Let's Talk Movies #36 - 2020 - Yep it is a new decade

We saw it today too. I have to admit that I was looking forward to this so much and had so many expectations that it was hard for me to get into it at first. So I'm going to watch it again when it's streaming. But the music was amazing and they really showed the context of the events in a way that the original movie didn't and even the stage productions I've seen which are better than the original movie but not as good as this movie.
 
I saw WSS on Friday. I liked it and thought it was just as good as the original, but I couldn't help but question why it was remade. I think I was expecting there to be more that was different or more edginess, something to distinguish or update it. I like that the leads' actual voices were used and that so many Latinos of different colors were cast, and that more was known about Tony's backstory. But I saw the actors portraying Tony and Maria reminding me so much of Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer. A tiny petite Maria and a very tall soft-looking Tony who does not look like he could have ever been the leader of a gang. I would have liked a change-up of these characters, more fire in Tony or something. My husband commented that the orchestration behind many of the songs could have been different, maybe minimized, or something done to update it.

Positives:
-I LOVED Mike Faist as Riff and had to immediately look him up. I couldn't stop looking at him when he was on camera. Really good casting.
-Rita Moreno was awesome! I love that they gave her the song to sing, but I miss Doc's lecture to the boys in the store. That made a huge impression on me the first time I saw the original.
-The dancing was good! I had been worried about this the most, that it would suffer or that they would cut off their feet or something when filming, but it was good and it had the intensity that I wanted.

I saw this at a 2pm showing on opening day, so maybe not prime time, but there were maybe 15 people in a theater that seats 168. I'm curious about that because I thought the trailers that we have been seeing for the past several months were good and made me want to see the film.
 
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annie720 said:
Positives:
-I LOVED Mike Faist as Riff and had to immediately look him up. I couldn't stop looking at him when he was on camera. Really good casting.
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Yes! I thought he was so charismatic and a wonderful dancer.

It’s unfortunate WSS isn’t doing well at the box office but I guess it’s not the kind of thing a huge number of people would be willing to go out to a theater for.
 
We went to see WSS on Saturday night - 7 people in a 250 seat theatre. Husband commented that only old people would come out to see this movie. I said, well it’s about teenagers and I was around 10 when I first saw the original movie. ??‍♀️
 
The studio is hoping WSS will slowly build throughout the next coming weeks as most of Spielberg's adult fare tends to do, and with more award attention acting as free publicity, they hope it'll slowly grow. They weren't expecting a weekend smash in a December two weeks before Christmas, but the 10 million opening weekend was pretty dismal. We've had more movie musicals this year than we had in a long time and those that were theatrically released did poorly in the box office.

I bet the upcoming Wicked film will do well though. That one will have "magic" and CGI and Ariana Grande. The musical score is pretty blah, but quality doesn't matter for box office success.
 
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One of the funniest movies I have seen in a LONG time is Corporate Animals. The cast is great, portraying a ragtag group of employees who are on a corporate relationship-building excursion in the great outdoors. They are all basically office workers, so none of them are really dying to do this. But that’s what ends up happening! :lol: So this is a dark comedy and it made me laugh out loud many times. Ed Helms plays the tour guide and Demi Moore is the CEO of Incredible Edibles, America's premiere provider of edible cutlery. :D There are a lot of other people in this movie you might recognize. Character actors who all make this movie better for having been in it. I loved this one! :cheer:
 
I think this is the last gasp for musicals as far major Theatre releases, unless there is a surprise success story.

Reading all the social media sentiment from cinephile/movie watchers regarding WSS this weekend, it's becoming more and more apparent that the live action movie musical format is the movie genre that is most polarizing and divisive (i.e. no middle ground, haters are haters times 1000), most of the (younger) movie watchers having no appetite anymore for the genre unless the musical is animated (because animated characters can seemingly "get away" with being overly earnest, while human actors cannot be afforded the same).

It's a shame (at least imo), that so most musicals are doomed from the start because it's such an "overhated" genre to begin with.

My guess is future releases will follow more the Tick Tick Boom route (Netflix), or the live action performance route of Come From Away.
 
I saw 'Being the Ricardos'. It was a great movie, and Javier Bardem is just amazing and I feel steals the show.
Kidman as Lucy - she was good, but maybe I have seen her in some tv shows lately and just look at her ageless face. There were times she was believable and other times I felt I could see her mind working on what she was doing.
The scenes I liked her best is when she was fixing a scene in the weeks episode and that is when you should see her mind at work.
JK Simmons as William Frawley was a standout too, and the writers/producers. The movie starts with the 2 writers/1 producer/writer - years later giving their take on the this week in 1950s. The 3 when older were played by Ronny Cox, Linda Lavin and John Rubenstein - very nice to see them again. Aaron Sorkin directed/wrote and you can tell- clever rapid quick dialogue.
The sexism, racism and prudeness is interesting to see.
One part in particular when they are figuring out for a future episode to go to Italy so Lucy could crush grapes. Fun!
I knew Lucy and Desi owned/ran Desilu and were good business people - cool to see it in action.
They showed their love story and also how they could not stay together in a believable way.
 
