Aaron Sorkin's Legal Themed Trilogy

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. Okay, I think the main reason, before we get into the thick of this, you'll hear some other takes by everybody, some key points. You're a good man. You've heard just about every movie podcast cover it. But man, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

[00:00:27] But much like any other movie we all love, it's so good. So anytime, I can casually pay attention to it or I can be completely deadlocked into it. You know, just completely locked in, just ready for battle. It's, you know, Robbie Richardson, who's a Tarantino favorite. Cinematography is jaw-droppingly good.

[00:00:51] Perfectly recreates, you know, an earlier 50s type movie scenario that you'd see in Technicolor, you know, Cinemascope probably. And Rob Reiner is so good with the actors and this starts the whole Aaron Sorkin walk and talk thing. But man, you know, it's a rare kind of movie too. Just MTV generation was all over it for real. Like, it got an MTV award for best movie. What does that tell you?

[00:01:18] And I always joked if they did a sequel, it'd be called A Few More Men. And you can see plenty of fake trailers for those on YouTube. But yeah, it was a rare movie where Tom Cruise wasn't playing Tom Cruise. And he was ready to do it because he'd already done Taps, Demi Moore. I was like, wow, this is so cool seeing her do a serious role instead of be in a mystery movie or be sexy. You know, and same thing with Kevin Paul. Like, he's not being funny.

[00:01:47] He might give out one smart-ass remark. But, you know, Kevin Bacon as the defense for, you know, the sour colonel, you know, Kevin Bacon. That was cool to see him because previously, you know, it's so funny how he and Kiefer Sutherland were in this. And they were previously in Flatliners two years prior. And Kiefer is so funny. He uses a photo of this character on the TV show 24.

[00:02:14] So I always joke, Jack Nicholson trained Jack Bauer to do everything. But he's completely unrecognizable here. Like, he had already done some bad apple rules, you know, but he was a different kind of bad apple where he's like, I've got to do whatever the colonel tells me to do, you know. And he apparently had trouble driving the Jeep in a few scenes and accidentally clipped a few people. But to his defense, he was driving a very difficult Jeep and it wasn't meant. But, yeah, this is a top ten role for Jack Nicholson.

[00:02:43] He really is playing a guy who's, you know, a Trump type nowadays. But, you know, he's smoking a, you know, Cuban cigar. He's down at Guantanamo Bay, which, this is wild, you know. This is years before post-9-11 and it was written with utter scandals. Like, it makes you wonder that someone know that that base was already malfunctioning and they're dramatizing it. But, yeah, Rob Reiner uses some other people who are often in his work.

[00:03:11] He once again uses Christopher Guest from Princess Bride and, you know, spinal taps. So, it's cool seeing him be a psychiatrist here. Zondra Berkley, you know, this year after Terminator 2 being the stepdad. He's one of the captains who testifies. J.A. Preston is wonderful as the judge. He's definitely one of my favorite judge portrayals, you know.

[00:03:37] And I like how, you know, many will know him from Hill Street Blues and Remo Williams. I like how he's able to play against type here. And overall, you don't feel like, you know, this was even used to pitch TV shows like Jag a few years later. That's how popular it was in the industry.

[00:04:03] I think what also makes it stand out, aside from being a dick wolf, you know, Stephen Bochco show is it's more, you know, it's a light R rating. It's more from the language, but it's not relying on it. Take it away. It still has power. And it just does a good job of showing you how people are afraid to judge their orders. Michael DiLorenzo before being on New York Undercover is also one of the Marines who's here.

[00:04:29] Same thing with Colonel, like Corporal, played by a young Kubrick Jr. It's one of the first movies I saw. The Jag Corporal, played by Matt Craven in anything. And he also goes on to be on X-Men, Jacob's Ladder, A Few Good Men, and even Justified. And again, stacked cast, but they're all playing characters. There's, in fact, speaking of Jag, there is John M. Jackson.

