West Side Story Review

5.0 Stars 

Steven Spielberg presents West Side Story.  This is only the second full length feature film to be made from the popular musical, the first was in 1961.  If you don't know the story, two children from warring gangs fall in love at first sight.  Of course, their romance is forbidden, but all Tony and Maria want is to be free, to end the fighting, and to be together.  Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well.

West Side Story was first written by legendary Broadway team of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in 1957.  It was transformed into a movie in 1961 and has been performed in nearly every high school auditorium, college campus, or theatre venue that can take on a musical production.  It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's 1597 Romeo and Juliet except it is set in New York instead of Verona, it's the Jets and the Sharks instead of the Capulets and Montagues, and it's song and dance instead of thees and thous.  

So, we all get the gist of the story, many of us have seen West Side Story in some capacity.  Some of us may have even performed in a production.  So what makes this one special?  Well, it's Steven Spielberg. Spielberg's West Side has been nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  It's been 60 years since someone attempted to make a West Side Story film.  But, it's not like a typical "remake" like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Planet of the Apes or Psycho or even Spider-Man or Superman.  In those remakes, fans are expecting to see a new, different, modern, hopefully better version of the original.  There's only so much you can change with West Side Story, or any Broadway musical.  Fans are actually expecting the songs and dialogue to be the same ones they've always known.  But there's only so much you can do with this, right?  Again, it's Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg clearly has took advantage of his abilities as a film maker and the modern technologies available to him in West Side Story that were previously impossible.  No, there's no dinosaurs or aliens.  But there are sweeping epic camera shots that just weren't possible in 1961.  Back then, it looked very much like it was filmed on a very large theatre stage.  

Spielberg made the decision to keep the look and the feel (costumes, buildings, hairstyles, cars) of the 1960's.  For the most part, the music, lyrics and story were the same.  But this was such a brilliant movie with every decision that was made.  The choreography from Justin Peck (New York City Ballet's resident choreographer) gave a breath of fresh life while paying homage to the original dances from 1961.  The costumes and set were perfect from the 1960's.  And Spielberg even reached out to his long time musical muse John Williams to perk up the music.  Williams instead suggested using Oscar Nominated composer David Newman and world-renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel to give Bernstein's music a fresh recording.

So the only thing left is the actors.  Basically you had Ansel Elgort as Tony (from Baby Driver and The Goldfinch) and legend Rita Moreno as Valentina and Ariana DeBose as Anita.  She was in Hamilton . . . though, she was part of the ensemble.  That's it.  The entire rest of the cast is a long list of nearly completely unknowns.  We have Rachel Zegler in the lead role of Maria.  This is Rachel's first feature film credit.  In fact, this is the first on screen performance of any kind for Rachel.  However, she is slated to play the lead in the upcoming live-action Disney remake of Snow White.  Another somewhat newcomer David Alvarez plays Bernardo.  

But this is one of Spielberg's strong suits.  He takes relative unknowns and gets the performances of a lifetime that creates an instant classic. And he did just that.  Everything about this 2021 version of West Side Story was perfect.  Every acting and singing performance was delicious, bright, intentional, sincere, beautiful.  Elgort and Zegler even sang a couple of their numbers live on set.  Officer Krupke, Riff, Chino, Anybodys.  They were all perfect.  There wasn't a performance that you had to overlook or forgive or justify.  They were amazing.  My gut instinct after watching this was to give it a rare perfect rating.  I gave West Side Story a very optimistic 4.5 Star Prediction.  I have spent the last day trying to think of any reason why this should be knocked down from a perfect rating.  Honestly, I can't think of any.  This was genius and worthy of 5.0 Stars.  If you haven't seen it already, do so.  I know I'm going to be watching this one again.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . . 

West Side Story Preview

Steven Spielberg presents West Side Story.   It's amazing that this 2021 version is only the second full length feature film to be made from the popular musical, and the first was in 1961.  If you don't know the story, two children from warring families fall in love at first sight.  Of course, their families forbid their romance.  All Tony and Maria want is to be free, to end the fighting, and to be together.  Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well.

West Side Story was first written by legendary Broadway team of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in 1957.  It was transformed into a movie in 1961 and has been performed in nearly every high school auditorium, college campus, or theatre venue that can take on a musical production.  It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's 1597 Romeo and Juliet except it is set in New York instead of Verona, it's the Jets and the Sharks instead of the Capulets and Montagues, and it's song and dance instead of thees and thous.  

So, we all get the gist of the story, many of us have seen West Side Story in some capacity.  Some of us may have even performed in a production.  So what makes this one special?  Well, it's Steven Spielberg.  Spielberg exploded on the scene in 1975 with back-to-back hits in Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  His success continued with Indiana Jones and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.  His genius in epic dramas was on full display in The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler's List.  His ability to break the barriers of film technology shone in Jurassic Park.  Hit after hit just kept coming: Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, The Terminal, Munich Lincoln.  And now, West Side Story.

