in the heights review

1. In the Heights Review
2. In The Heights – Is It Good or Nah?
3. In the Heights – Doug Reviews
4. In the Heights Choreographer Reviews Dance Scenes from Movies | Vanity Fair
5. In The Heights: 2021s Best Movie So Far – Review!
6. The First 3 Minutes of In the Heights Changed Everything
7. In The Heights reviewed by Mark Kermode.

In the Heights Review

[Music],the long-awaited film adaptation of,hamilton creator lin-manuel mirandas,broadway sensation in the heights is one,of the liveliest and most moving films,youre likely to see this year,it follows znavi a bodega owner in,washington heights with big dreams of,reopening his fathers bar in the,dominican republic,but it really follows an ensemble of,friends family and lovers living through,what feels like the last days of a,neighborhood being steadily lost to,gentrification,to call new york city a character is a,well-worn cliche but its a truism that,bursts to life here not simply through,shots of streets and landmarks but,through the way each corner and sidewalk,brims with life love and culture,their neighborhood made up of dominican,cuban puerto rican and a number of other,latin american cultures,faces the prospect of permanent change,as residents and businesses are being,priced out,the characters are all either immigrants,first-generation americans or that,in-between generation that immigrated,when they were young,washington heights is their home but the,film takes aim at the complicated,question of what home even means,when change is the only constant these,questions of belonging permeate every,scene from the subtle to the operatic,im making moves im making deals but,guess what,what you still aint got no skills john,m chus directorial approach is,multifaceted,depending on the scene or song he,grounds the films bombast in naturalism,the actors measure their performances,for the camera rather than the back row,of an auditorium,but as it gets deeper into its run time,it introduces playful elements of,magical realism,it runs the gamut but it rarely loses,focus of its story and characters,there is however an unfortunate downside,to this initial fragmented approach,which seems designed,to delay gratification the first time,the film feels big the way you expect a,broadway musical to feel is when the,neighborhood gathers at a local pool,that particular song 96 000 comes to,life in a synchronized display in and,around the water but the result feels,less like a story told through dance and,more like the random shot selections of,a pop music video,this fragmentation continues a little,while longer resulting in a stretch of,the film that drags as it approaches the,one hour mark,however this brief dip in visual and,narrative energy barely matters moving,forward,as the film settles into a rhythm both,in its intimate moments and in its more,vibrant energetic dance scenes,at its loudest in the heights explodes,with uncontainable energy,at its quietest it becomes a reflection,on memory and the connections that make,up a culture,a story and a history there are some,moments where the screen fills with,small acts of heroism and with people,dancing and dreaming in darkness,above all in the heights does what a,great musical should do it makes you,feel alive,voices shake and voices bellow in this,film adaptation of lin-manuel mirandas,first broadway hit,set in a steadily gentrifying manhattan,neighborhood in the heights moves,smoothly between,cinematic realism and the magic of the,stage in a defiant musical about what it,means to belong and what it means to be,remembered,in the heights is one of the most moving,and joyful films this year,for more views of the hottest movies,keep it right here on ign

In The Heights – Is It Good or Nah?