[00:04:58] He plays one of the other captains in the rear. Liger goes on to play the rear admiral on the Jag NCIS franchise. So I liked it. Much like Jag, it did give you a good idea of just why all these different enlisted military personnel, most notably the Navy, all have to represent other people accused of crimes and let them know their rights.

[00:05:20] Much like NCIS is the police for the Navy system, it's also just to give them a different presentation, if you will. You're going to be tried as a military guy instead of in a regular court of law. But I also love how they just show, hey, this colonel doesn't play by any rules, so he's not going to play by any kind of courtroom law.

[00:05:46] So what do you do then when someone is so unstable that he refuses to even die by his sword, but not by, he will justify anything if he breaks the rules. You know, it's a problem dealing with double standards, and I think that's why people love it so much.

[00:06:13] And apparently Sorkin was inspired to write the source play. That's right, it was a play before it was a movie, you know, and we'll get into that later in the chat. But his sister Debra suggested it, and she had signed up for a three-year stint with the U.S. Navy Judge, you know, General's Corporation. And she said she was going to Guantanamo Bay to defend a group of Marines who nearly killed a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by an officer. And so there you go.

[00:06:40] So apparently, even though it did not say inspired by a true story, it inspired him. Nonetheless, this later unfortunately led to a lawsuit against Castle Rock by the real-life Marine Corps because the, you know, that's how it is. You got to give the disclaimer. And it's so funny how history has also repeated itself.

[00:07:05] There's been other material like this in real life, so it just shows that life imitates art sometimes. Noah Wiley, pre-ER, is also on here as another corporal. And again, just the movie. It's a movie that's just so in-depth. Sorkin creates all these absorbing characters that don't feel like cardboard cutouts. It's like, I don't want to leave. I want to stay. This is so good.

[00:07:33] Definitely one of the best crime dramas of 92 for that year. And a career best. And, you know, it just shows... I miss when people did this during the early 90s when there was stuff like Presumed Innocent, you know, where you could make... You know, it didn't have to be just a Tom Clancy adaptation or a Michael Crichton, you know, inspired blockbuster. You know, definitely one of the many things I've seen J.T. Walsh in.

[00:08:04] Again, if you're going to show it to kids on cut, you'll be fine compared to most movies. It's just... It's a mature movie that really is very mature. It's not because it's edgy or anything. It's more just... It's taken much consideration into its intent and making everything matter. Definitely a recommended work of art that just keeps on giving this many years later.

[00:08:34] We missed. We loaded. We edited. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun. Here is a reshuffled mini-episode.

[00:09:03] You want to investigate me? Roll the dice and take your chances. A rookie lawyer. Do you think Santiago was murdered? It doesn't matter what I believe. It only matters what I can prove. A feared colonel. Don't ever question my orders. In a battle for truth. I want to slam dunk this guy. Tom Cruise. Jack Nicholson. Demi Moore. In a Rob Reiner film. I want the truth! You can't handle the truth! A few good men. Rated R.

[00:09:31] If we have any other just like closing thoughts on A Few Good Men. Because like I think it's like the perfect throwback to like 50s kind of Technicolor movies. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to. Well, being in a 90s Zeith, guys. It's a very 12 Angry Men kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. A very like what was said earlier, three-act play. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:09:57] I'd say that and I'd say probably along the lines of the King Mutiny. The King Mutiny. Oh, that's a good one. Totally. Because like much like Mockingbird, you do get this. The one thing I will say about Nicholas' performance is that in that big scene with that, you can't handle the truth! Oh, it's a few good men. Yeah. Yeah. The part of it that really stuck out to me was just the part that he was speaking truth.

[00:10:28] Yes. And it was, you almost felt for the guy. You know the crap he pulled and how slimy he seemed to be. But at the end of the day, he spouted truth. Well, but that's just it. Yeah. Because there's nothing worse than a villain is just, I hate it when I see a movie and they're just evil just because. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Give me a backstory. I don't care if it's just a villain. Yeah. Don't just...