Spielberg's West Side has been nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  However, this is a tough one to predict.   It's been 60 years since someone attempted to make a West Side Story film.  But, it's not like a typical "remake" like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Planet of the Apes or Psycho or even Spider-Man or Superman.  In those remakes, fans are expecting to see a new, different, modern, hopefully better version of the original.  There's only so much you can change with West Side Story, or any Broadway musical.  Fans are actually expecting the songs and dialogue to be the same ones they've always known.  So then, what can go wrong?  The ability to stage a production on a Hollywood set have gotten exponentially better since the 1960's, so this should be a much better version by virtue of 60 years of advanced technology in film making, right?

Well, Baz Luhrmann proved that there are still many choices that can affect the film.  In 1996, Lurhmann brought a modern version of Romeo and Juliet to the big screen.  He kept Shakespeare's script in it's original Elizabethan, but set it to modern times in Verona Beach with guns instead of rapiers.  It was a wonderful concept.  For me, the problem was that the actors didn't seem to understand the words they were saying.  It felt like reading lines off a page.  However, you watch any Shakespeare from Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, you get a much better performance of the lines.

Spielberg clearly has taken advantage of his abilities as a film maker and the modern technologies available to him in West Side Story.  No, there's no dinosaurs or aliens.  But there are sweeping epic camera shots that just weren't possible in 1961.  Back then, it looked very much like it was filmed on a very large theatre stage.  However, Spielberg appears to have made the decision to keep the look and the feel (costumes, buildings, hairstyles, cars) of the 1960's.  What it's really going to come down to is the performances.

Ansel Elgort plays Tony and I'm honestly skeptical.  We don't see him sing in the previews.  And he's the pouty-faced pretty-boy from movies like Baby Driver, The Goldfinch, and Billionaire Boys Club.  And we have a wild card in lead actress Rachel Zegler in the role of Maria.  This is Rachel's first feature film credit.  In fact, this is the first on screen performance of any kind for Rachel.  However, she is slated to play the lead in the upcoming live-action Disney remake of Snow White.  And she is beautiful, authentic, and sings with passion and power in the preview. Another somewhat newcomer David Alvarez plays Bernardo.  There is one musical veteran in the film.  Ariana DeBose who was in Hamilton . . . though, she was part of the ensemble.  DeBose is up for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. 

But this is one of Spielberg's strong suits.  He takes relative unknowns and gets the performances of a lifetime that creates an instant classic.  Based on that alone, I am giving West Side Story a very optimistic 4.5 Star Prediction.  I'm putting a lot of faith in Spielberg on this one and hoping this will not only be worth the money in the theatres, but one that I'll watch again and again and that will find a home in my personal collection.  So, am I right?  We shall see . . . . 

Coda Review

3.5 Stars

A Coda is the concluding passage of a musical piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure.  This, of course, has a triple-meaning in the Best Picture nominated film Coda.  The Rossi family are a fishing family in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  And everyone pitches in, including 17 year old high school student Ruby (Emilia Jones).  Unlike the rest of her family, Ruby has dreams outside of the fishing business: she loves music and wants to study it in college.  But that's not all the separates her from the rest of her family.  Her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all deaf.  CODA is also an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults.  There's your triple-meaning: the musical meaning, the acronym, and an allusion to the ending of the movie - the concluding passage that is an addition to the basic structure.

Coda was written and directed by Sian Heder earning her Oscar nominations for Best Picture of the Year and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Troy Kotsur also earned himself a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.   This is only Heder's second motion picture she directed, though she's been in the industry as an actress, writer and director for quite some time.  

This film was actually strongly recommended by my friend Erika and I should have watched this long ago.  Coda is a heartwarming, sincere, humorous drama about a girl torn between her family duty and her passion to live her own life.  

Emilia Jones was fantastic as Ruby.  Word is that she spent months learning sign language and fishing for the role.  And it paid off.  This is just the beginning of much more that we're going to see from this young actress.  Marlee Matlin was great as the matriarch of the family.  The logical one.  The one trying to be the glue holding the family together.  Unfortunately, that sometimes came at the expense of encouraging Ruby to follow her dreams.  Daniel Durant was honest and believable as brother Leo, trying to step up and be the leader he knew he could be, though no one else would give him a chance to shine.  Troy Kotsur was genius as the father Frank.  He was hilarious with his delivery and timing and expressions.  And the choir teacher, Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez) was charming, for the most part.  At times, he was an exaggerated caricature of the stereotypical eccentric fallen Broadway star settling on a career as a high school choir teacher.  But most of the time, his true passion for pure music and talent made up for it.