funding for shape realist is provided by,surfsharkvpn tune in till the end to,find out about their amazing service,hello Gamers its me shafe in person,whoa its been a while since I did one,of these in-person reviews I think the,last one was like cats2019 and uh that,was a while ago anyway I figured it,would be good to do an in-person thing,for this review for a couple reasons,number one because Warner Brothers is uh,really mean with copyright compared to,every other Studio that Ive uploaded,the clips from so were just gonna try,and avoid any of that uh copyright issue,stuff and the second reason I wanted to,do this in person is because a lot of my,critiques with this movie are uh very,theater kid-esque and I feel like those,kind of critiques work better in an,unscripted face-to-face setting this is,how I rant it to my friends last night,about uh the movie so uh this is how Im,gonna rant to you about it as well okay,so in the Heights it is uh lin-manuel,Mirandas first full-length Musical goal,I havent forgotten 21 Jump Street,hashtag Justin did nothing wrong hashtag,Q Naomi but in the Heights was the first,musical that was like full length that,he wrote for Broadway like before,Hamilton and it is a very good musical I,really enjoy it maybe I give it like a,seven or an eight out of ten its fun,its got a lot of great characters a lot,of really great songs I think it falters,a bit in the story like I not a fan of,the fact that the plot hinges on someone,winning the lottery and like that seems,a bit,absurd a bit I dont know and I just,feel like story Wise Its a bit generic,youre mostly there for the characters,and the songs and its very enjoyable I,really like the original musical its,been a while since I saw it so going,into this movie I was just really,excited to see it again I heard it got,rave reviews and you know what,its a good movie theres a lot of,really excellent directorial choices it,really feels like theyre taking,advantage of the fact that its a movie,and a musical like a lot of movie to,musical adaptations dont take advantage,of either and theyre really bad but,this is definitely one of the better,movie to musical adaptations in recent,years and I just think in general its,very well shot like the cinematography,is flat out insane in a lot of parts,like the directing is great the,cinematography it all like comes,together its so creatively done the,musical numbers are just excellent,everything comes together in them again,the way theyre shot plus the,performances which are all fantastic,across the board and thats something,you really cant say about most movie,musicals because they always got to,insert those famous film actors who are,terrible singers or terrible in a,Broadway setting and it just makes for,such,delightful adaptation but yeah this,isnt like that every performance in,this is great lin-manuel Miranda is once,again the worst singer in every musical,he ever writes and the tradition is,going strong in this but everyone else,just kills it the only song that I,thought was not performed the best was,breathe I thought the actress did great,in every other song but breathe I dont,know she just didnt seem to bring a ton,of energy to it which I thought was,weird but every other song with her was,great Im probably going to be watching,a lot of these big Ensemble numbers over,and over again like in the Heights like,the opening song 96 000 like they are so,well done 96 000 just like shot in this,pool and the choreography is just so,top-notch it really feels like they saw,cats 2019 and said were gonna do the,exact opposite of that and make this,musical that wasnt even really about,dancing in the original just have this,insane amazing dance numbers and it just,flows together so well theyre dancing,in the pool like dude you just gotta,watch this and you movie for the for the,choreography alone it is insanely,impressive some of the best Ive seen on,film honestly and once again not only,did every cast member do a great job,singing but in the acting Department too,I thought everyone was solid I really,liked sunny in this I like how hes like,an actual kid I got really invested in,sunny and the new struggle they added,for him I thought it was um pretty well,handled overall they added a lot of,stuff that wasnt in the original thats,like more relevant to the modern day and,I thought it all worked together pretty,well there were some stretches here and,there where there werent a lot of songs,because they added some stuff and kind,of broke up the pacing of the original,but for the most part those parts didnt,really last that long and they werent,that frequent it didnt really hamper my,enjoyment overall so yeah this sounds,like a pretty rad movie to musical,adaptation what could possibly be wrong,with it well Im glad you asked so this,movie makes some changes to the,originals structure and,theyre not great pretty much with any,movie to musical adaptation youre going,to get a lot of songs cut out just to,fit the structure of the movie better,and I understood that going into this,but,some songs being cut I dont really,consider myself a fan of first of all,they cut paragua reprise which is the,most important song in the entire,musical it is critical to every,characters Arc I am joking I didnt,want to hear lensing again so Im okay,with them cutting progo reprise oh by,the way I also really liked Chris,Jackson as the Mr Softee guy that was,that was pretty great oh speaking of,random cameos Patrick page is in this,and hes like the guy that Jimmy Smith,sells his uh business to and that was,just just great he just sold his,business to Hades like f and oh yeah,Jimmy Smiths is in this I havent seen,him in anything since Rogue one that was,cool basil oregano played by Jimmy Smits,I think overall the film flowed pretty,well they did move some things around,but for the most part it worked in the,context of this being a movie compared,to a stage Musical but theres just two,things that I didnt care for and those,two things are two characters that,really just got the short end of the,stick compared to the musical the first,and most egregious is abuela Claudia so,shes a very Central character in the,original Musical and she kinda is here,but really it doesnt come across that,way and I dont think anyone who um goes,into this without having seen the,original musical would really get how,important and integral she is to the,original because in this shes kind of a,background character until the end of,blackout and thats when we get every,aspect of her character she sings her,great ballad song pasiense and the song,is really well done its all happening,in her head and just the choreography,the creativity is all outstanding but,then she dies right after and its like,in the original we have her salad song,in the middle of act one and then she,dies in the middle of Acts 2. and then,blackout is when she reveals to usnavi,that she had the winning lottery ticket,I think that sounds about right,yeah,Maybe,that sounds about right I dont need to,check you you check this is on you you,need to,fact check me keep me in check,okay and so basically every major,interaction with her every major beat of,her character is spread out throughout,the course of the show and that really,works it helps establish her better so,that when she dies in act two you really,get invested oh yeah I should have put a,spoiler warning Im gonna retroactively,have edited a spoiler warning in and,then yeah but in the movie she doesnt,have any moments of significance until,this moment where she has the whole song,in her head her whole ballad and then,immediately dies right after its like,they took these two Central parts of her,character and just smushed them into one,part and thats like the only part of,the movie where shes relevant and its,so weird like I liked it at first,because it like brought everything,together with her character and got me,invested but then I thought about it,more and Im like,why did they do t