[00:10:58] That's any good villain, though. Right. Yeah. But I'm just saying, in a lesser movie, they just pull away and you're like, wait a second. Now you've just got a good actor playing a crappy B-movie role. It's like... But that's just it. Sorkin's script just kind of... He starts his whole walk and talk signature style he later does on Sports 9 and West Wing. But I think that script... I mean, there's a reason... You want to know who played them on Broadway when he tried out his play? Okay.

[00:11:26] This might have actually been better. Slightly. But I love the movie as it is. But like, Lou Diamond Phillips was in the Tom Cruise role. And Stephen Lang was in the Nicholson role. Oh, Stephen Lang. Really? And again, I love Nicholson. But fucking hell, Stephen Lang. Freaking T-stone. I usually like... Yeah, I usually like Stephen Lang in anything I've seen him in. Yeah, he's great. You can handle the truth, son. Yeah, son of boy. Yeah.

[00:11:55] He played definitely more into the hickish nature of it. And Lou Diamond Phillips would have definitely been like, no! Oh, you know. Give me the... And Rob Reiner, I'm just thinking about this. The director, name four or five Rob Reiner films. And they're all totally different. Right. Spinal Tap from Surprise. Spinal Tap. Stand by Me. Princess Bride. Stand by Me. The Sure Thing. The Sure Thing. Mississippi Burning. Mississippi Burning. Wait, he didn't work on Mississippi.

[00:12:24] No, he didn't. He didn't. No, what's the one he did in the set with the... Time to Kill? No, no. That was Schumacher. Princess Bride? Yeah, Princess Bride was in the set. Princess Bride, but I think he did Mississippi... He did Mississippi Burning, because I remember... No. No, no. Who was the one? Alan Parker. No, that wasn't him. That was Alan Parker. That was Alan Rudolph. Or Alan Parker. Or was it Alan Rudolph? Alan Parker. Who was the one where it was about the death of... Ghost of Mississippi.

[00:12:55] Ghost of Mississippi. Oh, he did that too. That is a good one. Yeah. I mean, it's another trial movie, but it's totally different from The Few Good Men. Did Rush. Sorry, I'm not trying to shout, but I was like, yeah, no. I wouldn't know if he did Mississippi Burning. Yeah, Rob Reiner tried to do anything like with Stephen King material at all. He did Misery and Stand By Me. Yeah, I mean, it was just my stand by me. But yeah. Stand By Me is pretty good. Those are very different movies, you know.

[00:13:22] And he also did that recent documentary with Elwood Brooks, which is really good. Oh, God. I love it. And he was just so perfect in that and the Mary Tyler Moore documentary, because he's just so... It's not just that he's just on the money. Like, he loves to just... Like, even when he's been getting into even more unusual dramedies or political thrillers that haven't done as well. Like, you know he has passion behind it and he knows how to... He just loves the human nature.

[00:13:50] And it's just so rare to see a comedic figure be this visceral. Usually we're used to it when we're acting, but then see him do it behind the camera and it's like, yeah, he's... When your dad is a comic, one of the comic geniuses of the 20th century, you know, and he's directed some really great movies, you know. I actually didn't mind the story of Us, and I thought I got hated on... But, I mean, he's made fun of himself on 30 Rock, you know. Yeah.

[00:14:19] The only thing I hate about the story of Us is it's white people dancing to soul music to a family, you know. Yeah, that was dorky. That started with Big Chill and it's never been good, you know. Just don't do that. No, no, no. Come on. That's a little cringy, yeah. You're white. You're white. Yeah, stay white. Dance to some Lawrence Welk, right? White AF. You're not... You can't move like the Temptations. I'm sorry. You are not the Temptations. So, look at us. We've got soul. Yeah, you do. Yeah, no, no.

[00:14:46] But the Temptations are not even color me bad. Yeah, everything... You know, that was a cliche thing for about 20 years. I got really old really fast. I'd like to say that I've got soul, but it's very stationary. As long as it's not soul, man. Oh! If they're white, they should listen to Don No Soul Robbins. Oh! We're a lightest above, huh? With Brothers Without Soul. Brothers Without Soul.

