‘A Few Good Men’, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’, and ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq.’ make up a trio of just desserts in this feast of courtroom dramas with Susie Youssef and Alexei Toliopoulos.
‘A Few Good Men’, Netflix Premiere ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ (starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, and more), and bonkers legal flick ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq.’ make up a trio of just desserts in this feast of courtroom dramas. Objection? Overruled!
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Susie Youssef:
And then there's also the classic "Walking Sorkin Talk".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The "Walk and Talking" of Aaron Sorkin. We've got two characters walking down a hallway and they just talking at each other [crosstalk 00:00:10].
Susie Youssef:
They're talking quick, they’re talking smart.
Susie Youssef:
Hello. My name is Susie Youssef.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And my name is Alexei Toliopoulos.
Susie Youssef:
And this is The Big Film Buffet.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Where we serve up a three course feast of movies inspired by today's film, "The Trial of the Chicago 7".
Susie Youssef:
So please take your seats as the honourable Alexei Toliopoulos recites over a set menu of legal dramas, starting with a classic film, "Well Within Our Jurisdiction".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Then we'll take a brief recess, before we cross examine the film "de Jour" on Netflix premier flick of the week.
Susie Youssef:
And we'll finish up with a sweet suggestion of films that compliment the main course and like justice and ice cream, they are best served cold.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Justice cream. Susie, you lit up when we decided that we're going to talk about courtroom dramas on the podcast this week.
Susie Youssef:
I did, because there are some kids who watch Olympics documentaries, and they want to become Olympians.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes, that was me.
Susie Youssef:
Well, they'd watch musicals. They want to sing and dance. I was the kid that would watch a legal courtroom drama with my dad, and then be like, "I'm going to be a lawyer one day".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Really?
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. I love this.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think that's so funny. I'm almost the opposite. Because, my mom desperately wanted me to go into law.
Susie Youssef:
As all parents do as all parents do.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
As all parents do. And my mom herself is a very highly respected Human Rights' lawyer.
Susie Youssef:
Is she?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. She was very, very, very prominent in her field, throughout my whole life. And I was like, yeah, no, maybe not so much.
Susie Youssef:
I'm going to talk about Austin Powers my whole life. That's what I'm going to do.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well we're both fighting for what we believed in. She believed that humans should all be treated equally. And I believe that his career should not have ended with the love guru.
Susie Youssef:
Well before we go down this Austin Powers wormhole that is inevitable in your presence. I think we should roll the trailer of the week.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I object.
Susie Youssef:
Overruled.
Movie Trailer:
"Well, we want to underscore again that we're coming to Chicago peacefully, but whether we're given permits or not, we're coming. We're going to Chicago to protest the Vietnam war. And there's no place to be right now but in it. We watched for a decade while these rebels, without a job, tell us how to prosecute a war, because they're going to spend their thirties in a federal facility, real time. We'll even say, you know, Abbie, are you concerned about an overreaction from the cops? Holy shit. You all right? So there other people are ready to make opening arguments? At the defense table. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Dave Dillinger, Ronnie Davis, the one or John and Bobby seal. These defendants had a plan and the plan was to incite a riot. I called this portion of the trial with friends like these.
Movie Trailer:
My trials begun without my lawyer. The court assumes you are being represented by the black pen set, sitting behind you. The riots were started by the Chicago police department. Sustained. Nobody objected. Jurors six and 11 there with us. Juror number six and Juror number 11, you are dismissed from this jury. Can you tell us why? Because, this is my courtroom. We've dealt with jury tampering, wiretapping, a defendant that was literally gag. Get your hands off me. Not the first to suggest that I have discriminated against a black man. And then let the record show that I'm the second."
Susie Youssef:
Here's an original take that no one has ever said before, but that trailer made me want to watch that movie.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. Thank you to the marketing people out there that made the soaring swell of emotions in Suzie, make her press play on that button.
Susie Youssef:
What did you think?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I was astounded by the wig work.
Susie Youssef:
Yes.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Let the record show, I was also astonished by the accent work.