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In the Heights – Doug Reviews

okay so i just saw uh an advanced,screening of in the heights thank you so,much for uh that screening i always like,giving a thanks to and i actually have a,funny,story about that it does tie into this,review so dont worry uh,usually when i go to the screenings its,in a uh,its in a certain theater i usually go,to the same one and i try to get there,early because i dont want to miss,uh you know these screenings and uh,this time i went to the wrong theater,they put in a different one,and i got there and i realized and i,looked at the phone ive read the,message oh i went to the wrong theater,and the theater it turns out its 20,minutes away,and the movie starts in 20 minutes so i,just,ran to my car i booked it over and im,trying to swerve through these,drivers i swear driving has gotten worse,since the pandemic like everyones,grandma now everyones driving like your,grandma except when they slam on the,brakes where its just like ah and it,just sucks im swerving around,everybody and this is at a music box,where if you know that area in chicago,uh its very difficult to find parking,around there its a beautiful spot but,parking sucks,uh so im trying to find parking im,driving around in circles,i finally get one okay so i pull in at,the parallel park im not very good at,that,uh so i slammed the door i started,running towards the theater i realized,that i didnt put money in the mirror so,i turn around i,run towards the meter i put the money in,i run in uh and,theres the person taking the names and,everything im like am i too late,because this is one of those where,they let the critics in and then i think,they let other people who bought tickets,in so,like seating is kind of limited shes,like no no you just made it its all,good and stuff so,i walk in im in a bad mood man because,i mean i was just driving and yelling at,the traffic i mean im so stupid i cant,believe i got the wrong theater how dumb,of me and everything,the reason im bringing all this up,because a sit down,movie starts a minute into the first,song,im in a good mood i just feel great,this is a really good movie uh this is,uh based on the lin-manuel uh,uh musical that i will admit,i have not seen and so in the reason im,saying that so you know that im going,in completely blind,i have no idea uh you know i mean,obviously this must have been a big hit,but i didnt know any of the songs or,the plot or anything,and i really think this is a film i,dont think this is going to be like,universally loved,like uh i dont know sound a music or,west side story or something like that,well even theyre not always universally,loved either but you know what i mean i,dont know if its going to win,everybody over but i think its going to,win a lot of people over and i think a,lot of folks are really going to like it,i think its going to last,through the years the people who i dont,think will get into it,i i will go into that in a bit but i do,want to make it very clear,i really like this film this is a lot of,what im looking for,in a movie musical i usually like a,little bit more conflict and that ties,in a little bit to why i think some,people wont get into it,but all the songs are either expressing,an emotion or its furthering something,and this is really just a story about,these people you know me in the heights,and how they live their lives and i,think the the folks that will,not get into this and this is the first,really major warning,i want to make about this are the people,who see,dancing in the streets and they think,west side story,blues brothers these are movies where,you know,yes theres its a musical but theres,usually like,a big fight or a big conflict or car,chases or,like fighting choreography thats both,kind of dancing and fighting and stuff,like that,that is not the kind of film this is,its not the kind of musical this,is this is a musical about,people discovering where theyve come,from,where they are where theyre going and,how and if they can get there,there is really no fighting in this,theres no,misunderstanding in this theres no liar,revealed theres no villain,this is really just people coming to,grips with,who they are and who they will be and,who they were and where theyve come,from so its very rich in that sense,but if youre watching this film,thinking like oh yeah like some,everyone says this is great so there,better be some really good drama,and people that you know hate each other,and are gonna you know,really really come to blows and stuff,its not that kind of musical,it really like i said the look is kind,of giving off a,west side story vibe and its really not,that,i was thankful for that because im kind,of sick of those stories i mean i,shouldnt say that a lot of those,stories are done well,but i like seeing,a musical where people are talking about,how they feel theyre singing about,how they feel how theyre gonna get,through stuff and theyre singing about,difficulties,and real life challenges and there isnt,a formulaic,bad guy there isnt a formulaic oh im,really this and then at the third act,its revealed theyre not,or a third act breakup where the couple,suddenly thinks they dont like each,other uh theres a hint of that but not,really not really,uh this really is about the rich history,of uh you know of this place and these,people,and where you know the generations of,them have come from and where,generations of them are going and the,struggles,of getting there but its also just,about people,that live on this street and have,romances and make,jokes and take some things for granted,and some things uh you know,like they value but then dont realize,just how even more valuable it is until,its gone i mean it really is one of,those musicals where,you just say all these good things and,for me im glad they dont have those,typical cliches of what i was talking,about before the villains and,misunderstandings and so forth but i,think a lot of people are gonna be,thrown off by that i think they are,gonna want,more uh i dont say more drama but,faster drama because it,really takes a while to get to the,problems,that a lot of people are going through,in the movie there is a lot,of celebration songs theres a lot of,feel-good songs and theyre,great they are so good but theres a lot,of them,the uh cleverness of the film though,is every single time one pops up,where im like i dont know were doing,another one of these another isnt,everything great,song is they would do something to mix,it up they would add something different,to make it so that you were still,interested i remember at one point,im saying myself man this film should,probably be wrapping up but again i know,its based on a stage musical and those,are,uh you know very long obviously you pay,a lot of money for them you know you,want to get your moneys worth,uh depending on where you seat i guess,but,im saying to myself man this should be,wrapping up soon,and its these two theyre on this,balcony,and im thinking well great theyre just,going to sing a little love song to each,other and this isnt going to be,that interesting but then they start,dancing along the side of the building,like spider-man like they just suddenly,start,walking along the walls of the building,and start,dancing and the camera does a lot of fun,stuff and im like okay,suddenly this is interesting and even,though what theyre singing about is,usually,a very poignant and again does help to,move the story forward and what theyre,feeling forward,there is kind of a sound that you do get,a little tired,of hearing or you want a little bit more,variation,in it but when you add that extra,little addition whether its something,with the character or something visual,or whatever,or even an additional bit of information,that wasnt privy to you before,that adds a lot and it really keeps,everything pretty fresh and,and really flowing well the characters,are really freaking charming,everyone that pops up i i just,i want to hug all of them theyre all,just really likable sweet people and,theyre,sup

