B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - THE DEATH OF RITCHIE (TV 1977)

Looks like a lot of fun to me, I don't know. Seriously and for those that don't know, The Death Of Ritchie is one of the most iconic TV movies of the entire '70's decade. I was roughly 15 when it aired and i can tell you that both Robby Benson and teens taking drugs were very hot topics at the time. The film is based on a true story where a father who couldn't control his teen's behavior from drug abuse was forced to take the law into his own hands. The father here is good ole Ben Gazzara and he is at his Gazzara best with a ferocious intensity, his scenes with Benson as father and son a perfect chemistry. At the time more emphasis was on Benson as a model but his performance here is really amazing. Streams free on Tubi, Freevee, Roku and Plex, if this was being rated on the standard scale I would give it five stars, 'nuff said. 2.75 stars/2.75

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

DEEP INSIDE THE NYC SUBWAY SYSTEM : "STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS" (2013) & "DOWN IN SHADOWLAND" (2016)

A super low budget indie, Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors won Jury Special Prize at Deauville in 2013. In a nutshell the story is about an autistic boy who has a bad day at school and decides to wander the subway instead of go home. His mom is trying to find him. The film's got a lot going for it including heart, the way it's shot and the underground locations. However, we're never really given a clue to who the kid is, what's his character, what makes him tick. So halfway through the picture loses steam pretty quickly as it becomes just about finding some autistic kid, we lose interest in reason. Still worth one watch for fans of the NYC subways and micro budget indies. Streams free on Tubi.  1.5 stars/2.75

I was a little disappointed in this one especially being from legendary Tom Dicillo of Box Of Moonlight and Delirious brilliance. The film is basically a seven-year stretch of taking random clips of strange people and happenings while down in the subway using a small GoPro type camera. DiCillo has always had great taste in music when it comes to his soundtracks and that's present here to help lift the proceedings. The editing is also outstanding but one can only be entertained watching weird people down in the subway for so long and I struggled hard to make it through the last ten minutes of it's approximately eighty minute running time.  1.0 stars/2.75


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