Susie Youssef:
It's pretty easy to look beyond the wigs and the accents of this film because the story is incredible. And it's obviously a legal drama that has a very rich history in cinema.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, let's talk about that because it's so interesting that something so specific has grown out over the entire history of cinema to become a really rich and exciting genre. A genre that's all about social justice, political change, injustice, guilt, the underdog. They must use everything they can in the battle to defeat the morally wrong.
Susie Youssef:
And this is a very performative world. This is a world of heavy dialogue, big monologues and convincing arguments.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. They're like performances that try to capture us as if we were the jury themselves.
Susie Youssef:
Exactly.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think as well, it's like one of those genres that you can immediately identify visually. In a courtroom drama, you know you're going to see a judge with fricking robes on, you've got stained wood pews. I'm talking Mahogany or Oak at gavel, tall ceilings, lawyers in suits, a little lady with a big [inaudible 00:04:46] hammering away on a tiny typewriter and her glasses ever so slowly slipping down her nose. I'm talking stenographers. These are all the visual archetypes that are so prevalent in this genre.
Susie Youssef:
That is the perfect picture of a courtroom drama, which leads us to the starter of the week, which is.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
"A Few Good Men".
Movie Trailer:
"You want answers? I want the truth"
Susie Youssef:
"You can't handle the truth". I think that's probably my best Jack Nicholson [crosstalk 00:05:14].
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. That was not bad.
Susie Youssef:
I really felt it in my body.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I felt it standing here. I felt the saliva hitting me and I felt like I was in danger.
Susie Youssef:
But that quote has been done so many times before. This is probably the most quoted moment in cinema history. I would have to say it's a cross pop culture. It's everywhere.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Everyone knows this movie, but Susie, what is it about?
Susie Youssef:
So it's the story of a US Military lawyer, Daniel Dillinger who's played by Tom Cruise. Who's defending two US Marines who were charged with murdering a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay. But as the film progresses, we learn that the fault is probably a bit higher up in the ranks.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Someone has ordered the code red.
Susie Youssef:
You know it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I would say that this is exciting for one reason in particular, in that it's Aaron Sorkin's first feature film as a screenwriter and it's based on his Broadway play. And let me tell you this. He sold the film rights for this movie for an exorbitant amount of money.
Susie Youssef:
How much money?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm talking in the six figures deep within those six figures.
Susie Youssef:
Oh but Alexei, that's a classic Hollywood story. That's how it works for everyone doesn't it? You just write a film for the first time and then you get a million bucks.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. I mean, that's why I've spent the entire lockdown writing Borat versus Austin Powers. Trying to make that cool $100 million.
Susie Youssef:
I love Aaron Sorkin, but Rob Reiner is the man who has my heart. This film is the cap on an all-star, all time, legendary runner films for him. It was, "This is Spinal Tap", then "Stand By Mate", then "Princess Bride", then "Harry Met Sally" then "Misery" and then "A Few Good Men".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It is an unmatched run.
Susie Youssef:
It's insane.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And he's jumping around all these different genres. But the thing that interests me most about this, is that all of these films are very writer driven, script heavy movies, where he's working with iconic writers like Stephen King, Christopher Guest, one of my heroes, Nora Ephron, and William Goldman to create movies that really honour and cherish the written word, dialogue, the script.
Susie Youssef:
So he's not only working with some of the greatest writers in cinema history, but the casts of all of these films are incredible. These are movie star casts.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. And this I would say is one of the great movie star movies with that three-person lead of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Demi Moore and Mr. Jack Nicholason.
Susie Youssef:
And those performances are obviously brilliant, but there's also performances that I couldn't go past, which is Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak and Kiefer Sutherland.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh my Lord. The original Kardashians. On that "K" name bent, Tom Cruise is called Kaffe in this movie. That's the surname. K-A-F-F-E. I really thought on this re-watch that his name was Cathy. Because they kept on calling him Cathy.
Susie Youssef:
You thought his name was Catherine?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, but they shortened it to be fast.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah which is so intimidating in the court of Law.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
But I think Tom Cruise is honestly one of my favorite movie stars of all time, because he's so intense. He brings that same intense quality that an actor, that a method actor would bring to creating an individual character to creating a huge movie star performance that's moving in a motive and all those ways. And I don't want to get too freudian, but Tom Cruise's character is living in the shadow of his father who was a much admired figure in this field. And maybe that's why Rob Reiner, the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, was attracted to bringing this script to life.
