The Big Picture: Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’

Published 2020-10-16; 1:56:50 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “The Big Picture (The Ringer)” and the episode “Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'”.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins. Guests: none.

Subject films: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

On the transcript: Two hosts only; ad reads at 0:00:58, 0:43:32 and 1:59:39 should be ignored. Speaker attribution within turns is inferred from list order, so many confidences are 0.5-0.7.

Films that came up

subject (1)

The Trial of the Chicago 7

anecdote (1)

The Devil Wears Prada

compared (11)

The West Wing (TV series) · A Few Good Men · Sports Night (TV series) · Molly's Game · The American President · Moneyball · The Social Network · Steve Jobs · The Caine Mutiny · Rules of Engagement · Moonlight

passing (27)

The Newsroom (TV series) · Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (TV series) · Gilmore Girls (TV series) · The Pirates of Penzance / HMS Pinafore (stage) · Malice · Charlie Wilson's War · W. · JFK · Pulp Fiction · Heat · Last Action Hero · Inglourious Basterds · The Office (TV series) · Zodiac · Network · The Wizard of Oz · The Godfather · Goodfellas · Bananas · The Trial of the Chicago 8 · Chicago 10 · Borat sequel · Succession (TV series) · Mank · Nomadland · Hillbilly Elegy · Fantastic Beasts

recommended (2)

Medium Cool · Punishment Park

Claims (49)

