Interview: Mike Faist on nihilistic teens, stardom, and "West Side Story"

by Nathaniel R

Mike Faist on his "transcendent" experience making West Side Story

The reinvention of West Side Story (2021) has been the subject of much conversation since it opened, from Spielberg's incredibly enduring career, to the health of the movie musical genre, to the complicated subject of its Oscar prospects since the 1961 picture was a sweeper. The one thing that's felt especially unanimous in the response, though, is the exciting work from a trio of Broadway breakouts making a very big leap into movie stardom: Tony nominees Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist and Tony winner David Alvarez (Bernardo). I had the pleasure of sitting down with our new Riff, Mike Faist a couple of weeks ago to discuss the movie and his career (well, sort of. Read on).

He was in great spirits, laughing frequently, and filled with praise for his co-stars. Coincidentally we had both just been back to a Broadway show for the first time since the shutdown. He describes theater as an important "communal empathy project" and West Side Story continues that tradition.

Faist is funny and thoughtful. He is also, as it turns out, self-deprecatingly aware of his caginess around certain topics, like, his future and stardom...

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Original Song Oscar Finals: Listen to the Shortlisted Songs

Power couple Beyonce and Jay Z could fight it out at the Oscars this year.Last week, the Oscars published a list of 105 songs that qualified for the award. Today, that list has been winnowed down to 15 hopefuls, vying for the five Oscar nomination slots. Ten categories just got narrowed down today, and The Film Experience will be covering them all (such as International Feature). The Original Song category has gone through many ups and downs. It used to be the place for the biggest hits, such as “Last Dance” by Donna Summer and “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. At its worst, it contained only two songs, one of which was “Real in Rio” from Rio. Will this year be a hit or a bust?

The fifteen shortlisted song includes songs from Grammy winners, Best Picture hopefuls, musicals and both Beyonce and Jay Z. Check them out after the jump.

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Movie-Adjacent Grammy Nominations!

by Nathaniel R

"Sour" and "Montero" -definitely two of the most talked about albums of the year.

Each year when the Grammy nominations are announced we dive in to find notes of interest for cinephiles and/or general movie/tv enthusiasts. Jon Batiste, who took home the Oscar for Best Original Score for Pixar's Soul last spring, leads the Grammy nominations with 11 citations. But before we get to the movie stuff, we should acknowledge the three top categories: album, record, and song of the year...

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Are we really getting TEN movie musicals in 2021?

by Nathaniel R

In the Heights

In the recent Yes No Maybe So post I mentioned that we were getting three musicals in the space of seven months. But that was a gross understatement as I hadn't yet finished my Oscar chart research for 2021. There are actually TEN musicals... no make that eleven (!) that are supposed to arrive before Christmas. Release dates are subject to change, of course. The current schedule represents Hollywood doubling-down, no quintupling down, on audiences salivating en masse for musicals in the way they currently only do for animated fare and superhero films. (That'd be a wonderful world of course, if audiences were so inclined.)

Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, is spectacularly talented but looking at this schedule we're a little worried for him. We don't want Miranda to become the next Ryan Murphy -- i.e. stretched thin, predictable, veering into being a Brand first and artist second, and offering diminishing returns. Given that Miranda is involved in more than a third of these musicals, that's a major oversaturation risk. Tell us which of these ten you're most excited about in the comments...

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YNMS x 4: Dear Evan Hansen, Stillwater, Venom 2, and The Green Knight

Ben Platt and Kaitlyn Dever in "Dear Evan Hansen"Besieged by movie trailers we are. Movie studios hopes you'll go back to the movie theater ...sort of. They also hope you'll join their streaming service, whatever it is, and stay at home. Have any of these movies -- Dear Evan Hansen, Stillwater, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, or The Green Knight -- already sold you a ticket? 

Let's look at their trailers after the jump...

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