[00:15:16] That's a great part of Amazon. I'm on the move. Rest in peace, BB King. Yeah, BB King. They're terrific together. The script of A Few Good Men offers few surprises, except one, and that is that Tom Cruise and Demi Moore do not have a love affair in the movie, and that's really refreshing. Also notable is that Tom Cruise more than holds his own against Jack Nicholson. Because of his looks, Tom Cruise is always underestimated as an actor, but against Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, and now Jack Nicholson,

[00:15:45] he proves they're equal. This movie is just good. It's not great. But Cruise is better than that. He's the reason to see A Few Good Men. Well, I agree with you about Tom Cruise, and I also think that Jack Nicholson gives a very interesting performance in this movie, a very watchable performance, but I would zero in on something you correctly said, and that is there are no surprises in this movie. Right. Not only are there any surprises in the general sense, but in particular, the script fatally undermines the key scene in the whole movie, which is Nicholson's big courtroom scene.

[00:16:14] And that's because in a scene that's set the night before, Tom Cruise correctly predicts and explains and outlines for his friends exactly what his courtroom strategy is going to be and what he expects Nicholson to do. Right. And then the next day in court, Nicholson, everything goes according to plan. Nicholson does exactly what was said. Now, why would a screenplay give away a surprise like that? Why didn't they figure we were smart enough that we'd just be able to see the courtroom scene and figure out for ourselves what it was that Cruise was trying to do

[00:16:42] and then see if Nicholson falls for it or not? Because by telling them about it in advance, it completely destroys that scene. I give the movie a thumbs down because it doesn't know how to handle the climax. Well, I think I probably would have been able to have predicted the climax even if they hadn't. Yeah, but I mean, why do you want somebody in the movie to predict it for you? I mean, that way you can feel clever. No, no, no. It is a predictable movie. I'm just surprised that you're voting thumbs down because I thought all the way through, I was really, I knew the story.

[00:17:12] All the way through, I was watching Cruise's character and watching him develop, and I thought that was interesting. Not only do you know the story, but it's almost, within the first 20 minutes of this movie, you can figure out what the entire story is going to be more or less. So then it's only performances, and it seems to me that the performances had been linked to a screenplay that was a lot more interesting. There was a, the screenplay was surprising for what it didn't do with the Meemore character. That's one thing you would have known. Well, that's because that character was originally a man. I'm convinced of that. And they made it into a woman without rewriting it in any other way.

[00:17:41] But that's, but that's great. I mean, wouldn't you expect the rewrite to include a love relationship? Sure you would. Unaware of that interest? No, I don't think so. But Few Good Men is a broad, is a play. That's more than a movie. It was really just, it was a play. It's a film play, yeah. It could have been a play. That's a good way of describing it. Well, and. It really is like a three-act drama, three-act trap. Yeah.

[00:18:11] I don't know how to do, but a three-act drama. That's the best way of putting it. It is a stylish play that's somehow looking theatrical, thanks to Robbie Robertson's cinematography. I love how, in Roger Ebert's negative review, he acts like, what's the point? Even though we know he did the crime. I'm like, the whole point is that he doesn't, he negates it. Yeah. That's the whole point of every war criminal. He thinks he's right. You have to understand the merits of law.

[00:18:41] They don't have any sort of viable evidence to convict him that he did the crime. It's not until in court that through his own hubris that they get him to admit it, that they can convict him on anything. Exactly. That's the point. And it's just amazing how a smart guy like him missed that point in his review. And I'm like, it's one thing to not care for it if you found it dull, but don't tell me it doesn't make sense. Well, it's an important film if you,

[00:19:10] when you go back and look at it now. Yeah. And it's one of these things that I learned along the way. The better people that you work with, the better you're going to be. And look what he did to Kevin Bacon, how good Kevin was in that movie. It raised everybody up because of Jack Nicholson. If they had scenes with him, it made them better actors. Absolutely. And the fact that he was able to recite that whole in speech without looking at any paper,

[00:19:39] he would ask occasionally for a line, line plays, but he kept doing it the same time every way. And Rob Reiner did look back at it and say, they made sure to applaud him at the end of the shoot. It was like, dude, you are a true, you're an actual trooper. Welcome. Welcome. We got two different authors and great talents on here. We've got Lindsay G returning again. Hi. And then we got C. Courtney Joyner. How are you, buddy? Oh, just fine.