  1. theme (theme): Aaron Sorkin → Nancy Meyers. Neurotic, driven characters reflect their writer, as with Nancy Meyers.
    “the same way when we talked about Nancy Myers.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:11:50 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): Aaron Sorkin → Charlie Wilson's War. Self-quotation: the 'I'm never sick at sea' line recurs across Malice and Charlie Wilson's War.
    “I'm never, ever sick at sea, shows up in malice, and then it shows up in Charlie Wilson's war”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:16:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): Aaron Sorkin → Molly's Game. The father and daughter motif in Molly's Game with Kevin Costner is the best part though unneeded.
    “But it's kind of the best part of the movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:17:56 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  4. craft (craft): Aaron Sorkin → David Fincher. Sorkin excels when meeting a dark-hearted collaborator such as Fincher.
    “I think that when he meets very darkhearted figures, either in the characters he's creating or in his counterparts creatively, like David Fincher, that's when he excels.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:22:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  5. craft (craft): Aaron Sorkin → The Social Network. Since the West Wing he mostly adapts real events like Moneyball, Social Network and Steve Jobs.
    “Almost everything that he's done is based on real events.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:25:39 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  6. contrast (contrast): Aaron Sorkin → Oliver Stone. Stone's dark skepticism contrasts with Sorkin's idealism, both committed to their missions.
    “He's an interesting counterweight, I think, to Oliver Stone”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:30:43 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. craft (craft): Moneyball → Aaron Sorkin. Pitt and Hill do Sorkin dialogue at a slow pace, not rat-a-tat.
    “they are not doing the Ratatat dialogue.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:49:40 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  8. what-if (what-if): Moneyball → Steven Soderbergh. Moneyball was first developed for Soderbergh; one host wishes for a darker, pulp-fiction version.
    “I still would have liked to have seen the cut glass, you know, dark core version of this story from Soderberg”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:51:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  9. career (career): Moneyball → Bennett Miller. Sorkin works best paired with a dark heart, and Miller's film is darker than it seems.
    “I think he's at his best when he is paired with somebody who has has a dark heart.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:52:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. craft (craft): Steve Jobs → Daniel Pemberton. Pemberton's score is singled out as incredible among the film's strengths.
    “Incredible score by Daniel Pemberton.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. craft (craft): Steve Jobs → Danny Boyle. Boyle does the most he can with what is essentially a stage play, with the act two intercut.
    “I think Boyle is doing the absolute most he can do with a script that is more or less a stage play.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:55 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  12. lineage (lineage): The Social Network → Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is called a worthy sequel to The Social Network on big tech and innovation.
    “I think this is in many ways a worthy sequel to the social network”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:56:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  13. people (people): Steve Jobs → Michael Fassbender. Fassbender gives a menacing, dark performance that makes Jobs's failures off-putting.
    “there was something very menacing about his performance”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:57:40 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  14. craft (craft): Steve Jobs → Jeff Daniels. The Daniels and Fassbender intercut compresses a therapy breakthrough about control into two minutes.
    “The Steve Jobs character has like a 3 year therapy breakthrough in under 2 minutes”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:58:35 · Amanda Dobbins (0.65 sure it was them)
  15. theme (theme): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Steve Jobs. Both ask whether the result was worth how people were treated, and how change is made.
    “But that same idea, that sort of like, was it worth it, idea, is in a lot of his other work.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:00:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  16. lineage (lineage): The American President → The West Wing (TV series). The film is a test case for the West Wing, sharing actors like Martin Sheen and ideals.
    “it is a lot of ways a test case for the West Wing”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:02:11 · Amanda Dobbins (0.80 sure it was them)
  17. craft (craft): The American President → Malice. The president's declarative speech is compared with Alec Baldwin's 'I am God' kicker.
    “I think I am the president is only rivaled by, I am God, Alec Baldwin's kicker at the end of that film.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:03:23 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  18. theme (theme): The American President → Aaron Sorkin. The film is Sorkin's broadest political work, and a training ground for the West Wing.
    “it's his broadest political work, which in some ways to me means that it's the best”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:05:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  19. people (people): The American President → Rob Reiner. Rob Reiner directed it and A Few Good Men; he will come up again.
    “Another in the in the Rob Reiner Hall of Fame”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:06:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  20. industry (industry): Sports Night (TV series) → The Office (TV series). Sports Night tried to change the network sitcom form and was ahead of the curve.
    “he was ahead of the curve on some things.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:09:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  21. lineage (lineage): Sports Night (TV series) → The West Wing (TV series). Whole plot lines were tested in Sports Night and reused on the West Wing, written simultaneously.
    “just whole plot lines are tested out on spot on Sports Night and then repurposed on the West Wing.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:11:03 · Amanda Dobbins (0.65 sure it was them)
  22. contrast (contrast): The Social Network → Zodiac. Social Network was one host's top Fincher film; the Fincher podcast chose Zodiac as the purest Fincher.
    “Zodiac is like the Fincheryist.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:13:11 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  23. craft (craft): The Social Network → David Fincher. Sorkin excels when paired with a dark-hearted counterpart like Fincher; the sum is greater than the parts.
    “the magic in this is what happens when you put together like a just fantastic.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:13:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  24. verdict (verdict): The Social Network → Aaron Sorkin. The Social Network may be Sorkin's best script, with the opening breakup scene as the model.
    “The social network might be his best script, like period.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:16:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  25. programming (programming): A Few Good Men → Network. It is in the conversation for most rewatched movie of a lifetime, next to Network, Oz, Godfather, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction.
    “and a few good men is right there with it.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:19:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  26. career (career): Aaron Sorkin → Rob Reiner. Reiner directed Sorkin's debut A Few Good Men.
    “Rob Reiner's great.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:19:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  27. contrast (contrast): A Few Good Men → The Caine Mutiny. It is a conventional military courtroom drama like The Caine Mutiny, yet has special energy due to Sorkin.
    “some very good movies like the King Mutiny, some very mediocre movies like Rules of Engagement.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:19:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  28. people (people): A Few Good Men → Tom Cruise. Cruise does Sorkin's rhythms well and the film is not iconic without Cruise and Nicholson.
