MovieChat Forums > The Boston Strangler (1968) Discussion > AMC really blew it!

AMC really blew it!

posted 17 years ago by MissMargoChanning
11 replies | jump to latest

For anyone who actually has`nt seen this film, this does contain a spoiler....

Having some time off from work, I happened to see that American Movie Classics was showing The Boston Strangler early this morning. It`s been a few years since I`d last seen it, and I decided to wake up early and watch it. I seldom watch anything on AMC anymore ever since they started showing commercials. The films they air are good, but they`re so broken up by them. Well, I just could`nt believe it! It got to the end of the movie, where Tony Curtis is going through the motions of the strangling of this girl, and two minutes before the credits even roll, AMC squishes down the image, and split the screen to show commercials for upcoming movies that they will be showing!
I could`nt BELIEVE it! I thought Tony Curtis was brilliant in that last scene! AMC really blew it. Do they do this sort of thing all the time? I swear, I am never watching anything on that network ever again!
Sorry... I just had to get this off my chest, and now that I`m done, I think I`ll ejoy the rest of my day off....maybe I`ll just rent this one sometime, and enjoy it commercial free...
Beware of AMC!

[–] stacey718995 17 years ago

I just came on here to say the same thing! I DVR'ed it and just watched it, I can't believe they did that either. You couldn't hear the final lines of the movie nor read the final words. Unreal.

I will say that I have been recording movies off of AMC for the last month and watching them during my surgery recovery and this is the first I have seen them do that.

[–] MissMargoChanning 17 years ago

Realy? I was wondering if this was something that AMC did regularly. It realy is silly. They show enough, and I might add, the same commercials during commercial breaks. We don`t need to see what is coming up next. If I`m interested, I`ll stay tuned.
Anyway, I hope you`re feeling better. Happy 4`th of July!

[–] [email protected] 17 years ago

WOW! thurber67 you couldn't be more accuate.

I live in Canada and caught this movie last night on AMC (I'd never watched this film before).
My sentiments *exactly* regarding all the commercials and the worst part, the CREDITS! I couldn't even see who directed the film!!

For a channel focusing on 'people who love movies' (or whatever their slogan is..) cutting out most of the credits is abominable.

Thank gosh for IMDB.

Corvidae

Inspire whimsey in everyone you meet

[–] justafan65 17 years ago

Thought I would let you know that I was watching this on AMC and then came to read the board and saw this post. I made sure to watch all the way to the end, mind you how could anyone turn it off at this point as it was the best performance by Tony Curtis, and you will happy to know that they kept it full screen for his entire scene and all the way thru the credits. It was a powerful ending and the credits were well done, with Tony in the corner and you could still hear him breathing while the credits were running. Not sure if someone from AMC reads these boards, but it's good to know that maybe your input had some influence.

[–] MissMargoChanning 17 years ago

That`s great! I`m so glad to know this, and who knows? Maybe you`re right. Maybe someone from AMC really does check out the boards.
I imagine that if they are, it would be too much to ask them to go back to their old commercial free format. LOL! I really miss that, and I know a lot of people who feel the same way. Thank goodness for TCM!

[–] onepotato2 16 years ago

I put my TV away for grad school 4 years ago. In that time, Hollywood has found numerous, obnoxious way to push product at viewers: Animated intrusive station logo "bugs" in the lower right corner, during-the-movie animated promos for toher crap at the bottom of the screen, and absurdly compromised credits have become the norm. I have no idea why people would try to watch a movie on regular TV anymore. Movies are now just some new place that has been made safe for commerce.

But I know just how to prevent Hollywood whores from selling their wares during a movie, and it involves not plugging my TV back in. I can watch things just beautifully on a monitor, where I control every second of what it shows.

[–] LatigoMeans 16 years ago

I have to agree that it has gotten much worse watching most anything on TV, cable or otherwise.
They step on the endings of so many shows to advertise the next or upcoming shows. Those ID bugs in the corner can be real annoying. The amount of commercials has gotten ridiculous... 10 minutes of film followed by 5 minutes of ads... and then repeat same.

The worst offender is this new FEARNET channel. I can live with the ads before and after the film, even the single interruption about halfway through. But when they display one of the largest ID bugs and then every so often during the film, cut about 1/4 of the bottom of the screen away with their animated tearing graphic to advertise their website, it is just infuriating. I refuse to watch anything on that channel anymore... free movies or not.

~LjM
Step on it! And don't spare the atoms!

[–] MissMargoChanning 16 years ago

That sounds horrible. I have'nt heard of FEARNET. I will avoid it if I do see it.
I have often wondered why this is done so much. The only reason that I can think of, is because there are so many cahnnels now days to choose from. I suppose they want to grab the channel surfers.
The sad thing is, we all pay for all of these channels now. (not like in the past) We should see a movie in it's entirety without all of the ad interuptions during the movies or shows. Is'nt that what the listings guids are for?
Some people will say that if it bothers you, go out and buy or rent the movie. I say, Why should I have to when I pay my cable bill?
I can put up with commercials, but NOT during the program that I tuned in to see.

As for AMC, this network has gone so far downhil. Even the classics that they show are chopped up. Even with the commercials, they cut up the films now in order to stay within the programing schedual. They are no longer American Movie Classics. They are just another average network that I seldom watch. These networks are screwing themselves up.

[–] mobocracy 16 years ago

AMC is the worst. I actually listed it as a channel I don't receive on my Tivo simply because it kept recording AMC presentations as suggestions. I'd get excited reading the title and then see the AMC logo and be "aww, crap, edited, commercials."

About the only time I'd watch one was for a throwaway time killer like "Every Which Way But Loose" or something similar.

I just hope that the bean counters don't figure out what they're doing over at TCM.

[–] toshguy 14 years ago

And has anyone noticed that when a channel changes its logo, it's usually way uglier than the previous one?

I'm here, Mr. Man, I can not tell no lie and I'll be right here 'till the day I die

[–] gribfritz2 12 years ago

I can't believe only one commenter on this thread seems to know the horrible truth. AMC funds itself through advertising. They will do whatever it takes, including showing commercials, editing films to please an advertiser, shrinky-dinkying your screen to show even more commercials, and show terrible, recently-released one-star movies over and over because some advertiser wishes it. TCM does not fund itself through advertising (it looks like they either do it through DVD sales or just take a loss), so they do not show commercials, edit films, etc...

Looking at the upcoming AMC schedule right now. After over 4 straight hours of The Rifleman (last I checked, this was a TV show and not a movie, so why it's on American MOVIE Classics is beyond me), we're treated to The Bodyguard (twice in one day), Sahara (not the classic Bogie flick, but some "newer" creation), more TV shows, a few infomercials, and various Die Hard films. I completely gave up once I saw the wonderful one-star affair known as Swordfish will be on. Bad enough the film is terrible, but you know they're going to edit out the only two good things about the film as well. It is then followed by several hours of that wonderful "film", CSI Miami.

When I'm done vomiting, I'll be switching the channel back to TCM.