[00:20:07] This is, this is very exciting. By all means. Today, I just figured we'd just do just kind of a, another natural chat in general, just on our favorite villains and badasses. Good question. Because that's often the argument. Your movie is only as good as the villain. And if the villain is just uninspired or just disappears into the background in favor of the various explosions and comedy or terror, then it gets pretty old pretty fast. So another great villain,

[00:20:36] Jack Nicholson's Colonel Joseph. So, you know, Nicholson, I always get into arguments with my friends because I'll be honest with you. I agree with Nicholson, not with Tom Cruise. I stood by that. I did. You need me on that wall. Yeah. And, uh, it's like, well, it's like what you're bringing up with the shield. And,

[00:21:05] you know, the idea of the rogue, who is basically a tool of higher ups because they know this is somebody who will kick down a door. This is somebody who will walk into a bullet. And they're not always the most honorable guys, but they are the necessary guys. And that's just it. I mean, they bring up so many conversations, even days after you've seen these plays or these movies or read these books.

[00:21:35] And it's like, yeah, I mean, people like Jessup and Vic have basically been engineered because of all the systematic wrongs that have been going on for decades where, you know, young kids sign up early, don't know what they're getting into and get abused by their, you know, privates in the army or who just flat out just say, hey, to win the war, I got to basically be like the enemy or who I view the enemy to be. I got to be flat out anal retina, but I got to be psycho.

[00:22:04] And anyone who gets in my way, oh, I will fuck you up. And just the fact that he just basically has all these guys basically, you know, hang one of his privates who has been speaking out of turn and not following his orders, he's like, oh, I had to kill him. He's in my way. And, and the fact that he brings all these NCIS, JAG equivalent, you know, people just come to his base and say, hey man, what's going on here? Well, you know, when, when you get into that

[00:22:33] and you say, uh, another great example, of course, we talk about rogue cop, uh, the French connection and Popeye Doyle. Yeah. Popeye Doyle. And of course, Eddie Egan was the model for that character and he's in the movie as was his partner, Sonny Grosso. That's a thing. I mean, these are, you know, these are really rough guys dealing with even rougher guys. And that was the whole, that was,

[00:23:02] it's the whole conundrum of how far do you go? What do you excuse? But of course, we're not the ones who are walking into the room facing a dozen guns. Oh, very much so. And it is very interesting to see how so many people just get, you know, caught up with all these other guys and it becomes impossible when you're investigating to get even a proper story to even know, you know, who,

[00:23:32] who did whatever wrong doing or who was well intended and then stepped out of line. And it is even more so because it's like, everybody's broken a rule or done something they're not supposed to. It just became a matter of, okay, so how big was the offense? Right. Exactly. And of course, I'll, I'll, I'll go. My weekly poker game has moved to the Cobra Lounge. You'll help run it. I was in a room with movie stars, directors, and business titans. You're making thousands

[00:24:02] in tips every week. Thank you, Lolly. I want you to listen. You are unimportant. I wasn't going to wait before I put a plan in place. First buy-in, 250,000. Let's play. I don't think I can defend the poker princess. Do you think a princess can do what I did? You're incorrect. Lolly's Game, rated R. Welcome all, welcome all. So, as we get into it, more on Aaron Sorkin. Again, love the guy. Say what you want about his politics.

[00:24:32] You know, I can appreciate early David Mamet. I can appreciate all kinds of other material. You know, it's just, if you're a good playwright, you're going to be often a pretty good, you know, script writer. And the man is fascinating to listen to in commentaries, let alone in just, you know, I took his master class. I love him that much. He's so good. It's so interesting how he's even published a script book of his West Wing book.

