the 2000s: best made-for-TV films or one-shot mini-series

Angels in America
The Best of Youth
When the Levees Broke (still haven't seen)

what are you criteria for this? band of brothers has 10 episodes e.g.

your

lol @ (still haven't seen)

i don't think angels in america is that good tbh. such a great play and the hbo version seems really stiff and lifeless to me. guy who plays prior is angelically beautiful tho

angels in america is the worst thing I have ever watched in my life

i love when the levees broke on the other hand; i rewatch it periodically and it totally holds up

i even taught it once!

i don't think angels in america is that good tbh. such a great play and the hbo version seems really stiff and lifeless to me. guy who plays prior is angelically beautiful tho

― horseshoe, Friday, February 12, 2010 12:51 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark

i have hung out w/ him. a bro imo. /suzy

lucky bitch

Generation Kill

Band of Brothers is def. a mini-series.

Prime Suspects 1-3

band of brothers ftw

angels in america is the worst thing I have ever watched in my life

― iatee, Friday, February 12, 2010 12:52 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

^^^

I noticed that Wit got a vote in the movie poll.

angels in america is the worst thing I have ever watched in my life

― iatee, Friday, February 12, 2010 12:52 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh come one you can't have jeffrey wright in something and have this be true

lol 'come one'

i'm guessing most of the Zodiac-olytes will go nuts for Red Riding, haven't seen it yet but pretty pumped.

AinA is one of Pacino's few non-atrocities in the last 20 years.

The play made Jeffrey Wright's career, y'know...

a lot of the acting in AiA is great: jeffrey wright, beautiful man goole knows, i think pacino is good in it but maybe that's because roy cohn is such a great role. but it just doesn't have the magic of the play. that's my highly scientific analysis.

red riding (1974) wasnt all that good imo. also shown theatrically in usa

also, re: AiA it pains me to say this because i love her the most and it was probably a doomed role from the beginning but Emma Thompson totally blows in it :(

Emmy nominees for Best Made for TV Movie:

2000
Tuesdays with Morrie
Annie
If These Walls Could Talk 2
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
RKO 281

2001
Wit
61*
Conspiracy
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story
Laughter on the 23rd Floor

2002
The Gathering Storm
Dinner with Friends
James Dean
The Laramie Project
Path to War

2003
Door To Door
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story
Live from Baghdad
My House in Umbria
Normal

2004
Something the Lord Made
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself
Ike: Countdown to D-Day
The Lion in Winter
The Reagans

2005
Warm Springs
Lackawanna Blues
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Office Special
The Wool Cap

2006
The Girl in the Café
Flight 93
The Flight That Fought Back
Mrs. Harris
Yesterday

2007
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Inside the Twin Towers
Longford
The Ron Clark Story
Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy

2008
Recount
Bernard and Doris
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
A Raisin in the Sun

2009
Grey Gardens
Coco Chanel
Into the Storm
Prayers for Bobby
Taking Chance

Prime Suspects 1-3

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, February 12, 2010 1:55 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not from 2000s

i'm guessing most of the Zodiac-olytes will go nuts for Red Riding, haven't seen it yet but pretty pumped.

― Cosmo Vitelli, Friday, February 12, 2010 1:58 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

unfortunately these are p mediocre

American High: RJ Cutler's short doc series about a High School kids in Suburban Chicago. Initially on Fox who shitcanned it after a few weeks. Got picked up by PBS and got re-edited with bonus material.

i liked AiA a lot

band of brothers definitely

Emmy nominees for Best Miniseries:

2000
The Corner (HBO)
Arabian Nights (ABC)
The Beach Boys: An American Family (ABC)
Jesus (CBS)
P.T. Barnum (A&E)

2001
Anne Frank: The Whole Story (ABC)
Further Tales of the City (SHO)
Hornblower: Mutiny (A&E)
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (ABC)
Nuremberg (TNT)

2002
Band of Brothers (HBO)
Dinotopia (ABC)
The Mists of Avalon (TNT)
Shackleton (A&E)

2003
Taken (Sci-Fi)
Napoléon (A&E)
Hitler: The Rise of Evil (CBS)

2004
Angels in America (HBO)
American Family: Journey of Dreams (PBS)
Traffic (USA)
Hornblower: Duty (A&E)
Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (PBS)

2005
The Lost Prince (PBS)
The 4400 (USA)
Elvis (CBS)
Empire Falls (HBO)

2006
Elizabeth I (HBO)
Bleak House (PBS)
Into the West (TNT)
Sleeper Cell (SHO)

2007
Broken Trail (AMC)
Prime Suspect: The Final Act (PBS)
The Starter Wife (USA)

2008
John Adams (HBO)
The Andromeda Strain (A&E)
Cranford (PBS)
Tin Man (Sci-Fi)

2009
Little Dorrit (PBS)
Generation Kill (HBO)

Wit is so, so good – Mike Nichols' best. I was very tempted to include it in my list anyway.

it just doesn't have the magic of the play. that's my highly scientific analysis.