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In the Heights Choreographer Reviews Dance Scenes from Movies | Vanity Fair

hey vanity fair im christopher scott,today ill be reviewing iconic musical,dance scenes in film,[Music],first up we got in the heights,my first step as the choreographer was,really just,listening to the music so i was just,playing that soundtrack on loop it was,like my biggest tool,and then from there really the next step,is just getting inside of john chus,brain,we would just brainstorm and we just,start like writing down a ton of ideas,just on a whiteboard,and as were going through were just,crossing them off once theyre like yeah,that doesnt really work,or were circling the ones thats like,thats like has to happen,the opening number specifically has a,ton of like really subtle,moments that are choreographed that you,wouldnt really know because the actors,did such a brilliant job just making,them feel natural and as a choreographer,i think its important to do is you know,collaborate with your cast,and a lot of times theyll have these,instincts that,are perfect so therell be times when i,would have like a whole little section,when benny comes in its like benny,let me get a milky way all that stuff,was like really choreographed,before they even came in the room and,then as we started to go through it we,find little things,sunny jumps in you aint got no ski like,all that stuff we just found on the spot,you really take the time that in film,you feel like you dont have,but you just got to make the time to,just focus on those little details,one of the musical numbers that really,like i couldnt wait,to get into was when the sun goes down,the music couldnt be more beautiful,and this idea of benny and nina dancing,on the side of a building and this was,such a magical moment,and i didnt really know how to do it we,didnt have the actual tools,so i was really just in a studio laying,down benches,in a way that could feel like the fire,escape laying down tables or standing on,them i mean it was really pretty crazy,you know i had no idea what we were,gonna end up with and then,six months later when were like there,shooting it 75 percent of the,choreography,it worked out so it was a really,gratifying moment corey and leslie,just did a beautiful job performing it,they were nervous its a lot of things,its you know youre dancing youre,singing and youre on the side of a,building thats rotating i felt very,lucky to have a musical like this where,i got to showcase styles that i dont,feel like has ever really been seen,in a musical light feet you know flexing,breaking even like the the level of,mambo no this wasnt the commercialized,version of the latin dance this came,from the street styles the music,told us to do that it makes sense to put,b-boys right here or it makes sense to,put flexors right here,or youre definitely putting mambo right,here because thats what this song,is telling us to do,[Music],96 000 was like a dream number,to get to work on when we went and,scouted highbridge pool,i mean it was like the biggest and most,beautiful,inspiring playground you could have and,then there was a moment was like we,dont know if we could pull it off,its just so big we like looked at some,other ideas and then it just came down,to john,being like you know what i think we just,got to figure out how to make it work,theres probably like,20 routines that the world will never,see because we were just playing we were,just making up stuff and we would just,divide and conquer wed have somebody,over there,dancing with noodles somebody over here,dancing with floaties,and it just felt like like one of those,passion projects you know it was just,one of those,those moments just that number alone,huge shout out to those dancers,first of all the water was freezing one,day we got completely rained out,and they just kept going and they were,just determined,to make sure that we got this number,against all these odds because that that,location was,was tricky it was one of those things,when we pulled it off and we were done,it was like,now we can do anything next up grease,[Music],the lesson i learned from watching that,movie was less is more,because they would do some stuff and,youre like i remember them being like,these huge musical numbers sometimes and,i would watch it,and im like oh no its just they made,it larger than life,because the way that they performed it,the commitment,the charm the character the detail you,know talk about detail just the way that,john travolta is looking at her you know,he goes from her face and now hes,looking at her body and shes walking up,the steps those are the things that that,make you just sit there and watch heres,like,stuck to the tv but you watch these like,groups of people theyre sitting over,there they just got like a little,like a little bounce and you see over,there they walk past these people and,these people just got like a little like,you know and theyre all a part of this,world it reminds you that,youre creating a world because we dont,really,live like that unfortunately i wish we,did i wish we all danced around the,street but so its important,to make sure that it doesnt overpower,the story,and it just enhances it in that moment,you know,theres a lot happening theyre going,from like breaking up to like coming,back together,theyre evolving theyre changing i,think thats the the key to a solid,musical number,it progresses the story its not just,like okay were story story story stop,lets all dance for a second im always,pushing for that,as a choreographer myself,[Music],when you put props actors lyrics,song set design all these things,together,feels like a lot of elements that can be,really challenging i actually find it,super inspiring like i draw inspiration,from each department so when i have,props,i actually feel sometimes like oh great,i have another dancer,that i get to play with you can take a,whole section that sometimes you can,scratch your head like what do i do here,and then its like well you could do a,grease did throw them on a little,rotating,floor it says shake shack and just have,them like vibe out with each other have,a moment and youre just watching it,with a big ol smile on your face,they took us on a journey like greece,greece that you took us on a journey,with that one and now this is team beach,movie,cool smooth and steady back here man,things are getting,[Music],team beach movie was very special,project for me because i got to you know,pay respects to the musicals before me,so as soon as i got this opportunity i,was like i have to do this,right i have to do justice for the,people who have choreographed these,brilliant musicals that were kind of,replicating in this film i wanted to,make sure,that the bikers gave you that feeling,that i had as a kid watching a west side,story they had to be,sharp strong powerful like i want to see,those guys that first part with john,deluca coming through,those dancers on the side of him they,are on point,the director of the film jeffrey,hornaday was a choreographer he would,push us he would say like,ah iconic just think iconic you always,want to keep this level of anticipation,i think when youre choreographing you,know having the guys spin,next to john look up but then he stops,one and stops two its like you dont,know when theyre gonna stop and then oh,and then,theyre going and then they slide,through and you dont know how theyre,gonna get through and they get through,and then boom and they land i always try,my best to play with,a bit of anticipation so you can keep,your audience engaged and you can keep,them just glued,to the screen because uh you know you,dont want anybody checking out during a,musical number especially,my first instinct is to always,create something and then believe that,the actors are going to be able to,figure it out somehow they might hate me,for that,but it always its kind of worked every,single time,so in cruising for bruising for example,like john de luca,hed never really danced before so you,know i created the movement that,fit well for him and i took advantage of,wh

