For their 44th episode, 25YL film critics, immigrant dads, and finger-snapping school teachers Will Johnson and Don Shanahan find themselves dancing in the podcast streets to Steven Spielberg’s new incarnation of West Side Story. The musical is big and loud, but will either host pull any switchblades to knife the other’s joy or the movie’s Oscar chances? Grab your dancing partner and find out.
Read MoreThough the nostalgic director has rightfully earned a carte blanche status from galactic success to make whatever he wants, it feels like Spielberg had not really challenged himself for the better part of the last two decades. Yet, here he is making his first musical with the energy of a man half or even a quarter of his age. Populated with fresh faces, sung with fiery voices, and varnished with spirited hues of toughness and beauty, his resulting West Side Story can win over the purists and cure those remake value worries. We (myself included) can put the memes away for this one.
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