Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty’s Top Ten Best Films: #5: Rear Window (1954)

2 January 202317 December 2022 The Portly Politico4 Comments

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly two months since Ponty’s #6 pick in our countdown of the Top Ten Best Films. A combination of Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, and Ponty struggling through a gnarly sinus infection pushed back our foray into the halfway mark of his reviews until now. We also went into reviews of two classic Christmas films across three different authors, but now we’re back!

I grew up in a house full of Alfred Hitchcock. My mom has always been a big fan of the portly director, and issues of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine still clutter bookshelves and spare crannies all over my parents’ Queen Anne-style home (built in 1901!).

It’s a tad remarkable, then, that I have not (yet) considered any of the director’s films in my own list. That is a massive oversight on my part. Thanks for Ponty for expanding beyond my 1980s myopia with a classic Hitchcock gem.

As always, he delivers. Just reading his review reminds me of how intense this thriller is—and makes me eager to watch it again.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 1954’s Rear Window:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Portly’s Top Ten Best Films: #5: Back to the Future (1985)

5 December 20222 December 2022 The Portly Politico8 Comments

A recent installment of Open Mic Adventures inspired this pick, which I knew would show up on my list somewhere. I’m not sure where I intended to put it, but I knew it would be in the top five; indeed, it should probably be higher, but it’s fresh on my mind, so I’m putting it at #5.

The film is one of the enduring classics of the 1980s. It hit theaters on my half-birthday—3 July 1985—and was ever-present during my childhood on VHS (recorded from television broadcasts, of course). The film franchise even inspired the name of my old brass quintet, Brass to the Future.

The flick, of course, is Robert Zemeckis’s science-fiction classic Back to the Future (1985).

Ponty Pans: Halloween Kills (2021)

18 November 20226 November 2022 The Portly Politico25 Comments

Halloween might be over—noooooooo!—but the Halloween film franchise will never die—or End, as the latest installment claims. If you’re like Ponty and myself, you try to watch at least the 1978 John Carpenter classic at least once a year, preferably on Halloween.

Unlike Ponty, I haven’t seen the plethora of sequels, besides—of course—Halloween II (1981) and the unusual Halloween III: Season of the Witch. I’ve also seen the “soft reboots” since 2018, thought I haven’t seen Halloween Ends (2022) yet.

As Ponty points, I, like many others, will. I’ll also see Halloween Ends Again or whatever comes out next. Heck, I’ll probably see Halloween Ends Again III: Season of the Witch: The Musical, with an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, including that annoying Silver Shamrock jingle. These franchises know how to hook in suckers like yours portly, who will never hesitate to drop a $1.25 RedBox coupon to sample some tasty trash.

But I digress. Ponty asked to take a stab—no pun intended—at reviewing 2021’s Halloween Kills, a film I reviewed last November. Ponty assiduously avoided my review, so it’s interesting (though not entirely surprising) that we walked away with some similar reflections on the film. “Evil dies tonight!”—ugh. How could anyone miss that braying mantra?

Regardless, Ponty’s review goes far deeper than my own, delivered with his own brand of acerbic and longsuffering wit.

On a lighter note, he also includes some pictures from his and Tina’s Halloween festivities. Well done on the decorations, Tina!

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 2021’s Halloween Kills:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty’s Top Ten Best Films: #6: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

14 November 20227 November 2022 The Portly Politico11 Comments

Ponty’s list of flicks has been full of pleasant surprises, and his #6 pick is no exception. I wasn’t expecting a dark comedy from 1944—a “farce,” as Ponty calls it.

Like his review—surprisingly succinct coming from our loquacious Ponty—I don’t have much to add. Let’s just say I’ve always wanted to see this film, and thanks to Ponty, I can finally do that—he includes a link to the full flick on YouTube. You can, too, and I encourage you to do so.

It also gets bonus points in my book because Boris Karloff was in the stage version, and would have been in the film if the producers hadn’t been worried about stripping the stage production of its entire leading cast. Sorry, Boris—you deserved better!

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 1944’s Arsenic and Old Lace:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Portly’s Top Ten Best Films: #6: Goodfellas (1990)

7 November 20226 November 2022 The Portly Politico16 Comments

After taking last week off from movie reviews to celebrate Halloween, I’m back with my #6 pick for the best movies of all time.

Unfortunately, I’m struggling with some manner of fever-cum-sinus infection (probably not The Virus, but who even knows anymore), and after an unusual week, I fell behind on my rigorous pre-scheduling of posts. As such, this review of a truly fantastic film may be a tad shorter than usual. I doubt it will reach Pontian lengths, to say the least.

That said, I’m excited to write about this flick, even as I’m over here hacking up a lung. It’s a movie that combines two of my favorite topics—mid-twentieth-century social history and gangsters—into one thrilling package.

I’m referring, of course, to Martin Scorsese’s 1990 masterpiece Goodfellas.

Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty’s Top Ten Best Films: #7: La La Land (2016)

24 October 202221 October 2022 The Portly Politico7 Comments

If readers thought my placement of 1983’s sci-fi/fantasy/swashbuckler Krull at #7 was shocking, this week’s #7 pick from Ponty will truly blow your staggered minds. From the man who just wrote about Halloween (1978), I’d never expect a splashy musical.

I remember seeing this flick back in 2016 on a date, and remember enjoying it (not just due to the excellent execution and story, but probably thanks to Emma Stone—shew!). Suddenly, my students wanted to play “City of Stars” all the time, and jazz piano enjoyed an all-too-brief resurgence.

Ponty gives it a very thorough review, as you’ll see, that really brings out some of the sparkling details of the film without spoiling anything. It probably also holds the distinction of being the only review of a film musical to reference Grand Theft Auto 5, so that should be worth something.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 2016’s La La Land:

Lazy Sunday CLXVII: More Movies, Part XXXI: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part II

16 October 202211 October 2022 The Portly Politico1 Comment

When putting together this weekend’s edition of Lazy Sunday, I thought that surely my longtime reader, contributor, and Internet friend (eFriend, perhaps?) Audre Myers had submitted more than these remaining two Midweek Myers Movie Reviews. I’m sure she has submitted film reviews prior to the institution of this semi-regular, roughly-twice-monthly feature, but I’m too lazy to go scouring my vast archives for them (it is Lazy Sunday, after all).

But these are two pretty good ones, and while I usually like to feature posts in triplets for LS, I figured—as my beloved Meat Loaf, my God Rest His Soul, once sang—two out of three ain’t bad:

“Midweek Myers Movie Review: Finding Neverland (2004)” – According to Audre, “Finding Neverland is the story of how J. M. Barrie came to write his best known play, Peter Pan.” High Britishness, indeed, albeit with Johnny Depp in the main role.
“Midweek Myers Movie Review: Hidden Figures (2016)” – Audre offers up a review of a movie that, while not necessarily historically accurate (NASA was fairly progressive on race even in the 1950s), at least sounds entertaining. You’ll also learn that a “computer” is not just a beige machine to which we chain ourselves for eight hours a day.

Thanks again to sweet Audre for all of her contributions. Here’s to more movie reviews to come!

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Midweek Myers Movie Review: Hidden Figures (2016)

12 October 202225 September 2022 The Portly Politico26 Comments

We’re back with another movie review from Audre Myers, who is tossing in reviews of her favorite flicks whenever the mood strikes (or whenever I e-mail her asking her to contribute something).

She offers up her review of the 2016 film Hidden Figures, about three black women “computers” working for NASA. It was a darling of the critics for its frank depiction of segregation.

Unfortunately, some its iconic scenes—like the lady having to walk half-a-mile to use a segregated bathroom—are Hollywood hogwash. The segregated facilities were abolished in 1958—three years before the films setting—and while there were segregated restrooms in one part of NASA’s facilities prior to that year, they were unlabeled. Katherine Johnson, one of the titular “hidden figures,” unwittingly used the whites only bathroom for years, and ignored the one complaint that was ever issued without any further escalation.

These inaccuracies—perhaps dramatic artistic license?—don’t mean segregation wasn’t real—it certainly was—but it seems that NASA was not exactly the hotbed of segregationist sentiment that the film depicts. That makes sense—an organization reaching for the stars probably isn’t all that concerned about such earthbound issues as skin pigmentation. Besides, there are plenty of alien species we can discriminate against in the distant future.

With that, here is Audre Myers’s review of 2016’s Hidden Figures:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Portly’s Top Ten Best Films: #8: Heavy Metal (1981)

3 October 202230 September 2022 The Portly Politico3 Comments

There won’t be many animated films on my list—I don’t think!—but this week’s selection is the major exception. If you like sword and sorcery, low fantasy carnage, outrageous science fiction, and classic hard rock, you’ll love 1981’s animated anthology Heavy Metal.

Heavy Metal is one of those flicks that won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s one that I find myself returning to routinely for repeat viewings. I’ve always been a sucker for anthologies, and while some of the stories are a bit uneven, the effect of the whole is a colorful, musical ride through a fantastical, dark, humorous worlds.

Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty’s Top Ten Best Films: #9: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

26 September 202223 September 2022 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Ponty has been plugging away at this Top Ten Best Films, and as I predicted, he’s suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Doing the bad films was difficult in some ways, but if you call a “bad” film wrong, it’s no big deal—no one would watch it, anyway.

Good films, while rarer, are still abundant enough to make the selection process difficult. Just when you think you have a sense for your list, you’re reminded of some classic that you managed to forget in the depths of your memory hole.

That was my experience when reading Ponty’s #9 pick. I love this film (which came out when I was in college), but somehow it had slipped my mind for consideration in my own list. What a fool I was! As Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote (to paraphrase, since I don’t feel like looking up the exact quotation): “We don’t need to be taught so much as we need to be reminded.” So true!

Well, Ponty did an excellent job reminding me in this impressive review.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 2004’s Shaun of the Dead:

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: film