In The Heights: 2021s Best Movie So Far – Review!

in the heights is in theaters but does,it reach new heights for movie musicals,ill let you know right now,[Music],hello everybody and welcome to my review,of in the heights the latest big-budget,movie musical to hit screens its based,on a 2008 musical with music and lyrics,by lin-manuel miranda he did this show a,little less than seven years before,hamilton premiered the screenplays from,kiara alegria judas who also wrote the,book,for the musical in the heights on stage,and its hitting theaters about a year,past its original release date it was,one of the movies that was nearing,completion last year in 2020 when,theaters shut down,they made the proactive decision to,delay this film,from summer of last year to the summer,of this year so theres been a lot of,anticipation for this movie,not just from last year to this year but,for many many years,this movie has been in development for,the better part of a decade it was,its been on and off its been at,different companies but it is now,finally hitting the big screen in the,heights is both an intimate and a,sprawling musical it all takes place in,the neighborhood of washington heights,on the island of manhattan and while,its pretty much contained to a few,square blocks of this neighborhood,it tells several different,interconnecting stories anthony ramos,plays usnavi who runs at bodega in,washington heights but dreams of,returning to his fathers old bar in the,dominican republic,to rebuild it and open it up there,melissa barrera plays vanessa an,aspiring fashion designer whos torn,between the limitations of her,neighborhood and her loyalty to it,leslie grace plays nina a college,student who is bearing the burden of the,entire neighborhoods expectations shes,seen as the person who was able to break,out of washington heights,she is studying at stanford with the,support of her hard-working father kevin,whos played by jimmy smits corey,hawkins who i didnt know until today,has a beautiful singing voice,plays benny who works for kevin and,loves nina he struggles with wanting,whats best for her,and with whats best for his career,working at the car service that ninas,father owns,providing the heart of the film is olga,maradi she is the only,broadway cast member who returns to,reprise her original role,in this film she plays abuela claudia a,cuban immigrant who came to america with,her mother,and has since adopted the entire,neighborhood anthony ramos and corey,hawkins both have been,in big movies before anthony ramos and a,star is born among others corey hawkins,and,straight outta compton among others,theyre both great in their parts but i,think you have to give a lot of credit,to the two female leads of the film,who are both relatively new to movie,acting this is leslie graces,first on-screen performance shes,already an established recording artist,melissa barrera has been acting for a,while this is by far her biggest role in,any movie and i think were really,seeing the birth of,two movie stars here because they both,bring their roles to,dazzling life i was watching both of,them and trying to figure out where i,had seen either of them before because,i was sure they had to have been in,several movies and several tv shows and,particularly with nina grace who like i,said has never been in a movie before,and theres just a natural charisma that,they both have they both just seem,suited for the big screen i think that,this movie is going to do great things,for everybody involved and i think that,we are going to see both of their,careers skyrocket because they are both,fantastic in this film they hold their,own with the veterans and im looking,forward to seeing both of them in,whatever they choose to do next,anthony ramos who you can see right now,on disney plus he was in the original,broadway cast of hamilton,he is great as usnavi this is a role,that was,originated by lin-manuel miranda on,broadway,miranda appears in a smaller role in the,movie but ramos has been a supporting,actor hes,hes had his moments to shine but this,is a big,spotlight role for him and he really,takes to it very well im sure that his,familiarity with mirandas style,through his work in hamilton with the,music etc probably helped but,he has to carry the film on his,shoulders because it is an,ensemble piece to an extent but hes,unquestionably the lead,character and he does a great job of,keeping you on board he frames the story,he narrates the story in many times and,i think that hes a big part of what,makes this movie work,corey hawkins as i mentioned i think,rounds out the ensemble,nicely of the main characters i think,that his is the one that probably has,the least,to do but hes in some great numbers as,i mentioned he has a beautiful voice,which i,had no idea but then doing some research,hes a juilliard trained actor and,performer so i guess its no shock that,he is a man of many talents,[Music],[Applause],and then even when you go down to the,supporting performances jimmy smits,is an actor that i really like a lot and,it seems like he never gets the roles,that he,should get in movies hes got a great,supporting role,in this movie as ninas father who wants,to support his daughter whether she,wants it or not and you can feel that,conflict,inside of him and also a generational,conflict its something that comes into,play,with several different characters he,grew up as somebody of very little means,he dedicated his life to doing better,than his father had done and now he,wants to pass that on to his daughter,but the line starts to blur about,at what point is he doing that for him,and at what point is he doing that for,his daughter,and that conflict plays very well into,the movie and then olga merdes who as i,mentioned,is the only person who returns from the,original broadway cast as her role,she was tony nominated for her role as,abuela claudia,i think if this movie takes off uh like,it might,and and i hope that it will she could be,in the talk potentially for an oscar,nomination i know it seems absurdly,early to be talking about these things,but,she really is a standout in this film,she spends a lot of it in the background,kind of motivating action and,and being this figure in the community,that everyone looks up to and then shes,given the spotlight and she,really takes advantage of it you can,tell that she is a veteran performer,and there is no rough transition from,stage to screen,for her uh she really is like i said the,beating heart,of this movie and and the movie would,not be the same without her and when we,talk about oscar nominations thats the,kind of role that sticks in peoples,heads now i know its the summer and we,could have a,a situation like the five bloods last,year where nobody remembers in the,heights by the time we get,to the end of the year but olga marades,i think is,wonderful in this movie and i would love,to see her in the conversation at the,end of the year,performances aside this is also a,beautiful film and,john m chu puts on a master class,in how to adapt a broadway musical to,the screen,some people might say that its easy you,already have the music you already have,the script,just set up a camera and shoot it but,john m chu understands that theres more,to it than that its not just about,letting the choreography do the work,its not just about letting the music do,the work,he makes it visually interesting as well,the camera sweeps and moves theres one,scene thats,at a community pool where youre above,the water then youre underneath the,water the cameras above and then its,right in the middle of the crowd,it really is such a dynamic thing and,when you look at some of the adaptations,of stage musicals,the one that jumps to my mind first and,foremost is clint eastwoods adaptation,of jersey boys,they seem lethargic because the decision,was made to let the music do the work,this is a gorgeous film it looks,gorgeous i love the way that john m chu,uses the camera to shoot the scenes,he does zoom out and lock it off at,times and let t

