Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alexandra Cassavetes

Release Date:

16 August 2007 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief...

Plot Keywords:

Cable Television | Film History | Hollywood | Memory | Depression

Cast

Robert Altman	...	Himself
Vera Carlisle Anderson	...	Herself (as Vera Anderson)
C.L. Batten	...	Himself
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Herself
Charles Champlin	...	Himself
David Chasman	...	Himself
F.X. Feeney	...	Himself
James B. Harris	...	Himself
Jerry Harvey	...	Himself
Don Hyde	...	Himself
Henry Jaglom	...	Himself
Jim Jarmusch	...	Himself
Charles H. Joffe	...	Himself
Kris Kristofferson	...	Himself
John McNally	...	Himself (Interviewer) (voice)
Bill Mechanic	...	Himself
Ned Nalle	...	Himself
Alexander Payne	...	Himself
Doreen Ringer Ross	...	Herself
Chuck Ross	...	Himself
Andrei Rublev	...	Himself
Alan Rudolph	...	Himself
Theresa Russell	...	Herself
Timothy Ryerson	...	Himself
Jeff Schwager	...	Himself
Penelope Spheeris	...	Herself
Bob Strock	...	Himself
Quentin Tarantino	...	Himself
Kevin Thomas	...	Himself
Jonathan Turell	...	Himself
Douglas Venturelli	...	Himself
Paul Verhoeven	...	Himself
James Woods	...	Himself
Vilmos Zsigmond	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, violent images and language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fresh Produce Films

Trivia:

This film was made only after the financing for another film project, a fiction film, partially collapsed.

Quotes:

Jerry Harvey: [when asked in the 1980s about the secret of Z Channel's success] I don't know. If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret.

Movie Connections:

References Emmanuelle (1974)

The IFC of the 80s

It's doesn't take a genius to see why the Independent Film Channel would finance this documentary. Basically the Z Channel was the first movie channel to play independent, little seen, and foreign films. Featuring interviews with directors Quentin Tarantino, Robert Altman, and Alexander Pane, "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession" focuses on the effect the channel had on the film industry.

The station had among it's subscribers some of the biggest names in Hollywood. What I found fascinating about this film is the power a cable channel can have. For example James Woods credits his Oscar nomination to the Z Channel's constant playing of the little seen movie "Salvador" to the right people.

As a film geek I also enjoyed the generous amount of film clips by director Cassavetes. The film turned me on to movies like "Bad Timing" and "F is for Fake".