The family is funny.  Their dynamic reminded me of the relationship between Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson in Easy A.  There is a scene at the doctor's office where Ruby must translate the graphic description her father details to describe his medical ailment around his private parts.  There is another scene at the dinner table where Frank and Jackie are helping Leo decide who to swipe left or right on as he scrolls through profiles on the Tinder dating app.  Ruby asks why listening to music is rude at the table, but Tinder is okay.  Jackie responds, "Tinder is something we can do as a family."  

Ruby begins to take private singing lessons from Mr. Villalobos to help her audition for a scholarship to Berklee Music School in Boston.  Her increased duties with the family cause her to miss lessons and Mr. V begins to question her dedication.  The family decides to self-distribute their own fish and enlist the cooperation of other fishermen tired of being ripped off at the docks.  And, after a government monitor's interference, a court decrees that there must be a hearing-capable person on the boat at all times.  Ruby decides to give up on Berklee and stay to help the family.  And they appreciate her sacrifice . . . until Frank sees her perform and truly understands what she is about to give up.

I don't want to give too much away.  I'll just add that the soundtrack to Coda was superb.  I'll be honest, I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I was going to.  I didn't have any inclination I wouldn't enjoy it, but I did like it more than anticipated.  That being said, I'm raising my prediction of 3 Stars and giving Coda a 3.5 Star rating.  Though I did enjoy it, I'll probably watch it again, but it probably won't find a home in my permanent collection, and those are the biggest criteria in my rating system.    So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . 

Coda Preview

A Coda is the concluding passage of a musical piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure.  This, of course, has a triple-meaning in the Best Picture nominated film Coda.  The Rossi family are a fishing family in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  And everyone pitches in, including 17 year old high school student Ruby (Emilia Jones).  Unlike the rest of her family, Ruby has dreams outside of the fishing business: she loves music and wants to study it in college.  But that's not all the separates her from the rest of her family.  Her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all deaf.  CODA is also an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults.  There's your triple-meaning: the musical meaning, the acronym, and what I assume is an allusion to the ending of the movie - the concluding passage that is an addition to the basic structure.

And there's another twist: the family is seen in court and a judge rules that there must be a hearing capable person on their fishing boat at all times.  Ruby is faced with the dilemma of staying home to keep her family's business and livelihood alive, or pursuing her own life and her own dreams by going to college to study music.

Coda was written and directed by Sian Heder earning her Oscar nominations for Best Picture of the Year and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Troy Kotsur also earned himself a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.   This is only Heder's second motion picture she directed, though she's been in the industry as an actress, writer and director for quite some time.  

This film was actually strongly recommended by my friend Erika and I should have watched this long ago.    It's also at this point that I need to remind you of the significance of my rating system.  My stars are given based on three criteria: how accurately the preview represented the movie, the movie in and of itself, and the likelihood of me watching it again and owning the movie in my personal collection.  A lower rating doesn't necessarily mean a bad movie.  I can see a movie and agree it is worthy of nominations and awards; however, if seeing it once is enough for me and I'll likely never see it again and definitely won't own it, it gets a lower score.  Conversely, a movie not nominated for anything can get a higher rating if I plan to watch it again and own it.  So, on to my prediction:

Coda looks like a heartwarming, sincere, humorous drama about a girl torn between her family and her passion to live her own life.  We can see in the preview how this decision is destroying her inside.  What makes the decision even tougher is that she has a great family.  They support her and they support each other.  And they are funny.  We see a scene at the dinner table talking about the Tinder dating app.  Her mother has no reservations about helping son Leo filter through the app and comments, "Tinder is something we can do as a family."  Ruby can be seen completely embarrassed, like any normal teenager would be in that situation.  But the family is sweet, loving, and completely bonded together.

That being said, I'm giving Coda a 3.0 Star Prediction.  While it looks charming, touching, and funny, it looks like one of those movies where seeing it once will probably be enough for me.  Maybe again if I'm scrolling through with not much else to watch, but most likely not earning a place in my home collection.  Remember, that doesn't mean I won't think it worthy of nominations or awards.  And it's just a prediction based on the preview.  So, am I right?  We shall see . . . 

Don't Look Up Review

4.0 Stars

A comet the size of Mt. Everest has been discovered by a pair of astronomers and it's what they call a planet killer.  It will impact in just over six months.  Grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) found the comet and her Professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) charted its ominous, destructive course.  Now comes the challenge of alerting those who can do something about it.

With the help of NASA's Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), they first attempt to warn US President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her incompetent son, who also happens to be her Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill).  They are more concerned with political optics than the pending doom hurling their way.  The trio are forced to seek alternative methods for spreading the word.

They start with a morning talk show with cheery, sunshine hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) who try to give a positive spin to the whole gloomy tale of apocalyptic proportions.  Some believe that the future of the planet is in danger.  Others have decided to politicize the whole event to save face and encourage the population to just "Don't Look Up".   Because if you can't see it, it isn't real.