The First 3 Minutes of In the Heights Changed Everything

lin-manuel miranda has revolutionized,what we think of broadway musicals hes,made them part of the mainstream culture,and hes done it largely by being just,really good at it,but when i say that most people think of,hamilton as being the revolutionary,musical when in fact the revolution,truly began within the heights granted,there have always been revolutionary,works that challenge,existing paradigms of how musicals,should sound,but what in the heights did was,successfully challenge the paradigm it,won best musical it launched lin-manuel,miranda,and it put stories of latin americans on,stage to the point where it has,opened doors for so many artists and,people in its wake,including setting the stage for hamilton,at the end of my third video on how rap,works in hamilton i called lynn,a synthesizer no not that kind of,synthesizer i mean,he is a person whos able to uniquely,synthesize,as it was his genius synthesizer the,musical theater tradition,with the genre of vernacular music known,as hip-hop,or rap i even made a three-part video,series about that check it out,one reason he can synthesize is that he,has the ability as a composer to code,switch,almost like he can talk respectfully to,his elders and then turn around and,crack a joke with the cool kids,and its the quick seamless toggling,back and forth between these two worlds,that gives in the heights its,revolutionary quality,i think the quote that sums up what lin,was trying to achieve is,whats really exciting is uh you know,you get we get 80 year old grandmas who,say,i hate rap music but i love this i love,this quote because to me i see,lin-manuel miranda at his proudest he,wants to share,his love of this music with the world,and what more prized audience is there,than our beloved grandmothers,statistically they are a huge chunk of,the broadway ticket buying audience,according to the broadway league in the,2018-2019 season,68 of broadway show attendees identified,as women,and the single biggest age demographic,of broadway attendees was 50 to 64 year,olds at 23.6 percent,and people older than 65 were no slouch,either,at 15.6 so you might say that appealing,to older women might be the recipe for a,hit show,hey you might even want to write a show,where a grandmother is a pivotal,character,such as in the heights thats right,abuela or grandma claudia may not be,uznavis real grandmother but he says,she practically raised him now shes one,of the first characters introduced in,the first three minutes of the show,which is what were talking about today,and were gonna break down how,skillfully lin,synthesizes his entire vision of,broadway in just the first three minutes,of in the heights thats right the dna,of lin synthesis,is laid out even before the first chorus,of the opening number keep in mind im,talking here about the stage version,the film is a whole different story and,were gonna talk about that in upcoming,videos,but for now here we go this is how lin,revolutionized broadway in three minutes,[Music],now its sort of unfair to expect that,in three minutes youre going to be able,to merge broadway tradition with a,hip-hop aesthetic,not to mention authentically represent,dominican republic and puerto rican,culture which we will eventually get to,but i think in three minutes thats,exactly what lin did,and i think one of the reasons he did,that is because he knows how important,the opening numbers are to establish the,tone and overall aesthetic of a show,he knows that an opening can make or,break a hit which is exactly what,happened with stephen sondheims a funny,thing happened on the way to the forum,which went from a flop to a hit,all because it went from the wrong,opening number to the right one,comedy tonight sondheim says that his,mentor oscar hammerstein once claimed if,the opening of a musical was the right,one the performers could read from a,telephone directory for half an hour and,the audience would still have a good,time,and having the right