Cinecast #93: West Side Story/Top 5 New York Movies
Cinecast Takes Manhattan-Part II (Recorded in Brooklyn): Viewed chronologically, the first three films in the Musicals Marathon ("Swing Time," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," and "An American In Paris") reveal a distinct evolution of the movie musical –- stories, songs, characters and choreography all become increasingly complex. By the time "West Side Story" is released in 1961 –- a decade after Vincent Minnelli's "American In Paris" –- the musical has nearly evolved into a different species. Director Robert Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins, not to mention lyricist Stephen Sondheim and composer Leonard Bernstein –- bring a level of sophistication to the genre that simply did not previously exist. Adam and Sam agree that "West Side Story" deserves its reputation as perhaps the greatest movie musical of all time; but that didn't stop Sam from admitting that the film (ranked #41 on AFI's list of the best American movies of all-time) reminded him about why he grew up hating musicals. Adam, bravely choosing sides in West Side's deadly gang warfare, knocks the Jets for following up the Sharks' "America" with the lame "Officer Krupke." (Yeah, we know... we both say "Krumpke" during the show.)
Also on the show: Listener Feedback and our joint Top 5 list of the quintessential New York Movies.
Music by Aberdeen City courtesy of Dovecote Records.
Cinecast is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com/cinecast.
And also by USA Network, where characters are welcome. You've got what it takes to be a star! Enter the 2006 Show Us Your Character Contest to find out if you're America's most unique character. Enter now at showusyourcharacter.com!
Cinecast #93
:39-19:20 - Musicals #4: "West Side Story"
Music: Aberdeen City, "In Combat"
21:09-26:26 - Listener Feedback (Satires)
26:27-32:22 - 101 Greatest Screenplays
Music: Aberdeen City, "Stay Still"
33:09-37:19 - Adam meets Elvis... Costello... sort of
37:20-50:28 - Top 5 New York Movies
50:29-53:04 - Next week tease, USA Network spot
Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send us an e-mail at cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.
2 Comments:
A couple of quick mentions:
Adam, Elvis Costello is king. Good for you!
Greatest screenplays? Well, I'm really happy that Memento, Unforgiven, Adaptation, and Jerry Maguire made it. But where's Glengarry Glen Ross? Or A Clockwork Orange? And I'm sure that there are plenty of others they've discluded that I'm pretty astonished about.
And I really liked the songs you guys had today. I've always been looking for a reason to suscribe to iTunes, and I think I'm going to go through all the songs you guys have featured and download the ones that I really liked. Thanks for sticking to obscure and independent music, it really opens up a world away from the mindless dribble featured on radio.
"And also by USA Network, where characters are welcome. You've got what it takes to be a star!"
Maybe a certain Mr Hallgren should enter this thing - He just needs to launch into his Al Pacino impression and he's sure to wow the judges.
Post a Comment
<< Home