Helmed by a man by the name of Jerry Harvey, Z Channel could best be described as some manner of televisual crack for the pre-video movie fiend. The last point, at least, is the Big Idea behind “Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession,” which details the rise and fall of the titular TV station, an early foray into the movie-channel format in the salad days of cable. I wouldn’t go back for all the bean sprouts in Japan). You have no idea how much better things are now.
The final day of the 2005 Wisconsin Film Festival was spent with a pair of documentary laments for the 1980s, an era in which, apparently, the sun shined brighter, the birds sang louder and the TV was better (as a quick side note, take it from someone who lived through each and every day of that crummy decade: 1980’s nostalgia is a crock.