Jeff Goldblum Narrates; Spike Lee, Michael Douglas,
Glenn Close Offer Perspectives
Original Nine-Part Series Premieres on
September 9, 2005 at 10 PM ET/PT
JERICHO, NY, August 8, 2005– Hollywood releases hundreds of movies each year, and while most are simply entertaining, some actually change the way we think about the world. AMC's continues its successful run of movie documentary programming with the nine-part original series, MOVIES THAT SHOOK THE WORLD, which will explore the most influential movies of all time. Each half hour episode is devoted to a celebrated film that triggers strong emotions, changes public opinion and leaves an indelible mark on our culture.
Some of the seminal films that will be spotlighted in the series include: BIRTH OF A NATION, DO THE RIGHT THING, FATAL ATTRACTION, THE GRADUATE, THE CHINA SYNDROME, LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, 2001: SPACE ODYSSEY, AMERICAN GRAFFITI and THE EXORCIST.
"Racism, disaster, obsession and God are just some of the explosive themes each of the movies in this series explored," commented Rob Sorcher, AMC's Senior Vice President, Programming and Production. "Movies That Shook The World' examines the powerful cultural and political changes these movies ignited and just how each helped to shape the way a generation views the world."
Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, the series features members of the creative community including directors Spike Lee and Adrian Lyne; actors Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Rosie Perez; media pundits that include Michael Medved, as well as politicians, authors and scholars, who weigh in on the cultural changes that these films reflected.
Two highly charged movies on the complete opposite end of the spectrum the series will examine are D.W. Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION and director Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING. Considered by film scholars to be a landmark work of cinematic genius, BIRTH OF A NATION exploded across movie screens in 1915, as the biggest, longest and most ambitious movie of all-time. It is also easily one of the most controversial. The MOVIES THAT SHOOK THE WORLD episode will delve into the controversy surrounding this movie, which is set in the Civil War era, with a storyline that reinforces racial stereotypes, praises the Ku Klux Klan and justifies the persecution of African Americans.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from BIRTH OF A NATION is director Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING (1989), which is credited with bringing real-life racial issues to the forefront of America — without sugar-coating them — and stimulating discussion.
The series is Executive Produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato ("Inside Deep Throat," "Party Monster," "Eyes of Tammy Faye") and the Supervising Producer for World of Wonder is Gabriel Rotello.
About World of Wonder
Based in both Los Angeles and London, World of Wonder is best known for award-winning films and documentaries such as "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," "Party Monster" (both Sundance Film Festival favorites) "Monica in Black and White" (HBO) and "The Hidden Fuhrer" (Cinemax). Previous AMC productions
include "Hollywood Fashion Machine," "Women on Top: Hollywood and Power," and a biography of William Haines. Most recently, World of Wonder have created and produced the hit series "Show Biz Moms and Dads" and the popular sequel "Show Dog Moms & Dads" for Bravo. World of Wonder has also produced and created numerous documentaries and non-fiction programs for Court TV, VH1, MTV and A&E in the States, as well as BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV in the UK. Co-founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey recently wrote and directed "Inside Deep Throat," a feature documentary about the classic adult film. More information about World of Wonder can be found on the WOW Report daily blog, www.worldofwonder.net.
About AMC
AMC, a division of Rainbow Media's Entertainment Services, which also includes WE: Women's Entertainment and IFC Companies, is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 86,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and a critically-acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. Over the past three years, AMC has garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including 14 Emmy awards. AMC is "TV for movie people."
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women’s Entertainment, as well as on-demand services including Mag Rack and sportskool. Rainbow’s other businesses include its regional programming services, Rainbow Sports Networks, News 12 Networks and Metro Traffic & Weather – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications.