West Side Story

yet another film i was given the opportunity to see in theatres on its original release. as a musical fan, this has been a long term favorite of mine and not many top it. while i'm aware some people prefer the original west side story, i just think this 2021, revamped version is so much better in many ways. film quality, character/casting quality (aka people playing the race they're meant to play), pacing quality, etc., this was my first time being introduced to just what a beautiful and wonderful actress rachel zegler is. on top of her gorgeous looks and her amazing acting skills, her voice just tops everything; the voice of an angel as some say, is exactly what she has. on top of everything, mike faist being casted as riff was another excellent choice. with his musical theatre past, it was no surprise he was able to nail his role as riff and do an amazing job in it (yes im a huge mike faist fan, can you tell?) overall, this movie is one of the best movie musical adaptions i've seen, although there aren't many to begin with. despite ansel elgort being a contrasting appeal to the movie due to who he is as a human, i strongly reccomend this movie, especially if you like musicals.