Review: ‘West Side Story’ Re-Imagines the Classic Tale For a Modern Audience

Sixty years since the film last graced movie screens, West Side Story is back. This time around, legendary director Steven Spielberg takes his shot at the classic re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet. Set in New York in 1957, The Upper West Side is divided between two teenage street gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. The two gangs have a bitter rivalry fighting for control of the neighborhood, but their quest seems futile as the neighborhood is set to be demolished to make room for Lincoln Center. One day, Tony (Ansel Elgort), a former Jet, locks eyes with María (Rachel Zegler), the younger sister of the Shark’s leader Bernando (David Alvarez). As the two gangs prepare for a rumble, the star-crossed lovers are caught in the middle, desperate to be together and also save the people they care about. 

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Review: ‘The Goldfinch’ is All Smoke and Mirrors

There are several factors filmmakers take into consideration when creating a movie with an adapted screenplay, some of which being faithfulness to page, accurate casting, and more. These kinds of movies can be a tricky thing for filmmakers to navigate, and sometimes it’s a select few factors that make the difference between a really great and a really bad film. Unfortunately, The Goldfinch falls into the category of the latter. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name written by Donna Tarrt, The Goldfinch is a wannabe film that leads you on a confusing journey with ultimately no payoff.

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