No, today’s Rant is not
going to focus on the coronavirus, but somehow, the coronavirus will figure
into what we are going to talk about today.
And what we are going to talk about today is a subject that I normally don’t touch, in particular, because I have not witnessed, myself, what I am going to focus on.
I am going to base everything on what I have read, and I have read a lot about this subject.
And the focus of today’s Rant will be the out-and-out failure of the new “West Side Story” movie by Steven Spielberg to attract an audience.
Again, I have not seen the film, have no intention of seeing the film, but as a study in Hollywood’s infatuation with redoing things that already have been established over time, this is something that even someone who hasn’t seen the movie can talk about.
In other words, you don’t have to see the movie to see the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY and HOW of its abject failure at the box office.
The movie was one that only Hollywood deemed to need a remake, but unlike other films that are unapproachable that have, over the years, generated much talk about remakes—“The Wizard of Oz” and “Casablanca” among them—this one actually got made, which is a problem in itself.
The original 1961 film, right out of the boss, was considered a four-star classic by the critics, and movie audiences flowed into theaters to witness its majesty, even upon re-releases, where I first saw the film paired with “Bye Bye Birdie,” another classic which has been remade and the remake soon forgotten.
Among the original film’s stars was the then pistol-hot Natalie Wood, who as Maria, not only wasn’t Hispanic, but couldn’t sing a note.
She was used as an attraction to draw people to the movie, and her singing was dubbed in by a real singer, something that probably would never be done today.
Over the years, the wrongs of the original film—casting non-Hispanics and others n central ethnic roles—was studied and discussed, but whatever reasons were used for casting the Russian-American Wood as Maria were somewhat passed over by most people because of the overall majesty of the film.
But to others, it bothered the to no end that Maria was not played by a true Hispanic woman, often citing Rita Moreno—who played a major incidental role in the film—as the one who should have played Maria, and perhaps Wood should have played the incidental role, if even any role, in the film.
But somehow, the original movie survived this topsy turvy situation, and it continues to be heralded by critics and the public alike as one of the great movie musicals.
So Steven Spielberg comes into the fray about remaking the movie, and decides that he is going to right the wrongs of the past—he will cast Maria with a Hispanic actress who can actually sing--and he will cast other roles in the film with race, ethnic background, and gender appropriate actors and actresses.
What Spielberg basically did was take a classic film that should not have been remade in the first place and made it into what he hoped would be the “film of choice” for those in the “cancel culture” brigade, bringing politics into the film way beyond the reasons for the confrontation between the Jets versus the Sharks.
Certainly one of the failures of the new film—even though it won glowing reviews from the critics—is that people are sick and tired of being hit over the head with Hollywood’s excesses when it comes to poliics,and you just know that lots of people who might have seen the film—myself included—were turned off when they read reviews that focused on the politics of the film versus its grander, which is not the way to go when you are trumpeting a movie.
And what audience was the new film supposed to entice to the movie theaters?
Was the audience supposed to be new moviegoers, who have no clue that this film is a remake, and frankly, don’t care, or is it the older audience, which remembers the original movie—and probably the Broadway show that it was adapted from—and wants to see a new retelling of the old tale?
That presented another problem, because based on the new movie’s failure at the box office, younger moviegoers have little to no interest in the movie, and older moviegoers are being scared away by both the political aspect of the new film as well as the fact that we are still in a pandemic, and this older audience is pretty much staying away from going to the movies in droves.
Yes, it is a conundrum that really has no solution.
Sure, down the line, I am sure that the movie will garner multiple Academy Award nominations—including for 90-year-old Moreno, one of the executive producers of the movie, who has a small but pivotal role expressly written for her in the film, again to atone for past indiscretions—but let’s be honest about it, few care about the Oscars anymore, the show has become a politically-biased circle jerk, and the public has been turned off of these awards shows not just today, but over years and years.
So even if the movie wins multiple awards, it won’t help to free it from the “bomb at the coos office” category, and it probably won’t even stimulate sales of the eventual DVD or streaming options.
In conclusion, even though the film was filled with good intentions, the new “West Side Story” was pretty much doomed from the start.
You cannot remake perfection, and when you are trying to, even a four-star effort like this one is going to fail dismally,
Perhaps Hollywood will now learn, once and for all, that there is no need to redo, remake and reboot films, and certainly not to undo the "wrongs" that these classic films had in the past.
They reflected the culture at the time of their original entrance into our lives, and they should exist as is, warts and all.