opening number is,even more crucial in an original story,like in the heights where theres no,built-in,audience or familiarity what were doing,it is original,as opposed to taking a story that we,know people already relate to,we are really starting from the ground,up lin starts off the show by getting,rid of the standard overture,barry k aloha created a series of,anatomy of a musical diagrams that went,viral and in the section on lin-manuel,miranda barry noted that lin uses,almost no intro now typically musicals,do have an intro piece called,an overture a piece of music played by,the orchestra which introduces all of,the main melodies that,the audience will be hearing in the,course of the show some overtures have,even become,lauded as pieces in their own right such,as leonard bernsteins candide overture,which is often played as a standalone,concert piece,but even so the idea is that the,audience is supposed to listen to this,thing for five,minutes or so while scrambling to their,seats wrapping up their conversations,and just sort of enjoying the,anticipation,lin doesnt do that he gets right to it,the curtain opens on a washington height,street corner at the break of dawn,and though we hear music it is not from,an orchestra but its canned,instead of an orchestra we hear radio,station,channel surfing now lin said that one of,the missions of in the heights was to,capture what it was like to be,in this area of washington heights where,he grew up i grew up 10 blocks from here,if you walk down that hill,uh youll hit my house and what better,way than to just hear,all the different music being blasted on,nearby radios its hard for us to get,people to turn down their radios thats,what its like in washington heights,theres salsa,blasting out of stereos theres hip-hop,and reggaeton coming out of peoples,cars,so were hearing a bunch of random songs,or are we in fact what lynn is saying,about his neighborhood,accurately describes what is going on in,this opening radio montage,indeed we hear salsa bolero merengue pop,piano spanish language hip-hop and,reggaeton,each of these snippets are not random,songs either but are musical themes that,run throughout the show,the salsa is what they dance to in the,club the bolero is heard and discussed,in the rosario family dinner scene and,also sampled in the finale of the show,that chord progression in the merengue,returns in carnival del barrio the pop,piano becomes the opening riff of it,wont be long now the hip hop song with,its catchphrase nobare sigue sigue is,referenced in three other songs and the,reggaeton beat returns memorably in 96,000,so the radio montage is actually a,modern take on the overture,combining a traditional aspect of,musicals with the hip-hop and latin,culture of washington heights,the spirit of synthesis in this radio,montage can even be heard in the radio,dj announcement in,english while the spanish language,hip-hop plays underneath,tomorrows the 4th of july but were,kicking off a celebration,tonight with fireworks at the marina,spanish and english occupying the same,sonic space,is a metaphor not only for the hybrid,nature of,the neighborhood washington heights but,also as a mission statement for lin,as a composer representing an idea that,is equal parts,latin and american the americanness of,this is further emphasized by the fact,that the announcer is talking about the,upcoming celebrations for july 4th,setting up the theme of what it means to,be american,when we see our first character come out,were still hearing this radio channel,surfing overture which has landed on,reggaeton or as indicated in the,broadway score the umbrella genre,dancehall reggae so we see this,character come out and do some,breakdance moves to this music hes got,a boombox,which is sort of the explanation of,where this radio channel surfing is,coming from,and hes got paint spray cans in each,hand without knowing anything about this,musical,the audience might be tempted to think,that the show is gonna be all about this,person,who almost