[00:25:01] And, funny enough, for both these movies, he ends up sneaking in the fictional law firm that Rob Lowe's character, Sam Seaborn, works for. It doesn't compromise the, you know, fictional material, but it is, it's just him being fun. Also, you know, much like the earlier movie, A Few Good Men, I like how the judge is patient and actually trying to listen to everybody, speak their truth while not suffering fools. And,

[00:25:31] these movies both have legal elements, but for the most part, they're mainly about, you know, there's so much more than that. And Molly's Game stands out so well because, you know, these are career best performances. I don't care what anyone says, you know, love Jessica Chastain. She's been in, she's had her talent wasted in some big budget movies. Same thing with Driss Helba. He's been in some terrible blockbusters, sometimes with The Rock among other people. They're both unrecognizable good in this.

[00:26:01] And, the whole real life, you know, entrepreneur gal, Molly Bloom, it's just so interesting because it gives you some insight about the, you know, underground gambling scene and some of the violent figures that almost always find their way to your doorstep. as well as just, you know, greed versus wanting to make a better life. It questions that without, dare I say, glamorizing it. It shows that, better than I dare say recent Scorsese has done,

[00:26:31] it shows the sexy side of it without, you know, the movie compromising its own ethics. And, you know, it's always in on the joke. And the narration is earned. It's there because it needs to be. She's doing all these different things. The montages are both inspired without being overdone, overblown in TV editing. Thank God it avoids that overused thing. And, Kevin Costner is great as her restrained dad. It's, he's really good.

[00:27:01] Even if you don't like Kevin Costner, he is good here. He, he's a psychologist. So it's interesting too how he made so much time for his patients as opposed to her. The supporting cast is great. You've probably seen some of them on X-File. Chris O'Dowd was there too. Yeah, so there's, it's a pretty international cast. JC McKenzie is here and he ends up working on a lot of other Scorsese and Aaron Sorkin material. But, it was so cool to see Sorkin just step into the director's chair. He's like,

[00:27:31] I'm gonna do this. I know my own voice. I can fucking do this. You know, and, he'd already done The Newsroom. he just, one, definitely one of my favorite movies of 2017. It does, it got good reviews but it was in and out and kind of more of a video story hit and it was cool that Stix Entertainment released this, you know, they're a pretty mainstream indie company and, yeah, just, a very atmospheric score that, uh, showed how

[00:28:00] a lot of this can just take up your life and, uh, just, it's so funny. I was watching this with one of my parents and, uh, they're into it. Next thing you know, my dad's trying to get work done. He's about to go to bed and he's like, this sounds like a good movie. You want to keep that on the, you know, DVR? I'm like, yes, promise. I don't have the DVR anymore. Well, I do, but it's digital. But, I like how, you know, there's so many other

[00:28:29] schemes to it and, uh, it's interesting how it just, again, Molly becomes such a good gambler. She gets all these other people who are trying to get her involved in Ponzi schemes. It's like, no, not going to do that. And, it shows how this person published her book and only named a few people for legal reasons that played in the games and Idris Elba is great as her lawyer. He creates another side to it.

[00:28:59] He's not just the audience's eye into this whole thing. He's also just, like, her strong suit and, God, uh, it's also a very unrecognizable role for Michael Cera. I usually do not care for the guy outside of Arrested Development. He always came off as weak Jesse Eisenberg to me. Don't get me wrong, Jesse Eisenberg can be bad in a bad movie, but he is a talented actor. Sarah goes against type here. He plays a character who is basically,

[00:29:29] I kid you not, they gave him the official name of Player X, much like, kind of like what they did with Patriot's Day, which was about, where they took Mark Wahlberg's, you know, police officer character and blended, like, six different people and put them into one composite. Same thing they had to do here. Basically, for legal reasons, this character was inspired by real-life celebrities who were in the gambling role. I kid you not, many people cited this person as being based on Molly's interactions

[00:29:59] with actors like Tobey Maguire and the popularity of Leo DiCaprio, since both actors reportedly were not only best friends, but played together. I knew they were friends. I did not know that they played together. But, yeah, even some of the bit part actors are really good here, and they let you into the mind of, again, just gambling. But it also goes above that. She wants to make a life for herself. She wants to hustle.