Susie Youssef:
It is also the first time that we see Tom Cruise as the younger lawyer, he goes from this to the firm and they're within a year of each other. So I think that it kind of shaped our opinion of him as this awesome lawyer dude. He is a baby in this film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He's so young and he's got that slight little monobrow that I just love. I'm trying to grow one myself these days, but I plucked it too many times as a teenager.
Susie Youssef:
And he's alongside Jack Nicholson, who is, I think a really funny actor. Like he's a great comedy actor, but this is not comedy.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This is the early establishment authority figure character of Jack Nicholson's career. Apart from Mars Attack, he plays a President, but I don't think that counts. He made his bones playing like anarchic anti-authority green stirs. I would say, I think this is what makes his performance as Jessup just feels so fiercely, monstrous and dangerous. He's both a great actor and a phenomenal movie star. He's able to channel charisma in so many different ways and really nail a character that serves theme and a plot in a very, shall I say, Brechtian way-
Susie Youssef:
Oh, you said it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
..Where it's about being part of the bigger tapestry of the film and not just an individual character.
Susie Youssef:
And he also carries a tan, like I've never seen a man carry a tan before.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. He's a deep, dark mahogany. He always blends into the courtroom setting in this movie.
Susie Youssef:
Yes. Is he a man or a Pew? We can't be sure. Look is the plot predictable? Maybe. But do we forgive that because the performances and the script and the direction are all slick as shit? Yes. You do. Every time I've seen this film like 12 times. I know I will watch it again.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Susie, my verdict on "A Few Good Men' is that, this is found to be not guilty pleasure, it's just a movie that can be enjoyed.
Susie Youssef:
You are guilty of something Alexei. But this brings us to our premier flick of the week, which is, "The Trial of the Chicago 7". An unpopular war, a massive protest, a violent clash. They hit the streets to fight for justice in court. They'll make history.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" stars Yahya Abdul-Matina II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance and Jeremy Strong. And it's all directed and written by Aaron Sorkin.
Susie Youssef:
I was very excited to watch this film with my dad.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Really?
Susie Youssef:
Yes, because as it started, there's a whole bunch of historical footage of the Vietnam war and the draft. And it was really emotional actually, because he said that watching it brought up so many memories of how terrifying it was to be a young man at that time. And he was actually drafted. So once he got involved in the war, his number came up and it was only because he is allergic to penicillin and didn't pass the medical that he didn't go to war. And he had a young family at the time. And both mum and dad were saying to me that this is the sort of film that takes you straight back to that moment. It's a thing that people want to forget. But as soon as it's brought up, you're back there.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So this is a second feature as a director for Aaron Sorkin after he made "Molly's Game" in 2017.
Susie Youssef:
Which I loved.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
But his career as a writer is long and [inaudible 00:11:39] beginning with "A Few Good Men" in 1992 that we just talked about and other highlights like the social network, Money balling TV shows like the "West Wing" and a show that I was freaking obsessed with, "Studio 60 on the sunset strip", which was basically behind the scenes of "Saturday night live". It was the most important place and thing happening in the entire world.
Susie Youssef:
And even though I'm 20 years late, over locked down, I finally caught up and I have fallen in love with the "West Wind", which is full of Sorkinisms that I didn't even quite realise had penetrated all of cinema.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. We can't talk about this movie or Aaron Sorkin in general, without giving a shout out to those iconic Aaron Sorkinisms, those trademarks that are so intertwined with his writing. We've got those grand standing monologues of just beautiful expository and emotional sentences.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. Like those Bartlett speeches in the "West Wing", or even like the Jack Nicholson speech in "A Few Good Men".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, absolutely. And so many speeches throughout this film.
Susie Youssef:
And then there's also the classic "Walking Sorkin Talk"
Alexei Toliopoulos:
"The walk and talking" of Aaron Sorkin. We've got two characters walking down a hallway and they're just talking at each other.
Susie Youssef:
Talking quick, they're talking smart.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We've got those sarcastic Witticisms peppered throughout the script.
