Dec 10th
West Side Story** (12A)
(Empire Haymarket)

(US 2021)
Twentieth Century/Amblin/TSG. 156m. ws

The Romeo and Juliet tale set in New York, with it two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.
Accomplished and 'ethnically correct' remake (with Rita Moreno also shoehorned in) of a musical that was almost impossible to surpass visually, even in Spielberg's technically skilled hands,  and some of the numbers (particularly the lighter ones) seem a little mechanical 60 years on, but  emotionally the story is timeless, and the music and choreography are up to the same standard as the original.

Written by: Tony Kushner, based on the book by Arthur Laurents of the musical by Jerome Robbins.
Producers: Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Kevin McCollum.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Mike Faist, Rita Moreno, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Josh Andrea Rivera, Corey Stoll.
Photography: Janusz Kaminski.
Music: Leonard Bernstein.
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim.
Musical Direction: David Newman.
Editing: Michael Kahn, Sarah Broshar.