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Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Z CHANNEL -- YOU HAVE TO SEE IT 

You can read about Xan Cassavetes' doc on L.A.'s art-film cable pioneer The Z Channel (linked her via Nerve.com), but you should really watch it while it plays this month on IFC. The story of Z Prez Jerry Harvey's murderous and suicidal demise is a captivating one, but what makes the doc really great viewing is its conveyance of a very specific brand of cinephilia that almost doesn't exist anymore. Pre-internet, pre-DVD, the Z Channel's generous scrambling of Euro greats, American auteurs and Euro-softcore -- a mix that included everything from Berlin Alexanderplatz to Laura Antonelli festivals -- undoubtedly shaped the styles of filmmakers like Alexander Payne and Quentin Tarantino, whose enthusiastic interviews, along with the fantastic and esoteric film clips, are real treats.
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# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 5/10/2005 04:01:00 PM
Comments (2)

 
We're also showing a weekend of films that were mentioned in the doc/aired on the channel.
# posted by Anonymous alison @ 5/10/2005 5:11 PM  

 
IFC is a mini-Z-Channel itself this week. Great idea showing Z-Channel favorites such as Roeg's "Bad Timing" with Art Garfunkel and Teresa Russell, the uncut "Heaven's Gate," and the very strange "The Most Important Thing:Love," not to mention "Overlord," and "400 Blows," among others.
You certainly see Z-Channel programmer Jerry Harvey's taste displayed: he had a penchant for film with strong sexual themes, full frontal nudity, and psychological drama portrayed with extraordinary imagery. You'll never meet more troubled protagonists or more openly sexual women. These films tease your eyes and libido as part of their plot tension.
I first saw "The Z-Channel," late at night at the Full Frame Documentary festival in Durham just before it aired on IFC (and blogged about it at NCflix.blogspot.com) and it was a treat to see it again along with the films.
Allan Maurer
# posted by Blogger Allan @ 5/15/2005 10:40 AM  

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