Recently I watched Skellig starring Bill Milner and was amazed how such a good movie was released as a made for TV movie. Then I remembered that some of my favorites films were too intended for TV. According to Wikipedia :
“The term “made-for-TV movie” was coined in the United States in the early 1960s as an incentive for movie audiences to stay home and watch what was promoted as the equivalent of a first-run theatrical motion picture” [1]
The production and quality of films such as Skellig in many cases are superior that many full feature which are issued as theatrical offerings. Some of them end up as DVD when they have been aired enough and this makes their distribution easier. An example for such movie is the US drama based on real story ” The Interrogation of Michael Crowe” – another example is the Australian film “Captain Johnno” which I reviewed recenly in theskykid.com. Another good made for TV movie is Feather Boy starring Thomas Sangster .
I wrote this post with an intention to tell you about some great coming of age films made by TV – but am well aware that there must be more out there . Do you know such films ? Which one is your favorite ?
Where made-for-TV coming-of-age is concerned, don’t forget the Australian miniseries “Brides of Christ” (the breakthrough role for Naomi Watts) and the BBC miniseries “Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit” (screenplay by Jeanette Winterson based on her novel).
The interrogation of Michael Crowe is a real gem and I could only be happy if more people discover it for themselves . Marc Rendall delivers an astonishing performance and the movie deals with a problem in the society – abuse of authority! Generally speaking Jake – as you have been following the blog in a while you know that if I highly recommend a film – it is worth seeing even if only to make your own opinion on it.
To answer your question – no I do not have a Netflix account – in fact I just checked their site for a first time few minutes ago . While checking their term of service I noted that they deliver solely in the US – which is probably why I haven`t been interested in opening an account with them .
I liked The interrogation of Michael Crowe. It was very good, I actually watched it because you had recommended it. do you have netflix by chance?
I know Taming Andrew . Lucas published recently a really good review of it. I have also heard of “Joshuas heart” – but am yet to see it. ” Fielders choice ” is a new title for me .Thanks for those suggestions .
I agree with you, lots of “tv-movies” are very good and its a shame that they dont get any wide distribution. One of my favourite tv-movies are “Taming Andrew” but i can also recommend “Joshuas heart” and “Fielders choise”.