Susie Youssef:
There's all these Complex legal and political themes that sit right alongside a bunch of interpersonal drama. And the thing that I really love about "Chicago 7" is that, there are some killer witty lines. Humor is not compromised at all in this film.
Movie Trailer:
"Are we using this trial to defend ourselves against very serious charges that could land is in prison for 10 years? Or are we using it to say a pointless, fuck you to the establishment. Fuck you. That is what I was afraid. I don't know if you were saying, fuck your ass, I was also confused."
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's really a well-balanced movie.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. The balance is beautiful. It's not all heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but when it goes heavy, it goes real heavy.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Some of the great modern filmmakers like David Fincher, Rob Reiner, Danny Boyle, and the late great Mike Nichols have all worked with Aaron Sorkin as directors. Bringing his words to the screen. And now that Aaron Sorkin is becoming a writer director and not just a writer, I find it really interesting to unpack that and look at how he adapts his own work. I think it's interesting because already his films have often been very script and screenplay driven, but there's a more theatrical quality to his work now that he's making himself less cinematic, but in a way that is all in honouring the script and honouring that dialogue.
Susie Youssef:
And the dialogue is still killer.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I think it's all because he's really good at eliciting great ensemble performances from his actors, to just magically say his words, how they were meant to be said.
Movie:
"You are standing right next to him, why don't you just represent him? Because I'm not his lawyer, sir. If I understand Mr. Seal this last month and a half, and I believe I have, he is not represented by counsel. Overruled. I am being denied right now my constitutional rights. Will you be quiet. [Crosstalk 00:14:37] representation. Will you be quiet! You have lawyers to speak for you. No, he doesn't".
Susie Youssef:
Let's talk about this cast.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, because this is such a tremendous and exciting ensemble of some of the greatest actors that are working today. Channeling these real life people, these biographical characters. It's all headlined by Yahya Abdul Mateen as Bobby Seal, a prominent member of the Black Panthers and the eighth member of the "Chicago 7".
Susie Youssef:
He is beautiful.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He has that necessary gravitas, that intensity to create this character that is absent through a lot of the movie, but you need to feel that energy still.
Susie Youssef:
And he works alongside all these brilliant performances. There's Eddie Redmayne who plays Tom Hayden, the student activist, who brings this really gravelly performance to the film that I haven't seen from him before.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I also adored Mark Rylance who plays William Kunstler, the lead attorney.
Susie Youssef:
He's so good.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And honestly, I can finally forgive him for beating Sylvester Stallone at the Oscars. I mean, Sly was playing Rocky, dying from cancer. When this guy just comes along…
Susie Youssef:
You can’t go down this wormhole.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This is a grandstanding moment for me.
Susie Youssef:
Too much. I don't want you to re-live it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I mean, Sly was okay.
Susie Youssef:
No Alexei, I won't let you go there. But when you talk about performances in this film, you cannot go past the shining light of the film for both of us I think, which is the performance by Sacha Baron Cohen. This is the performance of a lifetime, in my opinion. And he plays Abbie Hoffman, who is this peace loving, will stop at nothing revolutionary who is actually really funny and has a lot of gravity at the same time.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, that's so well put. I really do think that this is probably his greatest performance. And I'm saying this with utter sincerity and maybe a tear in my eye since bore app.
Susie Youssef:
Do you say that with respect?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I say that with absolute respect, I pay huge respect and big ups to Mr. Allister Graham himself, Sacha Baron Cohen.
Susie Youssef:
There's a bit of backward and forward in this film between the characters of Abbie Hoffman and judge Julius Hoffman who is played by Frank Langella. They lock horns so many times in this film and it's just such sweet, sweet conflict.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think that's when I really got zoned in, on what this movie was doing. When we had that clear villain and it's clear hero, in Sacha Baron Cohen and Frank Langella as Judge Julius.
Movie Trailer:
"And the record should reflect that defendant Hoffman and I are not related, father, no"
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This is a really interesting and difficult performance from Sacha Baron Cohen because unarguably, he's one of the funniest people in the world and he's playing a character that is funny in the world of the film and not just funny for us as an audience, it's a very rare and difficult thing to do. There were only a few other examples that came to mind immediately, and they were Albert Brooks in "Taxi Driver" broadcast news.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah and I think Kevin Pollak does something kind of similar in "A Few Good Men".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Absolutely. That's such a great example of it, where it's just this delicate balance of creating humor for people in the world of film, but staying completely grounded and allowing us to also enjoy the antics of his character.
