Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

Last updated
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession
Z channel.jpg
Directed by Xan Cassavetes
Produced byMarshall Persinger
Rick Ross
Starring Jerry Harvey
Robert Altman
Jacqueline Bisset
Theresa Russell
Quentin Tarantino
F. X. Feeney
Cinematography John Pirozzi
Edited byIain Kennedy
Music bySteven Hufsteter
Distributed by IFC Films
Release date
  • 2004 (2004)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession is a 2004 documentary film about Los Angeles pay cable channel Z Channel which was directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of Hollywood director and actor John Cassavetes. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. [1] [2]

Contents

The documentary is about Z Channel, which was one of the early pay cable TV stations in the United States. Z Channel became famous for showing an eclectic variety of films, including foreign language, silent, documentary, director's cut, forgotten, overlooked, under-appreciated, erotic as well as mainstream films, without commercials and uncut and letterboxed when possible. [3] [4]

The film also tells the story of Z Channel's programming director Jerry Harvey who was a film lover, programming genius, and a man almost single-handedly responsible for getting many great films shown to the public. It gives insights into Harvey's constant battle with personal demons, which resulted in his ending his life and the life of his wife in a murder-suicide. [5] [6]

Throughout the film a variety of footage featuring some of the films shown on the Z Channel is used. This serves to underline the diversity offered on the channel in particular its attempts to expose its American viewers to undubbed foreign language films. [7]

The films ends with a montage of scenes of such films with Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?" theme being played over the top of them as performed by the actor William Atherton from the film The Great Gatsby (1974). [8]

People interviewed for the film

Reception

Z Channel has an overall approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. [14]

On Metacritic, the film scored 85/100, based on 4 critics. [15]

Home media

The film was released to DVD in 2004 as a 2-disc special edition, which included numerous bonus features. A standard 1-disc edition followed in 2005. [16]

It was made available on Shout! Cult June 2022. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Lenny</i> (film) 1974 film by Bob Fosse

Lenny is a 1974 American biographical drama film about the comedian Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Julian Barry is based on his play of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Linklater</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

<i>The Idiots</i> 1998 film by Lars von Trier

The Idiots is a 1998 Danish black comedy-drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.

<i>Notre musique</i> 2004 film

Notre musique is a 2004 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The film reflects on violence, morality, and the representation of violence in film, and touches especially on past colonialism and the current Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Film Socialisme</i> 2010 film by Jean-Luc Godard

Film Socialisme is a 2010 French postmodern drama film directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

The Z Channel was one of the early pay television stations in the United States (1974-1989) best known for its devotion to the art of cinema due to the eclectic choice of films by the programming chief Jerry Harvey.

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Harvey was an American screenwriter and film programmer, best known for his work on Z Channel, a pioneering cable station in Los Angeles from 1974 to 1989.

Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes is an American actress and director. She is the daughter of Greek-American actor-director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands. She is the granddaughter of actress Katherine Cassavetes. She is the sister of actor-director Nick Cassavetes and actor-screenwriter-director Zoe Cassavetes.

<i>Femme Fatale</i> (2002 film) 2002 mystery film by Brian De Palma

Femme Fatale is a 2002 erotic thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. It was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

F. X. Feeney was an American writer and filmmaker.

<i>Overlord</i> (1975 film) 1975 British film

Overlord is a 1975 black-and-white British war film written and directed by Stuart Cooper. Set during the Second World War, around the D-Day invasion, the film is about a young British soldier's experiences and his meditations on being part of the war machinery, including his premonitions of death. The film won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. “Overlord is not about military heroics; on the contrary, it is about the bleakness of sacrifice”, Cooper said.

<i>Under the Volcano</i> (1984 film) Adaptation of Malcolm Lowry novel, directed by John Huston

Under the Volcano is a 1984 American drama film directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, and Anthony Andrews, based on Malcolm Lowry's semi-autobiographical 1947 novel. The film follows the last 24 hours in the life of Geoffrey Firmin (Finney), an alcoholic British former consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac on the Day of the Dead in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Fine</span>

Marshall Fine is an American author, journalist, filmmaker and film critic from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

<i>Go Go Tales</i> 2007 Italian film

Go Go Tales is an independent 2007 film by Abel Ferrara. Ferrara based the film on The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, directed by John Cassavetes. It stars Willem Dafoe as a strip club owner and co-stars Bob Hoskins, Asia Argento and Matthew Modine. Ferrara had the cast improvise much of their lines. He described the film as his "first intentional comedy".

Stuart W. Cooper is an American filmmaker, actor and writer.

The Big Fix is a 2012 documentary film about two filmmakers, Josh and Rebecca Tickell, as they travel along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico meeting the residents whose lives were changed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The film argues that BP has utilized the oil dispersant Corexit in the Gulf to create the illusion that the Louisiana beaches are safe and the water uncontaminated.

<i>Mulberry Child</i> 2011 American film

Mulberry Child is a 2011 documentary film that was written and directed by Susan Morgan Cooper, based on the book by the same name by Jian Ping. It had its world premiere on October 16, 2011 at the Heartland Film Festival and features Jacqueline Bisset as the movie's narrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Saulnier</span> American filmmaker

Jeremy Saulnier is an American film director, cinematographer and screenwriter.

<i>LAmant double</i> 2017 film by François Ozon

L'Amant double is a 2017 erotic thriller drama film written and directed by François Ozon, based on the 1987 novel Lives of the Twins by Joyce Carol Oates. It stars Marine Vacth as a young woman named Chloé who discovers that her lover is concealing a part of his identity.

<i>Faces Places</i> (film) 2017 film

Faces Places is a 2017 French documentary film directed by Agnès Varda and JR. It was screened out of competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival where it won the L'Œil d'or award. The film follows Varda and JR traveling around rural France, creating portraits of the people they come across. It was released on 28 June 2017 in France and 6 October 2017 in the United States. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards. The film was Varda's second-to-last work, preceding Varda by Agnès in 2019.

References

  1. "Festival de Cannes: Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  2. MUBI
  3. Summer Rental: 'Z Channel'|Commonweal Magazine
  4. New Beverly Cinema
  5. Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession on AV/Film
  6. UNCUT
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) - Trailer on YouTube
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Film Montage from "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession" (2004) on YouTube
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 'Z Channel' on the Air - Washington Post
  10. Jacqueline Bisset - Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession on YouTube
  11. 1 2 Z Channel: Overlord on YouTube
  12. Z Channel: The Important Thing is to Love on YouTube
  13. The Death of Z Channel--What Now? : The History : Beset by troubles, quirky station will switch to all-sports
  14. "Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  15. "Movie Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  16. Amazon.com: Z Channel - A Magnificent Obsession
  17. New in June on Shout! Cult - Shout Factory on YouTube