Tag Archives: amc

Jul 01

The Wings of Eagles

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Friday night at 10:30 Eastern / 9:30 Central, AMC is showing a John Wayne / John Ford curiosity about which I’ve blogged here before, in fact more than once. You could argue that it’s a deeply flawed movie and I would be unable to refute you, but I find it fascinating and fun anyway — and if you’re a fan of legendary director John Ford, it’s a must if only for the chance to see Ford stock company regular Ward Bond portraying a cantankerous character based on Ford himself, called “John Dodge.” (Ford … Dodge. Subtle, huh?)

“The Wings of Eagles” is the true story of one of Ford’s good friends, heroic Naval aviator turned scriptwriter Frank “Spig” Wead. It’s an atypical John Wayne role because a good part of the movie has Wead in a hospital bed, trying to regain the use of his legs, and the rest of the movie after that has him on crutches and braces.

It’s also unique because it doesn’t sugar-coat the rollercoaster relationship between Wead and his wife Min, played brilliantly by Wayne’s most compatible female co-star, Maureen O’Hara.

Speaking of rollercoasters, the movie’s great flaw is its rollercoaster tone — silly comedy one moment, tragedy and pathos the next. But I think that’s the way John Ford saw his friend — a larger-than-life character who experienced both hijinks and heartbreak.

I would, of course, prefer for you to watch the movie on TCM, without commercials and without being edited to fit a time slot. But it’s not on TCM this weekend, it’s on AMC, and so if you’ve never seen it that will have to do.

Jan 07

Be seeing you online

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Remember last year, when I blithered on and on about how much I loved my boxed DVD set of “The Prisoner”?

Well, AMC — in preparation for the James Caviezel / Ian McKellen remake which they will air later this year — has now put every episode of the original series online. If you haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it in a while, I suggest you go and check it out.

Better yet, here’s one of the best episodes right here, with Leo “Rumpole of the Bailey” McKern as Number 2:

Dec 27

Fill yer schedules, you sons of programmers!

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Although AMC has long since abandoned the original source of its acronym, “American Movie Classics,” it still shows old movies on the weekends.

Strangely enough, AMC and Turner Classic Movies are both showing the same movie today: “True Grit.” AMC just started it; TCM will start it at 2 p.m. Central time, so there will be some overlap while it’s showing on both channels.

Of course, in a situation like this, TCM is the way to go: no commercials, and no editing the movie to make it fit into a particular time slot.

Jun 30

The score is Caviezel 6, McKellen 2

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I linked to some news stories about this earlier, but here, courtesy of the Futon Critic, is the official press release. AMC, ITV and Granada are producing a remake of “The Prisoner” which will star Jim Caviezel as Number 6 and Sir Ian McKellen as Number 2.

I am both curious and wary. I’m not sure there was a need to remake the original, but this could be interesting.

Jun 17

Be seeing you on AMC

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ITV to step in and save ‘Prisoner’ remake

…or, as an even better idea, you could leave it alone and find something new to make into a TV show.

(Although I have to admit, Christopher Eccleston is a great choice for the role. As much as I like David Tennant as The Doctor, I liked Eccleston just a little better.)

UPDATE: I got the link from a Twitter entry by Wil Wheaton (long story). But I now discover it’s a few months old, and the newer stories, like this one, have James Caviezel as Number 6 and Sir Ian McKellen (!!!!) as Number 2.