Susie Youssef:
Totally. I also have to do a shout out to Jeremy Strong, who plays a character of Jerry Rubin and to the humble egg. I'm going to do a shout out to the humble egg because it features in the film in quite a funny moment where the character of Jerry Rubin is entering the courtroom next to Abbie Hoffman. And someone makes an attempted egging and he catches the egg and then has to deal with holding this egg in the courtroom.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, it's like Sanka’s lucky egg in Cool Runnings.
Susie Youssef:
And of course this egg moment.
Movie Trailer:
"Jerry, do you know why the French only eat one egg for breakfast? No, because in France one egg is enough. It's en oeuf".
Susie Youssef:
I'm not exaggerating when I say, I think this is one of the biggest films of the year.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. I think this film has really broad appeal. It's that exact type of based on a true story film that provides insight on the past and makes you reflect on the present. That makes for such exciting viewing.
Susie Youssef:
So let's talk Oscars then. Is it going to happen for our boy?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, I really think this movie has Oscar buzz flying out of its wazoo.
Susie Youssef:
Should we say this? Should we actually put it on record?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Let's do it. I do declare.
Susie Youssef:
I also declare alongside you that when we think.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That we do believe humbly, we are going to bet.
Susie Youssef:
If it will please the court.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. On the record. Let the record show that we are declaring that Sacha Baron Cohen.
Susie Youssef:
Could be nominated.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm going to say will be nominated. Will be nominated for best actor or best supporting actor depending on what category they go for at the Academy Awards.
Susie Youssef:
Hey friends, why don't you follow the big film buffet on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure that you get new episodes as soon as they drop every single Tuesday, and comment, write, review, tell your friends, call your mom. She called you last week, call her back, send us all the love that you can master because we want to hear it from you.
Susie Youssef:
Well, producer Michael is in the room, which means one of two things. You and I are fired, or it's time for everyone's favorite segment, "film or movie".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I am proud to say it is the second of those two options. "Film or movie" is the game where we cleanse our palates by being given a title by Mr. Michael here, that we will either declare is a film or a movie.
Susie Youssef:
A film being-
Alexei Toliopoulos:
..something artistic, something stirring of emotions, deep within your soul and within your brain and within your very being.
Susie Youssef:
As opposed to a movie, which is?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Very enjoyable and nice experience of something that you can just share with your friends and your buddies.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So producer Michael, what is the motion picture title for today?
Producer Micheal:
Today? It’s the legal drama to end or legal dramas, it is "Legally Blonde".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, goodness gracious.
Susie Youssef:
Well, easy.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Easy peasy. I would say.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're like "Oh, this one's case closed".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah exactly.
Susie Youssef:
This is a candy colored flick?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah it's a movie.
Susie Youssef:
You could not be more wrong. I think this film gives us an insight into the sorority sisters and the fraternity boys that we have never seen before. It might look like we've seen it before. Maybe it is like adjacent that we have seen before. But really this is a film that is steeped in the law in its truest sense.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Whoa, I would say this is a movie set at Harvard, which is in Boston, the hometown of Ben Affleck. Movie, baby.
Susie Youssef:
I would say that the character of Elle Woods is waging the battle of her life, and also to win the guy. But it's not up to us, it's up to producer Micheal.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It is. It is.
Susie Youssef:
Film or Movie?
Producer Micheal:
It is a film. And not only is it a film, but it's a seminal piece of queer cinema. Gayle European lives in my mind rent free.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We promised there'd be justice cream earlier in this podcast. And we've been found guilty. It's time for us to eat our just desserts. And dessert this week, we are recommending the movie. "Roman J Israel Esquire".
Movie Trailer:
"I'm tired of doing the impossible for the ungrateful. I now have a more practical concerns".
Susie Youssef:
Denzel Washington stars as Roman J Israel, who is this tortured legal savant who spent his career in the shadows of his law partner. After a lifetime of working behind the scenes, striving for social justice, he is thrust into the spotlight and grapples with the challenges of a world that he no longer fits in.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think this is an interesting one for us to pair with this today.
