This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The casual viewer may have little interest in this documentary, but for true lovers of cinema, this is a must-see. Back in the 1970s, when cable was in its infancy and home videotape was unknown, movie lover Jerry Harvey contacted his local cable company to complain about the horrible programming. In an odd twist, they hired him to be a programmer! Soon after this, the new Z Channel hired him to be their head programmer. Harvey went from being a complete unknown to becoming a cult-like hero to a small group of California subscribers (where the channel was shown). This is because he was very brave in his choices--often showing art films, unknown films, extended director's cuts (a first) and unappreciated films. It seems that his biggest fans were the film makers themselves, as he helped to give exposure to many films that would have otherwise gone into oblivion.Seeing and hearing all the accolades for this cable pioneer was really interesting, but as I said this probably would hold little interest to the casual film viewer who could care less about Truffaut, Berman or Antonioni (among others). However, what becomes fascinating for ANY viewer is the man himself. Harvey was a very disturbed man who had a lifetime of demons and personal baggage--so much that he ultimately killed his wife and then himself. The film's examination of why this occurred is interesting, but also very unsatisfying because so little is known about his childhood. His two sisters killed themselves (though there is a tiny doubt about what happened to one of them), his father is dead and his mother is very emotionally constricted. So the film chooses to spend much of its focus on the impact of this murder-suicide on those who knew him. What I appreciated was that although many voiced their sadness at his passing and talked about what a great person he was, some others (particularly in the very end of the film) were understandably angry about what he did and find it wrong to elevate this guy to sainthood--after all, he did murder his wife. As a psychology teacher and ex-psychotherapist, this reaction is by far the most fascinating part of the film.By the way, although this is a wonderful film, the film maker Ms. Cassavetes chose a lot of clips for the documentary that are NOT family-appropriate. While there's quite a bit of nudity, most of it isn't salacious and is from art films. However, some of the scenes are borderline pornographic and the scene of Rutger Hauer masturbating makes this a film you DON'T show your kids. Too bad the film included one or two of these clips--it might alienate some in the audience and wasn't needed to tell the story.

Z Channel A Magnificent Obsession: 4 out of 10: Well they got the obsession part right. Jerry Harvey was the programming genius behind Z channel an independent LA cable channel that did help revolutionize the way pay cable shows film.He was famous for finding obscure films and directors and showcasing them to the Hollywood elite. He was also a troubled soul with a horrible family history who murdered his wife then took his own life. The documentary attempts to tell the two tales intertwined.The latter of the tales seems unfulfilling. Reminisces from former friends and colleagues are quite frank. (Some, 20 years later, clearly don't forgive him) but there is virtually no insight into causation.What the latter lacks in drama and insight the former lacks in scope. Jerry actually became programming director in 1980 at the death scene of big studio director driven independent Hollywood film of the seventies. (His pal Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate was the film that inspired the studio coup d'etat.) So his influence on independent film was more of a eulogizer than influential promoter. (Cimino, Peckinpah and others in his independent circle simply couldn't get work Z channel marathon or no Z channel marathon. Only James Woods (whose Salvador performance was highlighted during Oscar season) and Paul Verhooeven (who claims he got his Robocop job after a Z channel marathon of his films) show a career boost from Jerry.So Jerry plucked tons of virtually unseen studio films of the seventies as well as foreign films for his channel and used these movies to help fill the twenty four hours a day.The documentary avoids one reason for this (These films were cheap if not outright free to show) and barely acknowledges the other reason (These films had plenty of nudity making them the perfect cable only product).The film also avoids answering some simple questions such as if it was so popular why didn't Z channel expand to San Francisco or New York? Jerry does deserve credit for introducing the now ubiquitous director's cut. (Though Heaven's Gate was a really bad movie to start that trend on) and his love of the obscure can be felt from Sundance to Netflix.The film does highlight some great obscure films I still haven't seen but surprising shows no footage whatsoever from the Z channel itself. Long and talky Z Channel is a great place to find some obscure films it just isn't that great a story.

I just caught this on DVD and I have to say it is amazing. Z channel was before my time, and even if it wasn't, I live on the East coast, so I would have missed it anyway. I had a vague idea of what z channel was before I saw this film. Though the movie itself says little can be found of Z channel on the internet, there is a small write-up of it in the great, and now out of print book Retro Hell. Z channel was a movie channel, one of the first, pre-dating HBO and Showtime. It was unique because there was no market research, and it introduced the public to unique, weird and overlooked classics. When asked how he choose the films to put on the channel, Harvey said, "I just put shows I like." You could do things like that then. Now, you couldn't. Everything has to be meticulously researched to appeal to the common denominator. In this movie, there's a lot of talk about the uncommon denominator and that's what Z was about. Not dumbing down for the masses, but making the masses think harder about what they're watching. "If you appeal to the most intelligent, the rest will follow." That was Z channel's motto and it worked very well. Nobody ever canceled this channel! There's your proof.The other part of the documentary is what it did for actors and directors. James Woods received an Oscar nod because of Z. Orson Welles got to see Touch of Evil lovingly recut the night before he died. Sam Peckinpah got to see his movies loved again when Hollywood had written him off. And on and on.And then there is the third part. Jerry Harvey's personal life. He was a disturbed man, who had a difficult childhood and family life. Depression was in his genes; both his sisters also took their own lives. One person in this doc says with that kind of history its amazing Harvey held out till 39. Surely his love of movies helped him live that long. But it's hard to be objective about Harvey. He's a murderer (though we sense he regretted his actions). How can you make a murderer into a hero? You can't. But this movie does say you can recognize what good he did bring into the world and that was to create a highly influential form of media, that would influence the Hollywood of its day and future directors. Would there have been a Payne or Tarantino without Z? Who knows? Luckily, we don't have to wonder.

The makers of "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession" take a potentially fascinating subject and completely botch it. I have to admit that I only got through about a half hour of the thing, but I can only wait so long for a film to let me know it's going somewhere.I'd never heard of Z-Channel before and was very interested to find out about it, but the filmmakers refused to present me with a clear context or history of their subject. Too much was assumed before any solid groundwork was laid. All I was getting was just a bunch of vaguely connected quotes about a vaguely defined subject and wild praise of someone I had been told nothing significant about who had apparently done something amazing, though what exactly that something was remained foggy. It's confusing and annoying to be repeatedly told of the significance and importance of something before that thing is fully explained. Maybe say it once, to peak my interest, but not over and over from different people time and again. Get to the point! Tell the story!Now, I admit that I could tell that this was supposed to be the story of a movie fan named Jerry Harvey who was involved with the first pay movie channel, but that was about it--and I think I should have known more after half an hour! I'm pretty sure that other people like me, people who had never heard of Z-channel before, were similarly bored or confused. This film was obviously not created for us, but for people already "in the know." And that kind of seems to defeats the purpose if you ask me.