). Some favourable comments for the film but mostly negative. Looks like we have been waiting two very long years to only get an unfavourable review. I have yet to see the film reviewed in Variety.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Looks like we have been waiting two very long years to only get an unfavourable review.

There are always going to be some people who don't like a movie. That's just how it works with a subjective response like film criticism and that's fine. The reviewer you mentioned is entitled to their opinion. But I'm not worried because of it. In this case, they are in the minority because the majority of critics like it. As @Tino said:

WSS up to 96%

I have yet to see the film reviewed in Variety.

Their review is up. See below:

‘West Side Story’ Review: Steven Spielberg Gives the Musical Classic a Gritty, Rousing Upgrade

Spielberg makes the 1957 musical his own and stays true to what generations have loved about it. But he can't solve its last-act problems.

variety.com

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I don’t believe that to be true. The HBO Max people said in an interview with the trades that the day and date performances on their platform all year basically mirrored what was happening in theaters. Movies that had low turn out in person also weren’t highly watched at home. Movies that did very well in theaters were equally well viewed at home.

That may well be true, but that doesn't mean that the day-and-date HBO Max release didn't cannibalize box office. I know there were a number of Warner Bros. movies this year that I streamed but would have otherwise paid to see in theaters. The fact that only two Warner Bros. movies broke $100 million at the box office (and just barely in both cases) is telling.

If In the Heights was a low performer on streaming as well as at the box office, it probably would have underperformed in a normal year with a traditional release strategy, too. But it still almost certainly would have cleared $30 million.

That all being said, I definitely agree that In the Heights and [i}West Side Story[/i] are apples and oranges, and that people in flyover country that didn't care about In the Heights in the slightest are far more likely to be interested in West Side Story, which has been in the cultural consciousness for decades now.

But I'm not worried because of it. In this case, they are in the minority because the majority of critics like it.

The reviews are phenomenal for a project that was as high risk as this one. I do wonder if Elgort really is as bad as many of the reviews state, or if the knowledge that he's apparently a creep in real life colored the reviewers' impressions.

I recently watched the Amazon limited series "Panic", and Mike Faist was solid as a vengeful rodeo star in that. So I'm more confident in his casting as Riff than I was before.

 

[roxy1927]

Elgort really does seem to be a fly in the ointment. People who are praising this the film to the skies point him out as a real weakness.
So I'm very curious for the initial audience members to say what they feel about him.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Elgort really does seem to be a fly in the ointment. People who are praising this the film to the skies point him out as a real weakness.
So I'm very curious for the initial audience members to say what they feel about him.

I'm not seeing that. Here's a sample of the comments about Elgort's performance from the top critics at rottentomatoes.com. Most of them are complimentary.

But Zegler and Elgort are completely convincing. - Caryn James, BBC

Two actors — the sensational breakout Zegler and a never-better Elgort — have a warm chemistry. - Jake Coyle, AP

Tony, yearningly sung and acted by Elgort, is now a parolee who can no longer risk hanging with his Jets team. - Peter Travers, ABC News

Like Richard Beymer opposite Natalie Wood in the 1961 movie, Elgort is a tad bland, which perhaps has something to do with the character’s earnest naivety. But he sings with confidence and certainly looks the handsome part. - David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Maria and Tony (Ansel Elgort, moderately appealing and a serviceable dancer) meet at a dance and fall in love instantly. - Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

Elgort, as Tony, is not the singer that Zegler is, but his voice is in the right register, and he makes up for what he lacks with a deep-revolving performance. - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

But in “West Side Story,” Elgort, with lips like Brando’s, has a brooding heart and personality that pop, and he’s a wonderfully expressive crooner. - Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Elgort can move gracefully through the frame, as he demonstrated in “Baby Driver,” and he croons his way pleasantly if not too forcefully through Tony’s big early numbers like “Something’s Coming” and “María.” Still, there’s often a woodenness to the actor’s expressions, an excess of soft-eyed brooding, that doesn’t fully overcome Tony’s fundamental drippiness as a character. - Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

 

[Jake Lipson]

Ansel Elgort is the only actor in this film who was a big movie star prior to his association with West Side Story. He has been very good in popular hits like Baby Driver and The Fault in Our Stars and general audiences know who he is. I can understand why the studio would have liked the idea of casting him in this role -- particularly before the allegations against him came out last year. Filming on this was complete before those were made public. (That being said, marketing for this does seem to have de-emphasized him lately, even though they can't completely eliminate him because he is playing Tony.)

Rita Moreno is the other one with name recognition by general audiences and that is largely because of her work in the 1961 version of the same source.

I'm not saying the guy can't sing. I haven't heard the soundtrack yet because I'm waiting until I see the film. I do not believe that Steven Spielberg would have cast him in this role if he could not sing it. I'm not expecting this to be a situation like Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera or Russell Crowe in Les Miserables or Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! where they just don't have the skill to do a good job. (By the way, I like all three of those actors -- and I believe they tried their hardest -- but singing is not in their natural skill set.)

However, it is very possible that he might be the weakest singer, comparatively speaking, in a cast populated by Broadway veterans like Ariana DeBose (Bring It On, Hamilton, A Bronx Tale) and Mike Faist (Dear Evan Psychopath Hansen.) So people might be picking up on the fact that even if he's not bad, everyone else surrounding him could be better.

Again, this is just a guess. I don't know because I will hear him sing these songs for the first time in the context of the film itself next Saturday.

 

[Chris Will]

That’s just it, he’s the weakest singer on the soundtrack but does just fine. His voice is easily overshadowed by the other singers but I wouldn’t consider his singing bad. It is most definitely not another Butler, Crowe or even Kristen Stewart issue.

 

[Tino]

general audiences know who he is.

I don’t agree with this. I think general audiences have a pretty short memory and imo have pretty much little idea who he is or what he’s been in.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think general audiences have a pretty short memory and imo have pretty much little idea who he is or what he’s been in.

You could be right. Maybe they don't. Unless you have a way to poll general audiences, we won't know. He is still the most likely to be known of the young cast. Whether audiences remember him or not, they have indisputably embraced films in which he starred. Baby Driver made $228 million worldwide and The Fault in Our Stars was even higher at $307 million. The only more recognizable name in the cast than him is Rita Moreno, and that is because she is a legacy carryover from the previous film.

That being said, I doubt that there are very many people who are going to see West Side Story simply because Ansel Elgort is in it. West Side Story itself is the draw here for the fans, and for others it is probably Spielberg.

 

[Malcolm R]

Elgort has released several singles over the past 5 years or so, so he does have a bit of a background in music and singing prior to this film.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Another TV spots: