West Side Story - Spielberg

[Stephen Perera]

Saw it last night. Superb. Didn’t expect it to be so good as I really know the original film and I was fearing some eye rolls on my part but I was fully immersed and blown away by it. The casting was refreshing I thought.

Visually spectacular!!!

Many many anamorphic flares which I am sure will be commented upon. The use of film and lighting transported us to the era and at no time did I feel it was all dress up time as for example Wonder Wheel by Woody Allen did, shot on his Sony digital cameras by Storaro and his BAD magic hour all day everywhere light in that film…wtf.

As a native Spanish and English speaker I really enjoyed the authenticity of using actual Latinos or whatever one calls them these days so I am not entering into the subtitle debate as I understood it all. It was funny how many swear words etc came from the Puerto Ricans without a single f*ck etc from the English speakers…..the censor screen that comes up before the film start said something about implied bad language hahah wtf as there WAS foul language but hey it got the general audience rating it set out to achieve I guess.

in summary……watch it on the big screen! It’s a cinema film for sure.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Stephen Perera

[Stewart McLain]

I second this.  I didn't really expect much from this film.  I don't entirely get the point of re-making movies that were good the first time around but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the new version.  Totally worth a watch.  

[Stephen Perera]

Thanks for coming in on this......it's peculiar nobody else is commenting on this.....

[Igor Trajkovski]

On 2/4/2022 at 12:35 PM, Stephen Perera said:

it's peculiar nobody else is commenting on this.....

Ha! ?

Been exited for this since i heard Spielberg will be doing it.

Saw the original as a kid on TV.
At that time i didn't knew English, watched a subtitled musical from start till the end.
Was taken away by the intro of the movie, and the melody and chorus of "America" stuck with me.

When the trailer of Spielberg's version came out I've posted it on FB with passion and expectation of some positive response.
The legendary Spielberg re-doing an iconic movie.
ZERO! NADA!  - response.

In disbelieve i've asked myself is it really possible no one saw the original film? ?

...

Haven't see it yet, waiting to be on some streaming service.
Might give a go of the old one first, but have suspicions it wont have the same impact as when i was kid.

...

I've watched a featurette on the making of and was surprised on seeing Kaminski doing
the lighting with old school Spectra Professional Analog lightmeter. :)




Variety - How Janusz Kamiński Used Light and Shadows to Create Drama in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ (EXCLUSIVE)

[Jon O'Brien]

Shot by Kaminski? I might just have to go and see this on the big screen.

[Stephen Perera]

6 hours ago, Jon O'Brien said:

Shot by Kaminski? I might just have to go and see this on the big screen.

For sure a big screen experience awaits

[Uli Meyer]

It took a while but I just saw the film. Very entertaining but it didn't convince me that it was worth remaking. There was a dutch angle at the beginning that lingered too long, the only one in the film, and I still wonder why. The superfluous amount of flares (Maria's bedroom and kitchen?) were a bit of an eye roller. Other than that I enjoyed it, beautifully shot and lit.