Susie Youssef:
This is a strange dessert, don't get me wrong. This is a really compelling film, but it is also how do I say, weird.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes, it's a deeply weird movie, but it has an incredible performance by Denzel Washington.
Susie Youssef:
It is a devastating performance. This tore my heart out.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And he was also nominated for best actor at the Academy Awards for a movie like this, which is so antithetical to what we know Denzel as. We know him as like this gorgeous charismatic movie star who turns in these movie star leading man performances. This is something much smaller, much more vulnerable. And it really is about someone who has kind of dedicated their life to striving for social justice. And it's left him to be quite a broken lonely man.
Susie Youssef:
It's really kind of a turn, off the main road of legal dramas. It's more like a story of internal judgment, like seeking personal justice. I know what they were trying to do with Denzel's character in this, by kind of giving him this slump and this kind of drag foot walk and this awkward body type-
Alexei Toliopoulos:
A gap tooth.
Susie Youssef:
...he is so super hot.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He's one of my favorite movie stars ever. One of the great actors of all time. And I think in years to come, this will be known as this kind of cult classic touchstone.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. It's like a creeper.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a creeper. It's a sleeper. Do not sleep on this. If you want something a little left to center, when it comes to legal dramas, I think this is one to check out. And it's also written and directed by Dan Gilroy, who was the filmmaker behind Night Crawler. I think that he's also trying to do something very similar here, in the way that he took down television news in that film. I think he's to talk about the legal system, a very similar way here.
Susie Youssef:
There's clearly a strong collaboration here between Dan Gilroy and Denzel Washington. And when it comes to character studies, you don't get much better than this. So you've probably got a bit of a taste for that legal drama now. And I think one of the sweetest flavors you can ever develop is one of my favorite films of all time. I know it's a [inaudible 00:24:00] but I'm going to say it. It's "My Cousin Vinny”.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I adore this movie so much. It's so funny. And it's also a very accurate representation of the law system apparently.
Susie Youssef:
It is. Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei. We bow down to you.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh and yes, Marissa Tomei did deserve that Oscar for that performance. I think she's sensational in that film. You cannot talk about the legal thriller or the courtroom drama without mentioning one of the iconic fathers of this genre, Mr. Sidney Lumet, who directed "12 Angry Men". It was his first film as a director.
Susie Youssef:
That's amazing.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
He also went back to that genre many times for the masterpiece "The Verdicts", the underrated the under seen "Night falls on Manhattan", and right up to his penultimate film, which is Find Me Guilty" a film featuring a lead performance from Vin Diesel, wearing a toupee. It's one of the only movies you can see Vin Diesel with hair in.
Susie Youssef:
And for that reason alone, you should watch it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a must watch for that reason.
Susie Youssef:
You obviously can't go past the John Gresham's, which I love. The books and the films, "The firm", "The Rainmaker" or "A time to kill". And if you're looking for something with a female lead, do we even need to say it? Of course, we do. It's Erin Brockovich.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
"They're called boobs Ed". That's my favorite line from the movie.
Susie Youssef:
So let's recap. Today we started with "A Few Good Men". Then we moved on to our main course and film de Jour "The Trial of the Chicago 7". And for dessert, we recommend a little "Roman J Israel Esq".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Your honour. It is my privilege to say we are adjourned for today.
Susie Youssef:
Which is lucky because if we did one more pun, I think this case would be thrown out of the court.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
If you want to hear more movie talk from me, you can head over to "Total reboot" the podcast where I talk about reboots, remakes and rip offs with my dearest friend, Cameron James.
Susie Youssef:
And if you want to hear more from me, then there are a few episodes we've already released of this podcast that you may want to hear.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
What are we talking about next week Susie?
Susie Youssef:
Next week, we are doing our first ever animated film on the podcast and it is "Over The Moon".
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I am over the moon to be talking about a fantasy adventure. A musical. And it's all animated baby. This episode was written and hosted by me Alexei Toliopoulos and my dear friend Susie Youssef, produced by Michael Sun and Anu Hasbold, edited by Gefforey O'Connor and executive produced by Tony Broderick and Melanie Mahony.