I hate Natalie Wood's performance (not her in general, but she makes my skin crawl with embarrassment in this role) with such a burning passion that I'd be happy to see a remake. As long as (a) the people who are supposed to be dead at the end are still dead, and (b) Maria is played by just about anyone who is not Natalie Wood, I'll be content.
Don't you have an elsewhere to be?
Cordelia ,'Lessons'
Buffista Movies 7: Brides for 7 Samurai
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
JZ - Mar 05, 2014 12:52:15 pm PST #26461 of 30000
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Vonnie K - Mar 05, 2014 1:00:35 pm PST #26462 of 30000
Kiss me, my girl, before I'm sick.
Quick, someone cast Naya Rivera as Anita!
JZ - Mar 05, 2014 1:34:33 pm PST #26463 of 30000
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Oooh, Vonnie, that's good. I was going to ask if she wasn't a bit young, but looks like she's 27, which should be fine.
Scrappy - Mar 05, 2014 1:34:58 pm PST #26464 of 30000
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Natalie Wood? How about smarmy milquetoast Richard Beymer? Ew, ew, EW.
Vonnie K - Mar 05, 2014 1:48:39 pm PST #26465 of 30000
Kiss me, my girl, before I'm sick.
looks like she's 27, which should be fine.
Right? Not only is she at the right age for the character, she's got the Puerto Rican heritage, can do both heartbreaking and fiery, can act, sing and dance like a dream -- basically she's perfect.
Haven't got a clue who they'd cast as Maria though.
le nubian - Mar 05, 2014 1:58:25 pm PST #26466 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
I think what I am about to type is sacrilege, but I really don't like "West Side Story." and I think it may have to do with JZ's comment. I haven't overly analyzed the issue and only saw the movie once, but man I did not like Natalie Wood in that role and I generally have liked her in other things.
That movie leaves me really cold and I feel like a freak because usually people love that movie.
JZ - Mar 05, 2014 2:04:40 pm PST #26467 of 30000
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
I love a lot of the dancing, and I love every moment Rita Moreno is onscreen, but Maria and Tony make me cringe. I've seen stage productions, with much better Marias and Tonys, that I loved, so I'm pretty sure my reaction is mainly to the lead casting, not the show.
For Maria - I really don't know any musical theater young'uns; the closest I could come up with, after racking my brains, was Olivia Olson (voice of Marceline the Vampire Queen on Adventure Time, and also the singing young girl in Love, Actually), who's just 22 and clearly a fabulous singer. Not Puerto Rican, though, and definitely not a white girl but also not Latina (Swedish/Jamaican/Native American). Still, worlds better than Natalie Wood.
Dana - Mar 05, 2014 2:50:14 pm PST #26468 of 30000
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Last time they did a revival, it was partly in Spanish, and I think the girl cast as Maria got very nice reviews.
Gris - Mar 05, 2014 3:44:40 pm PST #26469 of 30000
Hey. New board.
My vote is Krysta Rodriguez for anything even remotely WSS related, though admittedly I've only seen her on screen in a tiny bit-part on Gossip Girl. On stage, she is one of my favorites of all time.
Karen Olivo was astonishingly good as Anita in the stage version of WSS. Maybe not better than Rita Moreno though. And Naya Rivera is excellent casting for that role.
The OBC Maria in the stage revival of WSS had a gorgeous voice but I doubt would be able to do well on screen. She was operatically trained and even on a Broadway style stage felt a little flat and wooden in anything acting-wise. Up close I don't think it would be pretty.
I think it would have to be an unknown to be amazing. Which makes me think it will be Anne Hathaway instead. Which, okay, I could like, but talk about not a Latina...
Una - Mar 05, 2014 4:03:30 pm PST #26470 of 30000
when i die, please bake my ashes into a brick and use me to hit fascists.
I've never liked West Side Story either. I think it's might be due to Romeo and Juliet being pretty much my least favourite Shakespeare.
joining le nubian in the freak corner