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

Saturday, August 10, 2024

"PARIS, TEXAS" TURNS 40 - WIM WENDERS INDIE MASTERPIECE ABOUT A MAN TRYING TO FIND HIS WAY BACK TO HIS MARRAIGE

 



The first time Harry Dean Stanton carried a whole picture, he knocked it out of the park with this spot-on portrait of a lost man, both mentally and geographically. His brother (Dean Stockwell, superb) picks him up wondering around in the desert and brings him back home to help him on his feet again. Nobody knows where he's been for four years. This puts him square in the path of his brother's wife (Aurora Clement, an amazing French actress) who has been taking care of Stanton's boy he abandoned for the last four years. 

I'll leave it there but that's just the start of an incredible journey which ultimately lands him finding his wife who now works at a strip club. The legendary German actress and dancer Nastassja Kinski is so incredible in this role and the location that they chose for the strip club should belong on some list of top ten best locations ever in a movie. 

Indies this great only come down the pike once every five or ten years. On many, many top ten indie films of all time lists. I encourage you to revisit it or if you haven't seen it, that's right, don't pass go and don't collect $200.   5 stars/5

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