It is time to create the new classics, and that should be Tinsel Town’s true and only focus.
And what we are going to talk about today is a subject that I normally don’t touch, in particular, because I have not witnessed, myself, what I am going to focus on.
I am going to base everything on what I have read, and I have read a lot about this subject.
And the focus of today’s Rant will be the out-and-out failure of the new “West Side Story” movie by Steven Spielberg to attract an audience.
Again, I have not seen the film, have no intention of seeing the film, but as a study in Hollywood’s infatuation with redoing things that already have been established over time, this is something that even someone who hasn’t seen the movie can talk about.
In other words, you don’t have to see the movie to see the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY and HOW of its abject failure at the box office.
The movie was one that only Hollywood deemed to need a remake, but unlike other films that are unapproachable that have, over the years, generated much talk about remakes—“The Wizard of Oz” and “Casablanca” among them—this one actually got made, which is a problem in itself.
The original 1961 film, right out of the boss, was considered a four-star classic by the critics, and movie audiences flowed into theaters to witness its majesty, even upon re-releases, where I first saw the film paired with “Bye Bye Birdie,” another classic which has been remade and the remake soon forgotten.
Among the original film’s stars was the then pistol-hot Natalie Wood, who as Maria, not only wasn’t Hispanic, but couldn’t sing a note.
She was used as an attraction to draw people to the movie, and her singing was dubbed in by a real singer, something that probably would never be done today.
Over the years, the wrongs of the original film—casting non-Hispanics and others n central ethnic roles—was studied and discussed, but whatever reasons were used for casting the Russian-American Wood as Maria were somewhat passed over by most people because of the overall majesty of the film.
But to others, it bothered the to no end that Maria was not played by a true Hispanic woman, often citing Rita Moreno—who played a major incidental role in the film—as the one who should have played Maria, and perhaps Wood should have played the incidental role, if even any role, in the film.
But somehow, the original movie survived this topsy turvy situation, and it continues to be heralded by critics and the public alike as one of the great movie musicals.
So Steven Spielberg comes into the fray about remaking the movie, and decides that he is going to right the wrongs of the past—he will cast Maria with a Hispanic actress who can actually sing--and he will cast other roles in the film with race, ethnic background, and gender appropriate actors and actresses.
What Spielberg basically did was take a classic film that should not have been remade in the first place and made it into what he hoped would be the “film of choice” for those in the “cancel culture” brigade, bringing politics into the film way beyond the reasons for the confrontation between the Jets versus the Sharks.
Certainly one of the failures of the new film—even though it won glowing reviews from the critics—is that people are sick and tired of being hit over the head with Hollywood’s excesses when it comes to poliics,and you just know that lots of people who might have seen the film—myself included—were turned off when they read reviews that focused on the politics of the film versus its grander, which is not the way to go when you are trumpeting a movie.
And what audience was the new film supposed to entice to the movie theaters?
Was the audience supposed to be new moviegoers, who have no clue that this film is a remake, and frankly, don’t care, or is it the older audience, which remembers the original movie—and probably the Broadway show that it was adapted from—and wants to see a new retelling of the old tale?
That presented another problem, because based on the new movie’s failure at the box office, younger moviegoers have little to no interest in the movie, and older moviegoers are being scared away by both the political aspect of the new film as well as the fact that we are still in a pandemic, and this older audience is pretty much staying away from going to the movies in droves.
Yes, it is a conundrum that really has no solution.
Sure, down the line, I am sure that the movie will garner multiple Academy Award nominations—including for 90-year-old Moreno, one of the executive producers of the movie, who has a small but pivotal role expressly written for her in the film, again to atone for past indiscretions—but let’s be honest about it, few care about the Oscars anymore, the show has become a politically-biased circle jerk, and the public has been turned off of these awards shows not just today, but over years and years.
So even if the movie wins multiple awards, it won’t help to free it from the “bomb at the coos office” category, and it probably won’t even stimulate sales of the eventual DVD or streaming options.
In conclusion, even though the film was filled with good intentions, the new “West Side Story” was pretty much doomed from the start.
You cannot remake perfection, and when you are trying to, even a four-star effort like this one is going to fail dismally,
Perhaps Hollywood will now learn, once and for all, that there is no need to redo, remake and reboot films, and certainly not to undo the "wrongs" that these classic films had in the past.
They reflected the culture at the time of their original entrance into our lives, and they should exist as is, warts and all.
It is time to create the new classics, and that should be Tinsel Town’s true and only focus.
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