B-Movie Gazette: "ALL THAT JAZZ" TURNS 45 - THE GENIUS THAT WAS BOB FOSSE WILL NEVER GROW OLD WITH THIS MASTERPIECE

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

Monday, July 22, 2024

"ALL THAT JAZZ" TURNS 45 - THE GENIUS THAT WAS BOB FOSSE WILL NEVER GROW OLD WITH THIS MASTERPIECE

It's showtime, folks and don't forget the Dexedrine. Here's another one I saw in the theaters when it came out, I was 17 and in a boarding school in Arizona and they took us into town on a Saturday night to see this. I was probably one of the only kids that really dug it and was reeling about it afterwards. The more profound lessons of death the film runs it's battery on I would learn later on with subsequent viewings.

Threw it on last night (it's a good Sunday night movie, death of the week) and I have quite a few versions but this I found in a thrift store long time back called the "music:edition," which has some real sweet special features, the best of the lot being a huge collection of behind-the-scenes still photos, if I remember correctly from Roy Scheider's collection.

Speaking of Roy, this is his film. He owns it on the same grand level as Liza Minelli did in Fosse's Oscar-winning Cabaret. Not only did he never do something again as good as this performance, he didn't even come close! Some of the stuff he did in the last eighties and later on in his career was downright embarrassing. I actually think 52 Pick-Up of all films is probably his closest best performance to this.

There are more than a few scenes in the movie that by themselves, yes by themselves, warrant a 5-star rating, for example, the incredible "Air-Otica" music piece. The "Everything old is new again" scene with Ann Reinking and the girl actually made me cry last night, it's that beautiful, Reinking was the greatest dancer probably that ever existed and her work in this scene still blows my mind.

And then there's Ben Vereen in the closing number. In just seven minutes he steals what's left of the picture and creates a forever iconic piece of art with his body. His moves would literally make Mick Jagger jealous.

Pretty much everyone above the line is long gone, so at age 45, we raise our glasses to All That Jazz and the cornucopia of star talent inherent within - your mark on cinema is indelible. 5 stars/5

"ALL THAT JAZZ" is free right now on Tubi and only for the rest of July.