7/10 – Les Miserables is a dark 2019 drama about three police officers and the people of a poor neighbourbood which just happens to include the house where Victor Hugo wrote his famous novel. The movie takes places over the course of one day of the police officer's work shift. Les Miserables highlights masterfully how poverty can have a horrible effect on so many. It’s a tough but worthwhile film to watch. I would have rated it higher if it didn’t have (one more) open-ended conclusion. I’m guessing the screenwriter left the ending open so there would be more discussion by viewers of a topic that definitely requires more thought from all of us.

Les Miserables was Oscar-nominated for Best International Feature Film (losing to Parasite) and BAFTA nominated in the same category (losing to Another Round). At the Cannes Film Festival it was nominated for three awards, winning the Jury Prize.

Trailer for Les Miserables: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmCcus-XhRw
 
WSS pluses/minuses for me:
-Ansel Elgort as Tony can really sing! All the voices in the new WSS were good.
-not crazy about new approach to Dance at the Gym. Had more power when Tony/Anita were in the middle of the dance floor. And supposedly innocent Maria was too forward. Seemed out of character. Also, the editing was too jumpy.
-The new Anita was good, but no one can equal Rita Moreno in the role. Rita was fierce.
-Loved Mike Faist's (Riff) unpredictability. The new WSS increased the sense of menace of Riff and Bernardo.
-"Cool" -I SO missed the original choreo. I get that they wanted to use the original order of the scene from the play, and wanted to flesh out Tony/Riff's conflict, but I liked the original so much better. And the Jet girls got a chance to shine in the original Cool.
-"America" on the rooftop was more fun and more focused. The new version was too busy for me. It reminded me of the numbers in "The Heights" - they all became showstoppers and therefore lost their punch
-"Officer Krupke" was even more fun in the new version.
-Except for Anita, the dancing was far superior (skillwise) in the original. I really missed George Chakiris' dance skill, and missed a lot of Robbins' choreo
-Opening scenes were more powerful and better choreographed in the original movie.
-It annoys me that they changed the opening words of "America." I know they're doing it out of sensitivity to peoples' feelings, but the new words were ... limp. They did the same thing in the play version I saw a couple years ago.
-I would have liked subtitles for the Spanish. Not sure there was a point to not subtitle when the PR characters were speaking only among themselves. I get that they wouldn't subtitle while they were speaking Spanish in front of the Jets/police so as not to be understood.
 
Icetalavista said:
WSS pluses/minuses for me:
-Ansel Elgort as Tony can really sing! All the voices in the new WSS were good.
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Elgort threw his hat into the ring for a pop music career as far back as as 2014:

en.wikipedia.org

Ansel Elgort - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

He has released ten singles, but independently, not through a major label recording contract. Not sure if he has just done this for fun or if a contract with a record company never worked out (or if there was interest)? He has also remixed music for other artists.

My favourite song of his:

Ansel Elgort - You Can Count On Me (Audio) ft. Logic
 
Icetalavista said:
Just listened! He does not need the auto tune.
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Wikipedia mentions that he is a DJ (but not that he has worked as a DJ, specifically). So I'm guessing that with being a DJ, autotune is just another tool one can use to create with. And maybe he wasn't as confident in his vocals at that time?
 
Icetalavista said:
WSS pluses/minuses for me:
-Ansel Elgort as Tony can really sing! All the voices in the new WSS were good.
-not crazy about new approach to Dance at the Gym. Had more power when Tony/Anita were in the middle of the dance floor. And supposedly innocent Maria was too forward. Seemed out of character. Also, the editing was too jumpy.
-The new Anita was good, but no one can equal Rita Moreno in the role. Rita was fierce.
-Loved Mike Faist's (Riff) unpredictability. The new WSS increased the sense of menace of Riff and Bernardo.
-"Cool" -I SO missed the original choreo. I get that they wanted to use the original order of the scene from the play, and wanted to flesh out Tony/Riff's conflict, but I liked the original so much better. And the Jet girls got a chance to shine in the original Cool.
-"America" on the rooftop was more fun and more focused. The new version was too busy for me. It reminded me of the numbers in "The Heights" - they all became showstoppers and therefore lost their punch
-"Officer Krupke" was even more fun in the new version.
-Except for Anita, the dancing was far superior (skillwise) in the original. I really missed George Chakiris' dance skill, and missed a lot of Robbins' choreo
-Opening scenes were more powerful and better choreographed in the original movie.
-It annoys me that they changed the opening words of "America." I know they're doing it out of sensitivity to peoples' feelings, but the new words were ... limp. They did the same thing in the play version I saw a couple years ago.
-I would have liked subtitles for the Spanish. Not sure there was a point to not subtitle when the PR characters were speaking only among themselves. I get that they wouldn't subtitle while they were speaking Spanish in front of the Jets/police so as not to be understood.
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I agree with you about the subtitles. But not about America. I loved the new version.

