Episode 781: Z Channel - A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

Guest Co-Hosts: Adam Long, Josh Hadley

Adam Long and Josh Hadley join Mike to explore Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), the sweeping documentary from Xan Cassavetes about the rise and fall of Los Angeles’s most influential pay-TV channel. More than a cable station, Z Channel was a film school beamed into living rooms, programming uncut movies, international cinema, director’s cuts, and repertory favorites long before that was standard practice.

The conversation digs into the channel’s daring programming philosophy, its outsized impact on American film culture, and the obsessive, self-destructive personality of founder Jerry Harvey. The hosts examine how the documentary balances cinephile nostalgia with a clear-eyed look at the personal and institutional costs of that obsession, while also asking what Z Channel’s legacy means in today’s algorithm-driven media landscape.

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Listen to "Episode 781: Z Channel - A Magnificent Obsession (2004)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Subscribe to Adam's Corner
Buy Z Channel - A Magnificent Obsession on DVD

Music:
"Channel Z" - The B-52s

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Episode 543: The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

Special Guest: Jacqueline Bisset
Guest Co-Hosts: Rahne Alexander, Andrew Nette

#Shocktober2021 continues with a look at Paul Wendkos’s The Mephisto Waltz (1971). Based on the novel by Fred Mustard Stewart, the film stars Alan Alda as Myles Clarkson, a pianist turned author along with Jacqueline Bisset as Myles’s wife Paula who isn’t a big fan of Myles’s new friend, the crotchety professional pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jürgens), who harbors a dark secret.

Rahne Alexander and Andrew Nette join Mike to discuss the film, its similarities to Rosemary's Baby, and how this and other supernatural flicks paved the way to the '80s "satanic panic".

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 543: The Mephisto Waltz (1971)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Mephisto Waltz on Blu-Ray
Buy The Mephisto Waltz by Fred Mustard Stewart
Buy The Mephisto Waltz soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith

Music:
"A New Miles" - Jerry Goldsmith
"The Mephisto Waltz" - Franz Lizst

Sponsor:
This episode was brought you by Storyblocks

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