Y’all are a buncha negative Nellies and poo-poo Petes!
I think La La Land paved the way for a mild resurgence in musicals and I’m all for it. Not because I love musicals particularly but I like genre variety in the face of Hollywood’s wearying spandex onslaught.
I hope not, because if you didn’t like one of the most beautiful, engaging, and memorable pieces of musical art ever created, then it is my fervent hope that you’ll continue hate everything about this. :)
There is absolutely no way Spielberg should touch any of Leonard Bernstein’s original score.
I remember every time this movie would play on tv my friends and I would walk all over snapping our fingers.
Well. When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way.
From your first cigarette 'til your last dying day.
Apologies. Like I’ve said elsewhere on Qt3, there’s music I like, there’s music I love, and there’s music I don’t like YET. Those are the only 3 kinds of music out there. So I guess this just goes into that third category where one night in a college production with bad audio and possibly poor performances didn’t quite cut it for me. I don’t think there is such a thing as bad music.
I may have mentioned this before. I was in the play twice. Once in Junior High and once in High School. I have the damn thing memorized. I even purchased 35mm pieces of the movie at conventions. I love it.
Having said that…
This is a movie that does not need to be remade. It is a perfect period piece. I particularly love John Astin as “Glad Hand” in the school dance scene. He was not credited in the movie. He was a social worker who is kind of a failure.
There are three reasons to attempt this: 1) Latino actors 2) modern dialogue, 3) modern choreography. And I’m not sure about #3.
I love Bernstein’s music as well and have a kind of familial connection to it. When the play was revived in the '80s, the Off-Broadway opening was in Miami and my Dad was the concert master for that run. The first several performances were conducted by Bernstein himself. My Dad talked about the experience for the rest of his life. In addition to be a great artist, Leonard Bernstein was a very warm (“Call me, Lenny.”), funny man.
That is very cool.
Dude, that one girl felt really, really pretty!
Oh, so pretty?
I assume Spielberg is staying in the same time for this and not updating it to some modern location with 2019 gangs?
When you’re the Crips, you’re the Crips all the way!
From your first drive-by shooting to your last dying dayyyy!
Yes, that could work!
But seriously… I believe this version will be set in the 50’s. :)
Blips and Cruds?
Walter Hill’s Warriors: Side Story. They made it home, but can they sing their way to Regionals? Or will the Baseball Furies version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame crush their dreams?
Heh. A musical of The Warriors could be cool. Lots of opportunities for great costuming and themes.
“Come out to play” would be a real show stopper.
Just put some Sharks and Jets into the gang gathering scenes and you have yourself a new gang banging, song belting cinematic universe. Spielbergs buddy Lucas could even be in charge of digitally adding them into the Warriors scenes.
I’m under 40 and I’ve seen this many many times. It’s by far one of the best known musicals outside the US at least.
That said, the original holds up together almost as well as singing in the rain. This is close to the most unnecessary remake I can think of (Ben Hur, at least, had aged more due to being a less stylized genre…). I am very doubtful this can improve on it (willing to see it and check, though).