Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

May 16, 2004

2h 1m

★ 7.0

Overview

A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.

Genres

History

Documentary

Production Companies

Maja Films

Fresh Produce Films

Independent Film Channel

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession Trailers

Cast

Self

Quentin Tarantino

Self

Robert Altman

Self

Jim Jarmusch

Self

Paul Verhoeven

Self

Alexander Payne

Self

James Woods

Self

Henry Jaglom

Self

Jacqueline Bisset

Self

Kris Kristofferson

Self

Theresa Russell

Self

Vilmos Zsigmond

Self

Penelope Spheeris

Following in his father's footsteps, Albert Pierrepoint becomes one of Britain's most prolific executioners, hiding his identity as a grocery deliveryman. But when his ambition to be the best inadvertently exposes his gruesome secret, he becomes a minor celebrity & faces a public outcry against the practice of hanging. Based on true events.

6.9

The Apprentice

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A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

7.1

Cosmic Voyage

Aug 9, 1996

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

10.0

Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth

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7.4

Rudy

Sep 17, 1993

Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.

6.2

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Apr 3, 2008

The aging Zhao embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.

6.0

The Order of Myths

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In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.

0.0

In Free Fall

Jan 2, 2010

The space of the junkyard allows various ‘crash’ narratives to unfold, with the stories of actual crashes and the remnants and afterlife of these machines becoming metaphors for economic decline. This is an investigation of planes as they are parked during the economic downturn, stored and recycled, revealing unexpected connections between economy, violence and spectacle, finding perfect example in the form of the Boeing 4X-JYI, an aircraft first acquired by film director Howard Hughes for TWA, which was subsequently flown by the Israeli Airforce before finding its way to the Californian desert to be blown up for the Hollywood blockbuster Speed. Through intertwined narratives of people, planes and places Steyerl reveals cycles of capitalism incorporating and adapting to the changing status of the commodity, but also points at a horizon beyond this endless repetition.

6.6

Bandit Queen

Feb 17, 1995

Born a lower-caste girl in rural India's patriarchal society, "married" at 11, repeatedly raped and brutalized, Phoolan Devi finds freedom only as an avenging warrior, the eponymous Bandit Queen. Devi becomes a kind a bloody Robin Hood; this extraordinary biographical film offers both a vivid portrait of a driven woman and a savage critique of the society that made her.

6.7

Dark Matter

Feb 12, 2013

Materia oscura tells the story of a war zone in peacetime. The film location is the Salto di Quirra test range (Sardinia, Italy) where, for over fifty years, governments around the world have tested 'new weapons' and where the Italian government has carried out controlled explosions of old weapon stocks, inexorably endangering the territory.

6.3

Chevalier

Apr 20, 2023

The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.

6.0

Monarch

Oct 8, 2000

From double BAFTA nominated Writer and Director John Walsh. Monarch is part fact, part fiction and unfolds around one night when the injured ruler arrives at a manor house closed for the season.

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7.6

Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood

Jan 23, 1999

Paying homage to two of Hollywood's central icons, the film creates an unparalleled portrait of two very different personalities amidst the demise of the studio system.

5.2

Mexico

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Using text from Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes and ancient Aztec and Mayan poetry, viewers are lead on a visual journey through this country's rich and varied past and present. Stunning images and a dramatic musical score by Daniel Valdez create a vivid, insightful portrait of the Mexican people and their culture

7.6

The Pixar Story

Aug 28, 2007

A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.

7.4

Selma

Dec 25, 2014

"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

6.6

Kartini: Princess of Java

Apr 19, 2017

A woman of nobility battles patriarchal norms in order to improve educational access for women in early 1900s Indonesian society.