[00:30:28] So I think that's why it explains better why this person's become an icon. This isn't like any other real-life infamous person who ended up inspiring corruption or having controversial hot tags. It's like, yeah, this is a person who came into that thin line just trying to, you know, she goes from being a skier and she had to, you know, instead of going to law school, she decided to try her own

[00:30:58] LA-based hustle and, you know, and she only found out how to do this after being a waitress at an LA club and, you know, she wasn't going to just sit around after she got over her, you know, skiing injury. So, I love how it's chronicled with, again, without overdone editing and title cards, it does not, it's so mentally

[00:31:28] rewarding and a very taut thriller and, again, compelling, unrecognizable acting, you don't need any more reasons to not see it. You gotta see it. We want to underscore again that we're coming to Chicago peacefully, but whether we're giving permits or not, we're coming. We're going to Chicago to protest the Vietnam War. There's no place to be right now but in it. We watched for a decade

[00:31:57] while these rebels without a job tell us how to prosecute a war. They're going to spend their 30s in a federal facility real time. People say, you know, Abby, are you concerned about an overreaction from the cops? Holy shit. You all right? No worries until I saw that. Are the people ready to make opening arguments? At the defense table, Abby Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Dave Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Lee Weiner, John Freund, Tom Hayden,

[00:32:27] and Bobby Seale. These defendants had a plan and the plan was to incite a riot. I call this portion of the trial with friends like these. My trial's begun without my lawyer. The court assumes you are being represented by the Black Panther sitting behind you. The riots were started by the Chicago Police Department. Sustained. Nobody objected. Jurer 6 and 11, they're with us. Jurer number 6 and juror number 11, you're dismissed from this jury. Can you tell us why?

[00:32:56] Because this is my courtroom. We've dealt with jury tampering, wiretapping, a defendant that was literally gagged. Get your hands off me. You're the first to suggest that I have discriminated against a Black man. Then let the record show that I'm the second. When we walked in here this morning, they were chanting that the whole world is watching. If we leave here without saying anything about why we came in the first place, it'll be heartbreaking.

[00:33:26] Last summer, why did you come to the convention? to end the war? We're giving them exactly what they want, a stage and an audience. You really think there's going to be a big audience? Here I have! This is what revolution looks like, real revolution. We may have to hurt somebody's feelings. Oh, my God! Is this prosecution politically motivated? I'm tired of hearing you. It would be impossible for me to care any less what you are tired of. Here I have!

[00:33:59] We have to find some courage now. Is it worth you? What's your price? To call out the revolution? Alrighty. Let us conclude yet another one. At the end of Aaron Sorkin's crime-themed trilogy, we got The Trial of the Chicago 7. I looked at History vs. Hollywood to see how much they got right. They fictionalized, you know, dramatized some stuff in the courtroom, but they got the basic gist,

[00:34:29] which is, you know, okay, so maybe they didn't arrest him exactly that way, but they got nuts and bolts. As long as it's, that to me just comes off as a little more like Frost and Nixon where they, you know, they modified the real-life text just a bit, but it's not to the point where you're like, they didn't pull an Argo where this was fun until you totally made a totally inaccurate ending that just did not happen at all. So, yeah, totally recommend this conclusion.

[00:34:59] I can't tell you which one hits harder. You know, I've grown up on, again, I've grown up on A Few Good Men and I really dug Molly's Game. It's probably, Molly's Game is probably the best one, arguably, out of all these, but this one hit really hard. This needed more than just a limited Netflix release. This is a good movie and much like Spielberg's underrated The Post brought up how do you become a journalist without going against government censorship? This brought up good, you know, I think this is more pressing than now than ever.