Agreed! but I'm shocked that Mike Nichols didnt totally fuck it up.

The Red Ridings are getting some pretty meh US reviews.

2006
Elizabeth I (HBO)

huh, would watch

2000s was not a great decade for miniseries imo. actual serialized tv was better for the most part

American High: RJ Cutler's short doc series about a High School kids in Suburban Chicago. Initially on Fox who shitcanned it after a few weeks. Got picked up by PBS and got re-edited with bonus material.

I love this but never considered it a miniseries.

i sort of want to see Life with Judy Garland. is that the one with Judy Davis?

red riding (1974) wasnt all that good imo. also shown theatrically in usa

yeah this has been happening with non-u.s. miniseries. See also Best of Youth and (i think?) the new Carlos the Jackal miniseries.

Re: American High

Yeah, it was more of a serial done as a one-shot.

saw about an hour of Davis as Garland, she was way better than the material.

Judy Davis was excellent, but the movie was the sort of train wreck in which the real Garland would have starred.

that's kind of what i would imagine.

My pics:

Wit
Conspiracy
Elizabeth I

how's State of Play?

my girlfriend loved it

its about a thousand times better than the movie

(I just saw a copy of the library; stars everyone's favorite faun James McAvoy)

i thought it was quite well plotted and acted (even tho its not particularly difficult to guess the twists), but i hated the lead actor

well i guess that's going on my list

xpost about mcavoy

i liked it, even in spite of mcavoy, who plays a bit of a dork, which is sort of the best way to cast him

what do you mean "in spite of" crazy talk

i liked the movie okay but state of play is fantastic - def the best of the brit series stuff ive seen. although i still havent watched the thick of it yet

haha xposts mcavoy is p dreamy as the befuddled nerd in this horseshoe its <3

state of play sucks compared to the first few prime suspects, house of cards, edge of darkness--ie the classic brit miniseries thrillers

imo at least. i think im in the minority tho.

the fuckin main guy, he just has no charisma, and he looks like thom yorke.

i thought the PBS dv Bleak House w/ agent scully was really good, but i don't think i saw the whole thing in order. really brought out the wild soapy side of dickens.

i need to see that bleak house asap.

I honestly can't think of a single made-for-TV movie or miniseries I have seen since Alex Haley's Queen and Wild Palms in 1993.

oh state of play is nowhere near prime suspect or house of cards (havent seen eod) but those are p high achievements to hold as a standard of comparison. sop was still really well-executed though even if it doesnt have prime suspect's depth

61* is pretty good for something Billy Crystal-related

State of Play is way better than Edge of Darkness which descends into complete silliness.

What was the last good/important network movie or miniseries?

I stopped watching Prime Suspect years ago. Could I rent the 2007 episodes and still follow along?

Agree about Prime Suspect and House of Cards (or Tinker, Tailor or Smiley's People or Jewel in the Crown.) Lots of great brit series.

xp it really lost the plot post-3 IMO.

yall have got to see edge of darkness

I stopped watching Prime Suspect years ago. Could I rent the 2007 episodes and still follow along?

― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, February 12, 2010 2:20 PM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah you could follow along. dont expect it to be as good, but its still entertaining.

I've seen it. RECENTLY. It's ridiculous post-ep 4.

oh yeah! Bleak House was v good.

State of Play good but nothing stunning yeah. McAboy's part is not huge; that Bill Nighy guy is his father/editor-in-chief.

I stopped watching Prime Suspect years ago. Could I rent the 2007 episodes and still follow along?

― Inculcate a spirit of serfdom in children (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, February 12, 2010 1:20 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

haven't seen the 06 one, but the final one is EXCELLENT

ridiculous... ly good

Ridiculously ridiculous.

Is that a DVD blurb?

"Ridiculous ridiculous" - ILX user Alex in SF

finally watching band of brothers. it rules! i don't know why i was so convinced i wouldn't like it.

yesterday though i was watching an episode and donnie wahlberg's prominence in it made me have to turn it off and watch the departed because i missed mark wahlberg or something?