I also disagree about Maria. It was the people around her who tried to put her in the naive box. She wasn't actually shy or naive. She was like a Catholic school girl who was tired of being treated like a child and wanted to grow up too fast so got herself into situations she maybe couldn't quite handle.

Seerek said:
I think this is the last gasp for musicals as far major Theatre releases, unless there is a surprise success story.
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I hated most of the movie musicals in the 60s. I found them very phony and contrived. I must prefer musicals for the stage. That said, I do think movie musicals can work. I think this WWS worked. And also Moulin Rouge.
 
The dancers in the original must have been having so much fun blasting out of the stilted dance style of 50s musicals...WSS 1961 was revolutionary. The remake just can't have the same impact because the dance styles in recent musicals have loosened up so much.
 
Icetalavista said:
The dancers in the original must have been having so much fun blasting out of the stilted dance style of 50s musicals...WSS 1961 was revolutionary. The remake just can't have the same impact because the dance styles in recent musicals have loosened up so much.
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I heard they loved performing but hated working under Jerome Robbins who was a hellish task master. So many rumors about the way he abused his dancers. But I do remember for the film, he and co-director Robert Wise got into a huge argument and Robbins walked out before the dance at the gym scene and Rita Moreno felt that whole scene was off because of it and told Robbins not to leave again.

At the Oscars, when both directors won Best Director, neither of them thanked the other in their speeches.
 
Watched the movie Mahogany (1975). I had almost no memory of it, though I had seen it before. I only remembered the song 'Do you know where you're going to'. The movie was very predictable. There were some beautiful costumes. Diana Ross was pretty good. Amazing that she designed some of the costumes. Multitalented woman! Overall about 7/10 because of the gorgeous costumes and the song.
 
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I am not sure if I should see the old WSS before or after watching the new one. I have seen neither but want to watch both.
 
I know that Owen Wilson has been involved with the Wes Anderson movies since Wes Anderson first started directing, the Wilson brothers and Wes Anderson grew up together in Texas and Owen Wilson co-wrote the first 3 Wes Anderson movies with him but I always feel like Owen Wilson doesn't actually fit when he's in Wes Anderson movies. I don't have that problem with Luke Wilson but Owen Wilson always feels slightly out of place and I'm not totally sure why.

Anyway, having finally seen The French Dispatch as it's digital release was today, I quite enjoyed it but I don't think that it's as good as Moonrise Kingdom or Grand Budapest Hotel. Those two are Wes Anderson at his best and while he Wes Anderson's perfectly well with The French Dispatch, it just doesn't hit for me the same way MK and GBH do. Also I really wish Wes Anderson would give Saoirse Ronan more than about 7 minutes of screen time in his movies.
 
I like the French Dispatch a lot but it's a little self-indulgent for sure. That is probably both its appeal and its limitation. It's basically an extended and very skillfully done tribute to The New Yorker, so while it succeeds at its goal, it doesn't have a broad scope. I think it's not so much an issue with Owen Wilson for me - at least in this movie - as that his role in the film is just to introduce the rest of the movie and make the framing of the movie work rather than integral in and of itself. So it feels superfluous.

If you haven't seen Bottle Rocket @Jay42, that one is worth watching. It's probably a more even split between Anderson and Wilson creatively and it's less stylized (not that stylized is a bad thing per se, but it's an interesting contrast to the rest of Anderson's stuff). I haven't seen it in a long time so I can't guarantee it holds up but I remember it as one of my favorites at least.

My least favorite Anderson is The Aquatic Life of Steve Zissou and I have no idea why. Something about it really bugs me but I can't put my finger on what it is.
 
Japanfan said:
Just saw 'The Power of the Dog' on demand. The scenery was breathtaking on the small screen, so would have been much more so on the big screen.

But other than that, I was underwhelmed. Probably because I didn't care for any of the characters.
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Yes! It has been getting so many raves but I just couldn't get into it. Strong performances but it was so slow. I was zoning in and out. I agree about the characters. While movies about bad people can certainly be interesting, I don't think the movie justified telling these people's stories or made any interesting points about them.
 
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler is a TV movie about Irena Sendler who, during World War II, smuggled approximately 2,500 Jewish children to safety. Anna Paquin plays Sendler and gives an understated and unsentimental performance which could have come across as mawkish if not performed this way. This TV movie aired on CBS and was surprisingly a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Nothing about this movie makes me think of Hallmark. So kudos to them for playing a part in getting this made. Co-starring in this TV movie are Marcia Gay Harden, Goran Visnjic and Michelle Dockery (of Downton Abbey fame).

So a question for all of you. We all know of the movie Schindler’s List where the title character saves a thousand refugees from death. The movie was both a critical and box office success (to put it mildly). So my question is, what do you think about a major motion picture being made about a man who saves a thousand adults, while the story about a woman who saves the lives of 2,500 children ends up being a forgotten TV movie?
 
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