Tony Kushner, who also wrote the screenplay for Lincoln, adapted his own seminal Broadway play about the AIDS crisis into this impeccable, emotional 2003 HBO multi-part epic. Mike Nichols directs, doing brilliant things with the material and getting equally brilliant performances from his actors. And heavens (which applies here, at least in part), what a cast: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, Justin Kirk, Jeffrey Wright all star, and they’re all utterly magnificent. Set in 1985 in Manhattan, it tells several intertwined stories, all of which culminate in a greater understanding of the impact of AIDS on society, and on several specific individuals. A great drama, no less poignant or powerful a decade later. – DB