Highest-Rated Movies about 'Live Television'

Magnolia (1999), Brat 2 (2000), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), Tootsie (1982), The Science of Sleep (2006), Talk to Me (2007), The Front (1976), The Hunger Games (2012) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Live Television movies.

#1. Magnolia (1999)

Storyline: 24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations. The weather, too, is quirky.

Plot Keywords: coincidence, surprise ending, child prodigy, male nurse, multiple storyline, fictional game show, abusive father ...

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#2. Brat 2 (2000)

Storyline: Danila Bagrov meets his army buddy Konstantin Gromov in Moscow, with whom he fought in Chechnya. The friend tells Danila about his twin brother Dmitry, who is a professional hockey player in America. However, the team owner, in cahoots with his Russian partner, has swindled the young star into an oppressive contract, allowing them to rob him blind. Several days after this conversation, Danila finds Konstantin dead. In order to straighten things out and avenge his friend, Danila goes to Chicago.

Plot Keywords: number in title, russian mafia, money, sequel, gangster, organized crime, cold blooded murder ...

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#3. Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

Storyline: In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history.

Plot Keywords: death, false accusation, family relationships, father son relationship, fbi, film projector, flash camera ...

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#4. Tootsie (1982)

Storyline: Michael Dorsey is an unemployed actor with an impossible reputation. In order to find work and fund his friend's play he dresses as a woman, Dorothy Michaels, and lands the part in a daytime drama. Dorsey loses himself in this woman role and essentially becomes Dorothy Michaels, captivating women all around the city and inspiring them to break free from the control of men and become more like Dorsey's initial identity. This newfound role, however, lands Dorsey in a hot spot between a female friend/'lover,' a female co-star he falls in love with, that co-star's father who falls in love with him, and a male co-star who yearns for his affection.

Plot Keywords: reputation, cult film, unwanted kiss, premarital sex, seduction, lesbian, woman in lingerie ...

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#5. The Science of Sleep (2006)

Storyline: Following the death of his father in Mexico, Stéphane Miroux, a shy insecure young man, agrees to come to Paris to draw closer to his widowed mother Christine. He lands a boring job at a calendar-making firm and falls in love with his charming neighbor Stéphanie. But conquering her is no bed of roses for the young man and the only solution he finds to put up with the difficulties he is going through is escape into a dream world...

Plot Keywords: dream, neighbor, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, drill, cooking, celebration, eccentric ...

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#6. Talk to Me (2007)

Storyline: The true life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself - sometimes to outrageous effect - and "tell it like it is." With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell, the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo's brother Dewey Hughes. From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling. Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey's voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey's "The truth just is" style --- on - and off-air - would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be.—Focus Features

Plot Keywords: cigarette smoking, boy, theft, thief, looting, fire, explosion ...

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#7. The Front (1976)

Storyline: In the early 1950s Howard Prince, who works in a restaurant, helps out a black-listed writer friend by selling a TV station a script under his own name. The money is useful in paying off gambling debts, so he takes on three more such clients. Howard is politically pretty innocent, but involvement with Florence - who quits TV in disgust over things - and friendship with the show's ex-star - now himself blacklisted - make him start to think about what is really going on.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Plot Keywords: dressing room, informant, lawyer, live television, subpoena, suicide by jumping, television producer ...

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#8. The Hunger Games (2012)

Storyline: In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.

Plot Keywords: female protagonist, wasp, tough girl, suicide attempt, game, heroic bloodshed, martial arts ...

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#9. Grease (1978)

Storyline: A musical about teens in love in the 50's! It's California 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, and when they go back to school, what neither of them knows is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny's the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black leather jacket-wearing greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell's first pep rally, Danny isn't the same Danny from the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together.

Plot Keywords: cheerleader uniform, year 1959, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, cult film, high school, dance contest, premarital sex ...

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#10. Evelyn (2002)

Storyline: The uplifting movie is based on the true story of the Doyle Family in 1950's Ireland. Desmond Doyle is abandoned by his wife who runs off to Australia and leaves him with their three small children. He tries his best to continue supporting them singing in the pub and doing painting here and there, only to have the government and child services remove his children stating there has never been a precedent of a Father raising his children without a Mother in the picture. He goes to court, and loses, and is told he cannot appeal his case. He then happily finds a retired lawyer who has taken on constitutional law successfully in the past, who willingly helps him take his case to The Supreme Court.—kateann1027

Plot Keywords: drunkenness, doll, male female relationship, grandfather granddaughter relationship, cigarette smoking, year 1953, child custody ...

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#12. The Running Man (1987)

Storyline: In the year 2017, the world economy has collapsed. The great freedoms of the United States are no longer, as the once great nation has sealed off its borders and become a militarized police state, censoring all film, art, literature, and communications. Even so, a small resistance force led by two revolutionaries manages to fight the oppression. With full control over the media, the government attempts to quell the nation's yearning for freedom by broadcasting a number of game shows on which convicted criminals fight for their lives. The most popular and sadistic of these programs is "The Running Man," hosted by Damon Killian. When a peaceful protest of starving citizens gathers in Bakersfield, California, a police officer named Ben Richards is ordered to fire on the crowd, which he refuses to do. Subdued by the other officers, the attack is carried out, and Richards is framed for the murder of almost a hundred unarmed civilians. Following a daring jail break months later, Richards is...

Plot Keywords: game of death, oppression, government conspiracy, most dangerous game, dystopia, film starts with text, fictional game show ...

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#13. Joy (2015)

Storyline: Joy has always been fascinated by creating things, This pursuit was always supported emotionally by her maternal grandmother, Mimi. Joy feels that lack of practical support has led to others making fortunes on ideas she came up with years ago but could not act upon manufacturing. Despite being broke, Joy is the person in her extended family to whom everyone has always turned, in the process forgoing her own life, including not having attended college to help see her parents through their divorce. She works in an unsatisfying job as an Eastern Airlines ticket clerk; and lives with her mother Terry who spends all day in bed watching soap operas; her ex-husband Tony, a less than successful aspiring Latino Tom Jones wannabe; and their two children. Added to this mix is her father Rudy, the owner of a failing heavy-duty garage, which is managed by Joy's older half-sister Peggy, with whom she has somewhat of a strained relationship, and for which Joy does the books. Sharon, Rudy's latest ...

Plot Keywords: interracial relationship, bankruptcy, confrontation, sister sister relationship, live television, disappointment, dallas texas ...

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#14. Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

Storyline: Conrad Birdie is the biggest rock & roll star of the 60's ever to be drafted. Aspiring chemist and song writer Albert is convinced he can make his fortune and marry his girlfriend Rosie if he gets Conrad on the Ed Sullivan show to kiss a high school girl goodbye. Albert's mother will do anything to break him up with Rosie. Kim and Hugo, the high school steadies, live in Sweet Apple, Ohio where most of the action takes place.—Lisa Grable <grable@unity.ncsu.edu>

Plot Keywords: ohio, split screen, telephone call, telephone operator, telephone, looking at the camera, singing ...

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#15. Bamboozled (2000)

Storyline: Dark, biting satire of the television industry, focusing on an Ivy League educated black writer at a major network. Frustrated that his ideas for a "Cosby Show"-esque take on the black family have been rejected by network brass, he devises an outlandish scheme: reviving the minstrel show. This is the hook: Instead of white actors in black face, the show stars black actors in even blacker face. The show becomes an instant smash, but with the success also come repercussions for all involved.—N. Cognito <nobody@noplace>

Plot Keywords: african american, recording, record player, recording studio, montage, gospel music, reference to mike tyson ...

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