In The Heights reviewed by Mark Kermode.

well its kind of interesting that,theres you know theres opportunity for,making mistakes here you can go to,cinema,i want to go and see because you cruella,i want to go and see that film,with i want to go and see the film with,joel fry and you mean cruella and you,end up being in the heights i want to,see that the lin,manuel miranda thing in the heights you,end up with in the earth um so anyway,dont get them wrong so,uh in the heights is the lin-manuel,miranda film in the earth is the ben,wheatley film they could not be more,different,um lin-manuel miranda the,the show it was something like you know,four tony awards,and including best musical and the story,is that he,when he was having a holiday from it and,when he was on holiday from it he,chanced upon a biography of one of the,founding fathers and that then,led to uh hamilton which you know which,he describes as a tale of,america then as told by america now,hamilton then became you know the,biggest,sensation ever there have been a lot of,talk about,hamilton becoming a film but i read an,interview with lin-manuel miranda who,said well not for a long,time because firstly i want to let the,stage play stand for itself,and secondly because if id meant it to,be a film i would have written a film,it its it its a different thing,although of course there is the disney,production which you can see which is a,film,of of the broadway production so um,this is the film of in the heights which,was the kind of hit musical before,hamilton um two and a half hours of very,good-hearted,exuberance uh focusing on latino,american communities in in washington,heights so,anthony ramos is um us navi whose name,comes from the fact that his parents saw,u.s navy written on the side of a boat,when they when they came in,um so hes just navi hes in a bodega he,works in a store but he has dreams of,going back,of going to his parents home of the,dominican republic,hes in love with vanessa whos played,by melissa barrera whos,also planning on leaving the local,neighborhood she has dreams of becoming,a fashion designer,and then theres nina who has been at,stanford but now wants to return,home to the neighborhood home to the,disappointment of her father whos,played by,jimmy smith so i mean its a you know,solidly good cast,and then this whole thing is playing out,in a kind of um,sweltering heat so you know you think of,things like uh,like do the right thing perhaps and,theres a power cut coming and we know,this because theres a countdown to the,power cut and there is talk about a,winning lottery ticket,all of which serves to kind of up the,ante and inevitably,at one point the production ends up in a,swimming pool heres a clip,maybe not the way to take a shot when,the day is hot i got a perfect straight,[Music],spot,[Music],[Applause],is,i mean you know you get from that a,sense of the tone of the film now the,interesting thing is,of course its dealing with difficult,subject matter i mean its dealing with,you know immigration and politics and,local tensions and,international tensions and its dealing,with you know,racism and uh on all that on the one,hand its also dealing with love and you,know coming of age and families,and celebration of the local community,you know longing for a,for a different community but also,celebrating this because all these,things are going on,so its a film in which you feel like,there is an absolute bucket load of,stuff,and its all done in this very exuberant,way even the sort of the darker stuff,is done with a sense of exuberance i,mean it is it feels very,showtuney it feels very like its you,know its on the,what you call it on the on the balls of,its feet you know its a,its a film that is that that is,reaching up and at one point they have,this kind of fantasy sequence in which,theyre dancing,along the side of a building in the,building so it seems to turn sideways so,that they defy gravity and obviously you,know there are comparisons with things,like west side story,actually weirdly enough comparison with,rooftops as well i suppose but,you know all those things are in the mix,and its two hours 20 minutes long,and nobody is going to come out of it,feeling that they were shortchanged,um there has been a sort of weird thing,recently that i know some people have,said well i didnt find it quite as,you know quite as romping as perhaps it,should be i thought you must have,watched a different film,again partly its i think because just,seeing a film in which so much stuff,takes place outdoors and there are dance,numbers and you know its,colorful and vibrant and yes all those,other things going on,to do with the serious themes and the,political themes and the themes about,identity and you know you i dont know,whether you saw the thing recently that,there was a complaint about an,under-representation of afro-latino,characters and lin-manuel miranda,immediately took to twitter and said yes,thats a perfectly valid criticism,and im sorry that we werent better on,that front you just think,you really are the nicest person in the,world arent you,you are anyway so i i really enjoyed it,i mean i,i just i found it like celebratory i,that doesnt mean there isnt dark stuff,in it there is,but i found it like it was what i wanted,it was a,a great big everything and the kitchen,sink romp