AMC & Godzilla: Checkered memories

Just Plain Horse · January 12, 2006, 02:15:26 PM

I happen to notice-much to my delight- that AMC is going to show the Raymond Burr version of the original Black & White Godzilla (King of the Monsters) next week at 1:30 in the morning friday night/saturday morning... and it got me to reminiscing on how a channel that once stood for American Movie Classics seems to have sunk to Any Movie we Can get the rights to show these days...

I suppose it sounds a little unfair; I mean, if you still have a yearning to see the editied version of every single Friday the 13th sequel- or every movie you watch to be interrupted every fifteen minutes for a reminder of what channel is constantly cutting to commercials- you needn't look any further. But maybe why I'm so adamant is because I recall how good AMC once was... on par with TCM, some might have said.

I mean, AMC was where I first saw Hitchcock's "Rope" and, one of my favorites, "Rear Window". Many years ago, just as I was beginning to suspect a decline in quality, AMC had a monsterfest of Halloween-themed monster movies, complete with a near-full day of Godzilla films (including Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Destroyah), followed up the next day with films like Gammera and Rodan! For my tastes, I have yet to see any movie marathon that has been able to out-do that one.

But nothing stays the same forever, and the same forces that brought a breif reign of Godzilla films helped to usher in a very modern, very bland list of films that have since taken center stage on the once great channel. More documentary-styled material, usually surrounding whatever trend has taken Hollywood by storm in the last year or so. For some reason, somebody in charge of programming has a serious hard-on for any film from the 1980's, but doesn't mind butchering the material to protect the "innocent" mind of the children that may be watching Mimic 2 at 2:30 in the morning. and what is with the haphazard selections? Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea followed by The Three Stooges Meet Hercules followed by Mad Max? Why show Tremors nearly ten times during Halloween but the DVD_TV presentation of Friday the 13th only once? or WHY show the great slasher originator Halloween itself in January?!? WHY?!?!

But, enough with the negative waves. At least things seem to be beginning to improve. Godzilla, King of the Monsters (a movie people will watch on tv which doesn't need to be hacked to death for the sake of editing) will be on next week on Saturday the 21st, at 1:30am (perfect time, perfect day for it) and I'm thankful for that! All's forgiven, AMC.

trekgeezer · January 12, 2006, 02:19:28 PM

I'll never forgive them for starting to have commercials. I won't watch a movie there unless it's something no one else shows. They have also always edited their movies, unlike TCM and FMC.

Just Plain Horse · January 12, 2006, 03:27:45 PM

All too true. I have a special admiration for TCM (I'm unfamiliar with FMC), both for their non-interrptions and for the content. Despite shelling pieces bewteen showings, I still feel like they haven't quite "sold out".

Ed, Ego and Superego · January 12, 2006, 07:53:19 PM

We don't get TCM, but they are ooking like a much better movie channel these days. The AMC films are just so ordinary. Not even classics any more.
-Ed

odinn7 · January 12, 2006, 09:44:16 PM

Yes, AMC used to be a very good channel and just like Trek, I won't watch it anymore unless it's something I just gotta see and nobody else has it. A real disappointment.

AndyC · January 13, 2006, 10:26:38 AM

I don't get AMC, but that's my complaint against most channels that started out well. Everything looks great for the first while, then they find they can make a bit more money, and the advertising gets carried away, and they find they can expand their audience a bit, by going a bit more lowest-common-denominator, and they find programming much easier after a while if they stretch their chosen format to the broadest possible interpretation of whatever it is they claim to show, and they find they can trim some costs by inserting a lot of cheap filler programming. Or it just gets easier for them to make money by buying a bunch of current syndicated TV shows that have nothing to do with anything. Et voila! Crap!

It's happened too many times, to channels I used to love when they first came on the air.

Mr_Vindictive · January 13, 2006, 10:59:15 AM

I stay away from AMC now. There is never anything good on anyway, so it's not that hard.

I've been watching more and more TMC. Usually, if I watch a film on cable it's either on FMC (Fox Movies) or IFC (Independent) since both channels show the films uncut.

Just Plain Horse · January 17, 2006, 12:06:00 PM

I wish to make a minor correction, I said before that AMC shows commercials every 15 minutes... I was wrong, it's now every nine or eleven! Sheesh...

Flangepart · January 18, 2006, 06:25:39 PM

I''m with AndyC here. Sci-Fi channel started out good....crapper city now, unless you need some new MST3K material. It IS good for riffing material....

TCM, i can deal with....AMC, well...it does have the same initials as the car co. that made the Pacer...

daveblackeye15 · January 18, 2006, 07:43:07 PM

Didn't Sci Fi once have something called "Anime Fridays"?

Boy that sure sounded like fun.

I think the original show I liked from them was "Tremors: the Series" and MST3K doesn't count but that's the only other show watched on sci fi.

trekgeezer · January 18, 2006, 08:34:01 PM

Knock SciFi channel all you want, right now they have the three best scifi shows on tv. I also like that now NBC owns them and they reshow stuff like Surface.

Some of their movies are really bad, but sometimes they're funny bad too. They are starting some new series this summer too.

I do wish they would show some classics once in a while.

TCM is great most of the time, you do have to watch for when they have special events. I also like FMC (Fox Movie Channel) mainly because they show movies unedited, although don't seen to have the selection that TCM does.

Just Plain Horse · January 21, 2006, 02:58:43 PM

Scifi has its peaks and valleys... some of the time they suck, but once in awhile they turn it around and surprise me. To be honest, I really haven't followed their series programming since Farscape... I never was fond of Stargate and I'm usually too busy to catch much of anything else... so the new Galactica gets a pass. Their original movies tend to be godawful... but they seem to have a penchant for coughing up Bruce Campbell and Godzilla movies on a periodic basis... and their twilight zone marathons still manage to get my attention long enough for an episode or two...

My purpose here was to try to get people to pay a little more attention to the programming channels are showing us... all in all, I felt AMC represented the worst of what tv can be, but doesn't have to be... it seemed to me that while TCM seems to be changing to encompass a larger perspective, the timing was right to bring this topic up. BTW as bad as AMC is, TNT is the absolute pits. I MISS MONSTERVISION!