[00:35:29] Being a protester versus being on a, you know, anti-government watch list, you know, and when do you critique a war when the government just will not listen? Frank Langella is delightfully despicable as the judge. He does look like him when you look at the real-life photos. Sacha Baron Cohen plays against type. You know, all the actors play against type. They're all so well-cast and the cast includes Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, that's right before Obsession,

[00:35:58] not Obsessing, Succession, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance, Yahaa Adul Mateen II. Michael Keaton is great in this especially, and again, you know, real-life protests that happened in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and, you know, the synopsis is going to tell you Transfix the Nation, sparked a conversation

[00:36:27] about mayhem intended to undermine the U.S. government. I think it's more than that. I think it also just shows you, you know, you could use this to demonstrate everything, you know, like, there's been other recent movies like Judas and the Black Messiah, don't get me wrong, and there's been plenty of other movies, but this one especially, you know, brings up how are you going to word your message, how are you going to get a proper legal defense, how do you go through, you know,

[00:36:58] just freedom of speech versus, you know, actual, legit, you know, protesting, and, yeah, it's a must-see movie, just check it out, absolutely. We'll return after these messages. All right, folks, how's that here? We got a 90-minute weekly shack stop that's growing all over the world. Find it at 2 p.m.

[00:37:27] and 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays, then 3 p.m. on Wednesdays, then 7 p.m. on Thursdays. You can catch it on many more radio stations, 99.9 KERB, 1 p.m. Central Time, 2 p.m. Eastern on Mondays, then catch the Encore on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Central Time, 6 p.m. Eastern, then catch it Wednesday mornings at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 10 a.m. Central, 1077 K-Twins,

[00:37:57] then hang out with us Wednesday afternoons on MXTR and House Act Radio, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, then Thursday. Get up bright and early with us on 95.7 Web Radio at 6 a.m. Pacific Time, 9 a.m. Eastern. Of course, we've got your Friday covered as well. 12 p.m. Eastern Time on MXTR FM and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Central,

[00:38:27] 1077 K-Twins. Find everything on HouseHack.com. HouseHack. Welcome to the Better Call Daddy show, the number one podcast where we admit no matter what happens, Daddy has the advice we need to fix our problems. Introducing my dad, Mr. Wayne Friedman. That was good. It would be nice if you could also sing a song. What would the song be? You love Paris in the springtime. I just made up some words to it.

[00:38:56] I love Rina in the springtime. I love Rina in the fall. That's right. That's good enough. What I do is interview people of interest, share it with my dad, and get my dad's advice. My dad is my hero. Nobody's got my daddy. Oh boy. Let's go to grandpa. You like to be a little rebel. I tried to rein you in. I have a daughter named Rina that acts just like I did. She's got a son that is not only just like me, but it's just like her.

[00:39:25] I'm your host, Rina Friedman-Watt. Invite your friends, subscribe, and I'm excited to take this journey with you. Let's dive in. She was teasing this guy with the sword and she accidentally cut his dick. Oh my God, I'm dying. And then he started to enjoy it. I started going down the phone sex rabbit hole. You've got the wankers and you jerk off in five seconds and then they're done because A, they don't want to spend money and B, they're quick. My stepfather had mania. If I'm yelling at one of my kids, that fear, that rigid fear. Mom even said to me, I hope you have a kid

[00:39:55] just like you. There are lots of people that are being bought and sold right now for profit. If you think you're going to kill yourself, shut up and kill yourself. If you're not going to kill yourself, then shut up, smarten up, and it's all on you. The bullshit has to end. Wow. When I was 11 years old, I was raped and molested over the course of a year. What Jeffrey Epstein had was a sickness inside of him. I am Evan Castrilli Carmichael. I can do anything that I believe that I can. I'm so excited too. Let's go.

[00:40:24] Next on Better Call Daddy with my mom and my grandpa. Stay tuned. Follow us on the web on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The podcast is available on Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Anchor, Apple, and anywhere else podcasts are available. Feel free to review our show and leave comments

[00:40:53] on any of those sites. Thanks a million for listening.