"Back to the Future" on Turner Classic Movie Channel February 2nd at 1030 p.m. ET! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

As a self-proclaimed movie buff, Turner Classic Movie Channel has become the essential station that I receive off my satellite. Since American Movie Classic Channel has sold it's soul to the devil due to showing their movies with commercials, non-LBX presentations, and edited content; the TCM channel has become more important in my addiction to classic films. Next month in February, they're showing a LBX presentation of "Back To the Future". Recently, it seems like TCM has stepped to the plate more often in regard to LBX presentations and I'm interested to see if they have amended their previous practice of showing films edited in regard to language and violence.

Anyway, TCM is a very important avenue to watching classic films and I only wished that our HTF brothers and sisters in Canada, Europe, and other places around the world had the opportunity to pick TCM up off the satellite. As all of you know, it's going to take many years, if and when we're able to see the thousands of classic films the studios have made available on dvd, therefore television channels like TCM become more important in fulfilling our need to keep watching these great and sometimes, not so great films.

Crawdaddy

 

[george kaplan]

Although I have no interest in seeing this film (since I'm lucky enough to have the widescreen lds), I have to totally concur on your thoughts about TCM and AMC. There are 3 movie channels I look at, those two and Fox Movie Channel, and TCM is clearly the head of the pack, and the one I record movies off the most. FMC isn't as good as TCM, and don't have the wide selection of AMC, but when they show something it's much more likely to be OAR and uncut than AMC. Right now, AMC is really only good for much older movies that aren't widescreen and don't offend their sensibilities.
I've never seen Bye Bye Birdie, and saw AMC was showing it, but guess what, pan & scan. So I still haven't seen Bye Bye Birdie. :frowning:
I'd also like to mention that while Bravo has a good selection of 'art' films, they have one of the most annoying station logos, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna burn in my tv to watch them. :frowning: :frowning:

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

Anyway, TCM is a very important avenue to watching classic films and I only wished that our HTF brothers and sisters in Canada, Europe, and other places around the world had the opportunity to pick TCM up off the satellite.

Actually we have TCM over here too. I certainly get too watch a lot of movies I doubt I would get the chance to watch otherwise. My main complaint is that a lot of the movies they show on the european version is not that classic in my opinion, and there seems to be not nearly enough AFI movies for example. But I haven't had TCM that long personally, and this is just my initial impression.

 

[RobertR]

For some time now, it's been my feeling that the single best thing that could happen for me with respect to movie broadcasts would be for TCM to be available in HD....that would truly be movie nirvana...

 

[Brett Cameron]

I wonder if TCM will be using the new widescreen master of the "Back To The Future" that will be used for the eventual dvd, since the transfer on the widescreen laserdisc is not that good. NBC showed the film back in September and it looked remastered(all though it was full frame :frowning: ).

 

[andrew markworthy]

Brett, I was just going to add that the P&S version was on Brit TV over Christmas, and it definitely looked to have been either remastered, or sourced from a better print than I'd seen before.

 

[Shad R]

Does the Fox Movie Channel edit their films for content...I've never really watched because I always thought they did. And as for AMC...PREDATOR?????I saw a showing of PREDATOR on AMC the other night....It's a cool flick...but by no means classic.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Nope, Fox Movie Channel doesn't edit for language/content at all. Very occasionally they'll run a shorter version of a film (like Fox's old American theatrical cut of SUSPIRIA), but that isn't the channel's doing, it's just what the larger Fox Corp happens to have in its vaults (the same shorter cut of SUSPIRIA has been shown on Cinemax in the past).

 

[Jon_B]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to check to see if I have TCM in my cable lineup.

Jon

 

[Anthony Moore]

wonder if TCM will be using the new widescreen master of the "Back To The Future" that will be used for the eventual dvd,

We're getting the DVD soon? Any news about this?

 

[Seth Paxton]

Since we are bitching about AMC a little here too I won't start another thread on it.

But what the hell is now with their MOVIE SELECTION. I notice their classic choices have suddenly shifted to have a much more recent year average lately. Lots of 80's and 90's stuff even. Sure there are classics in every decade, but their lean has shifted lately. The Predator mention is one I had in mind for sure (non-OAR even).

Clearly they must be struggling for viewership it seems, or they can't get their hands on some films anymore.

Meanwhile TCM gets better and better.

Now let me ask something I've kicked around before. Do modern stations source off of film, tape, or do they source off of DVD? I just notice that everytime a new catalog release is about to come out on DVD it suddenly gets a lot of playtime on someplace like TCM or FCM, sometimes elsewhere. And in OAR too. It really seems like they hand out DVD copies to these stations to play the film from, although I'm not sure I've caught a layer change so maybe not.

Just curious on the timing is all.

Oh, and along that line it sure is yet another positive sign that BTTF WILL BE coming to DVD this summer as rumored. We are getting all sorts of proof like this from everywhere.

 

[teapot2001]

Seth, this is the year 2002, so it's naturally for movies in recent decades to be included in their lineup. It seems the same happening to TCM, although to a lesser degree, with movies like Back to the Future and Pretty in Pink being shown.

~T

 

[MickeS]

Yeah, BTTF is 17 years old this year, I'd say it's a classic movie by now... I'll catch it on TV, I haven't seen it in about 4 years (I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR THE DVD'S!!), thanks for the heads up.

/Mike

 

[Agee Bassett]

Simple. They have quite clearly, as mentioned earlier, sold out. I believe they came under new ownership a couple of years ago, and they have not been content with chiefly appealing to the older demographic.

 

[Brett Cameron]

I read an interview with the president of AMC or someone high up at the station and he said "they were trying to attract more viewers by showing newer films and adding commercials". They have been showing films like Desperatly Seeking Susan and The Fly 2, so much for classics. AMC has become like TNT just with all movies instead of an addition of tv shows and sports. Also their editing on Predator was hillarious-

"I told my girlfriend I'd like a little(silence) she said me too mine as big as a house"

They were better off cutting the whole line instead.

 

[James_A]

Hehe... well, I think that anything in from the 80's is classic, so I'm fine with that...hehe... but I very much appreciate the older films as well, so it does indeed sucketh!

Jim

 

[John Rockwell]

AMC recently showed Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. That's an NC-17 movie! Of course they edited the hell out of it, I didn't even watch it. AMC used to be my favorite channel, but they have indeed sold out. Commercials, edited films, and more and more recent flicks instead of classics. The guy who writes TV reviews for my local paper noticed this, and really skewered them. TCM is now my favorite channel, they don't edit films, they show a lot of them OAR, and they have some really great documentaries.

 

[Seth Paxton]

It's not the addition of 80's films, it's the recent swing toward a lot more modern films than older films which is what I was saying.
And the questionable choices of modern films.
If it were Chariots of Fire, ET, Driving Miss Daisy, or Pulp Fiction I could then see the inclusion of Predator as well.
Plus their new never OAR stance. The new ownership is driving them into the ground.
That's why BTTF in OAR is on TCM instead of AMC now.:frowning:

 

[Jon_B]

Just a reminder that Back to the Future airs tonight on Turner Classic Movie (TCM) tonight. Setup your recorders.
Jon

 

[Seth Paxton]

Is anyone else seeing noise in the signal? I'm getting brightness problems and a buzz (probably white level pushing into the audio bandwidth). Is it internal to me or coming from TCM?