West Side Story - 7 nominations

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Ariana DeBose

Best Motion Picture of the Year Steven Spielberg (producer) Kristie Macosko Krieger (producer)

Best Achievement in Production Design Adam Stockhausen (production design) Rena DeAngelo (set decoration)

Best Sound Tod A. Maitland Gary Rydstrom Brian Chumney Andy Nelson Shawn Murphy

Best Achievement in Costume Design Paul Tazewell

Best Achievement in Cinematography Janusz Kaminski

Best Achievement in Directing Steven Spielberg

It's the Jets and the Sharks, baby!  In the classic remake of Romeo and Juliet, two gangs are locked in a territorial struggle.  New York city is evolving, immigrants from Puerto Rico are making America their home, and the people who live there are delighted and immediately embrace change.  Just kidding - the tensions run high, and actually this remake of the classic film is much more overtly violent than the original.  A young Puerto Rican girl, Maria, falls in love with Tony, a local white kid.  Meanwhile, Maria's brother is the head of a gang and Tony's best friends are members of the rival gang.  Maria's brother's girlfriend Anita is the voice of the generation of immigrants who work hard and want to make America their true home.  But xenophobia is a powerful drug and nobody supports Maria and Tony and their relationship.

The original West Side Story is one of my favorite movies and musicals, and I was really nervous for this one.  If you listen to 2 Movie Jews (my podcast), I said as much and was cautiously excited about this film.  How do you improve on perfection?  (well, ok, the entire cast of Puerto Ricans was made of white people with dark makeup on except for Rita Moreno who won an Oscar for that performance, almost perfect).  Moral of this story?  Never bet against Steven Spielberg.

The performances by Ariana DeBose who played Anita and Mike Faist who played Riff were stunning.  Seeing Rita Moreno recast into a new role was heaven, and Spielberg hit it out of the parking giving Moreno the classic song "Somewhere."  Ansel Elgort as Tony, teenage heartthrob and star of multiple Young Adult films who I usually enjoy, was the only misstep. He just didn't work as Tony, and I wish I could put my finger on why, too little passion in his adorable face, maybe?

The movie is absolutely brilliant and is one of my favorites of 2021.  You must see it.

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