Horrors! There's a Swan-like show for movie geeks on AMC. These are end times, people. On Into Character, according to AMC's synopsis, "everyday people get the chance to tackle the movie roles of a lifetime." So far, they've trained up former fat kid Nate Rubin into a real-life Rocky Balboa and put him into the ring and, well, I'll let the able copywriters tell you about the second episode, called "La Bamba."
In this episode Todd Smaretsky wants to pay respect to the Mexican heritage of his fiancée, Sonia, by singing the hit "La Bamba" made famous by Chicano star Ritchie Valens to her parents. But there are three little problemos: Todd doesn't speak Spanish, sing or play guitar. Determined, Todd travels back to the Fifties and south of the border to bask in the history and heritage that shaped Valens' hit song.
Díos mio. It airs June 23 and June 24. The cinetrix doesn't have cable, so she's counting on you nice people to report back on this travesty.
According to a recent item in Entertainment Weekly, on-deck movies include The Karate Kid, Ice Castles, The Blues Brothers, and Dirty Dancing. About that last one:
"Vicki is a [Con Edison supervisor], and she's not a little girl," says [show creator Riaz] Patel of the Dancing episode. "So when Johnny and Baby do their lift, it ain't pretty... but it's their movie moment."
[Er, I suppose Titanic would reveal the show as the exercise in natural selection all reality shows ultimately are.] Well, it is an interesting premise, I'll grant 'em that. Which movie would you choose?
And scene.