Get Kleenex out for ‘Atonement’

Tonight’s must-see

“Atonement” (2007), 8 p.m., HBO. You can gripe, as needed, about the bait-and-switch ending. Before then, however, this is great filmmaking.

Using few words and stunning pictures, director Joe Wright stirs deep pools of emotion.

“Atonement” won an Oscar for Dario Marianelli’s music and was nominated for six more – best movie, supporting actress (Ronan), sets, costumes, cinematography and screenplay.

Tonight’s might-see

Sports, everywhere. Seasons overlap tonight.

NASCAR? ABC has Sprint Cup race from Concord, N.C. at 4:30 p.m.

Baseball? The second game of the American League’s series, Boston at Tampa Bay, is 5 p.m. on TBS.

Football? A busy day peaks at 5 p.m. on CBS. Louisiana State, ranked third and fourth in two national polls, visits Florida, ranged 11th and 12th.

Other choices include

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 10 p.m., NBC. Gaius Charles (“Friday Night Lights”) plays a suspect, in a probe of extreme fighting.

“Who’s Got Jokes?” season-opener, 10 p.m., TV One. Comedians scream their stand-up lines, leaving little room for subtlety or wit.

Sunday’s must-see

“True Blood,” 9 p.m., HBO. Here is that rare show that keeps getting better. It’s a vampire story, but it also brings deep layers of human emotion.

Last week’s hour ended as Sookie, the sweet waitress, found her good-hearted grandmother brutally slain.

The aftermath offers a perfect chance to define characters. Under the skilled touch of producer Alan Ball (“Six Feet Under”), that’s done brilliantly.

Sunday’s might-see

“Black Blizzard,” 8-10 p.m., History Channel. In the 1930s, the American plains were pounded. Winds reached 100 mph; black clouds of dust choked, killed, blinded. Farmland was stripped; insects and disease followed.

That hit an extreme on May 9, 1934. The winds dumped 12 million pounds of soil onto Chicago, with some dirt reaching New York. Here is a horror story, told by people who were there.