Don't Look Up is a dark but silly satire written and directed by Adam McKay and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar category.  McKay is no stranger to absurd comedies having directed the Anchorman movies, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys.  He's also quite familiar with the political dramedy genre with The Big Short and Vice under his belt.  

Social media influencers begin to share their own thoughts on the matter and their followers regurgitate their opinions and create opposing hashtag wars between #dontlookup and #justlookup.  And, of course, as an added plot twist, billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) and his team believe there to be trillions of dollars worth of important tech material.

Half a dozen years ago, this would have just been a smart, nonsensical satire like Mars Attacks meets Armageddon.  Instead of aliens coming to a planet of nitwit, incompetent leaders, it's a comet.  But considering recent political and global events, this one hits a little close to home.  Things that were once absurdly blown out of proportion for comedic effect are now seen as, "Oh yeah, that's actually how our government works."  

Don't Look Up is a smart, funny, poignant mirror of our own society that's almost difficult to watch because of how just on the nose it hits.  If you remove current political talking points like "the election was stolen" or "the Covid vaccines are not safe" or especially "Covid isn't real" and you replace them with a planet-killing comet, you have this movie.  President Orlean, who is more concerned about upcoming mid-term elections, encourages her base to just "don't look up."  It's very reminiscent of former President Trump saying that if you just don't test for Covid, there would be less cases.  For those in the future reading this, yes, that really happened.  

Without giving away the ending, everyone in the film ultimately has to make a decision on how they will spend their final hours on earth should the inevitable actually happen.  What I will say is the end is beautifully done; however, stick around as the credits start to roll for the official ending.  

I was excited to see this movie and gave it a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I was dead on with my prediction and I'm going to stick with my 4.0 Stars.  I thoroughly enjoy Don't Look Up.  The performances were spot on.  And it was original.  Yes, there have been political satires, there have been apocalyptic films.  But this was so well done.  I'll definitely want to watch it again and it has a good chance of owning it in my personal collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Don't Look Up Preview

A comet the size of Mt. Everest has been discovered by a pair of astronomers and it's what they call a planet killer.  It will impact in just over six months.  Grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) found the comet and her Professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) charted its ominous, destructive course.  Now comes the challenge of alerting those who can do something about it.

With the help of NASA's Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), they first attempt to warn US President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her incompetent son, who also happens to be her Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill).  They are more concerned with political optics than the pending doom hurling their way.  The trio are forced to seek alternative methods for spreading the word.

They start with a morning talk show with cheery, sunshine hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) who try to give a positive spin to the whole gloomy tale of apocalyptic proportions.  Some believe that the future of the planet is in danger.  Others have decided to politicize the whole event to save face and encourage the population to just "Don't Look Up".   Because if you can't see it, it isn't real.

Don't Look Up is a dark but silly satire written and directed by Adam McKay and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar category.  McKay is no stranger to absurd comedies having directed the Anchorman movies, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys.  He's also quite familiar with the political dramedy genre with The Big Short and Vice under his belt.  

In the preview of this Netflix original movie, the trio of astronomers drop the bomb of the comet to end the world in the Oval Office to President Orlean.  Her inept decision is to "sit tight and assess".   The astronomers repeat the phrase, astounded by what she just said.  Chief of Staff Jason clarifies what she means.  "The sit tight part comes first.  And then you have to digest it.  That's the assessment period."

Social media influencers share their own thoughts on the matter and their followers regurgitate their opinions and create opposing hashtag wars between #dontlookup and #justlookup.  And, of course, as an added plot twist, billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) and his team believe there to be trillions of dollars worth of important tech material.

Half a dozen years ago, this would have just been a smart, nonsensical satire like Mars Attacks meets Armageddon.  Instead of aliens coming to a planet of nitwit, incompetent leaders, it's a comet.  But considering recent political and global events, this one hits a little close to home.  Things that were once absurdly blown out of proportion for comedic effect are now seen as, "Oh yeah, that's actually how our government works."  

Don't Look Up looks to be a clever, poignant,  dark satire with a wonderful cast that delivers a smart and funny performance in this film that would be ridiculously silly if it wasn't so plausible.  I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest Leo fan.  I didn't really care for him in any of his earlier works until The Departed, Inception and Django.  Again, didn't care for him in Gatsby or Wolf of Wall Street or even Revenant.  Here's the thing: I couldn't even really tell you why.  I don't have anything against him, I just never really got the hype.  But I really can't wait to watch Don't Look Up.  And not in spite of Leo being in it, because of his performance in the previews.  The story sounds smart and fun, the performances look spot on.  I'm excited to see this movie and giving it a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I think I'll thoroughly enjoy it and want to watch it again with a good chance of owning it in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.