    “I don't know that a few good men is, you know, as iconic as it is without Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:21:16 · Amanda Dobbins (0.65 sure it was them)
  29. theme (theme): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → A Few Good Men. Both are courtroom dramas of principled argument; Cruise's charisma is key and Chicago 7 needs scene-chewers too.
    “You have to have people that want to gnaw on the scenery, that want to yell, that want to be in the center of the frame.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:22:15 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  30. theme (theme): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → A Few Good Men. Unlike A Few Good Men, Chicago 7 is full of obvious themes to dissect.
    “There's all of these obvious themes”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:22:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  31. craft (craft): The West Wing (TV series) → A Few Good Men. Cruise and Nicholson are the best single Sorkin performances, but the West Wing ensemble is best because Sorkin could write for them.
    “Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson are the best single Sorkin performances”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:26:29 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  32. lineage (lineage): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Medium Cool. The Chicago trial and DNC events were told before in Haskell Wexler's part-documentary Medium Cool.
    “Medium cool, Haskell Wexler's part documentary, part narrative feature in 1969 kind of reflects on the events at the DNC that year.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:31:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  33. lineage (lineage): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Punishment Park. Punishment Park is recommended as a very loose take on this trial.
    “There's this great movie called Punishment Park that I would recommend to anybody that is very loosely based on this trial.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:31:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  34. lineage (lineage): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Chicago 10. The trial was also rendered in Brett Morgen's animated documentary Chicago 10, the HBO movie and Bananas.
    “You can see it in a Brett Morgan animated documentary called Chicago 10.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:31:45 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  35. people (people): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Steven Spielberg. Spielberg long wanted to make it and encouraged Sorkin to write the script.
    “Steven Spielberg had always wanted to make this movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:31:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  36. career (career): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Molly's Game. Chicago 7 is Sorkin's second directing job after Molly's Game.
    “after 2017's Molly's game, which we talked about pretty much in full on this podcast earlier in quarantine.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:31:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
  37. programming (programming): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Moonlight. Moonlight is the model of a film that was right for its moment, against which Chicago 7's timeliness is weighed.
    “I always felt like Moonlight was a movie for its time in a very sentimental way”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:35:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  38. contrast (contrast): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Oliver Stone. Chicago 7 raises the question of whether entertainment can justify itself on politics, as with Stone's films.
    “as I said before about Oliver Stone and all of his other things, I think there's an interesting question here, like, is this movie entertaining enough to justify itself”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:35:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  39. career (career): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Aaron Sorkin. Chicago 7 is called the peak Sorkin movie, a marriage of his interests, setting and style.
    “this is the peak Aaron's working movie, and it is like a real marriage of interests and setting and style and career.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:38:00 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  40. people (people): Sacha Baron Cohen → The Trial of the Chicago 7. Cohen is the most creative casting and likely to compete for awards.
    “It has the most creative and I think successful casting in the movie of Sasha Baron Cohen.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:40:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.75 sure it was them)
  41. contrast (contrast): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → MC5. The film's mix of faux-60s rock guitar and syrupy film score is faulted; MC5 is what the moment really sounded like and what a radical protester listened to.
    “he has this like simulacra, like 60s rock and roll score where there's like electric tar combined with this very syrupy film music score.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:42:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  42. verdict (verdict): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Aaron Sorkin. Good and entertaining, worth watching, but politically small and the filmmaking not sharp enough.
    “It's a really good movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:44:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  43. craft (craft): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → The Social Network. Both use the intercut to dramatize testimony; Chicago 7's climactic speech is another intercut that does not land.
    “it is actually another intercut, Sean, as you mentioned”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:45:00 · Amanda Dobbins (0.65 sure it was them)
  44. craft (craft): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Molly's Game. Both add an unnecessary decent or fatherly figure; the Schultz character is compared to Molly's father on the park bench.
    “I don't know why Molly needed to be motivated by her father on a park bench in New York City at the end of that movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:48:22 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  45. people (people): Mark Rylance → The Trial of the Chicago 7. Rylance is cast as Kunstler but only plays 'a Mark Rylance character' with no big speech.
    “Mark Rylance just kind of felt like he was doing a Mark Rylance character, you know?”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:52:09 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  46. programming (programming): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Mank. Chicago 7 is a big fat fastball for the Oscars alongside Mank, Nomadland and Hillbilly Elegy.
    “this is a big fat, fastball right down the middle.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:54:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  47. people (people): The Trial of the Chicago 7 → Michael Keaton. Keaton's brief cameo as Ramsey Clark is a highlight for audiences.
    “Michael Keaton is in this movie for 5 minutes.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:55:38 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  48. people (people): Eddie Redmayne → The Trial of the Chicago 7. Redmayne is not a favorite but was very effective as Tom Hayden.
    “I thought he was very good as Tom Hayden.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:56:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  49. people (people): Tom Hayden → Jane Fonda. After the case, Hayden marries Jane Fonda, a life the hosts want a Q and A about.
    “after the events of this film, Tom Hayden marries Jane Fonda.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:57:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

Fun items (29)

  1. fun, about The West Wing: Amanda has the first four seasons memorized and would have won a charity trivia night.
    “I have the 1st 4 seasons memorized”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:04:24 · Amanda Dobbins (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Aaron Sorkin: Gilbert and Sullivan references recur in every major speech, usually HMS Pinafore.
    “My guy just loves Gilbert and Sullivan and at every single major speech at some point someone will give Gilbert and Sullivan reference.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:13:44 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Aaron Sorkin: The 'I'm never, ever sick at sea' line turns up in Malice and again in Charlie Wilson's War; the references are like a drinking game.
    “I'm never, ever sick at sea, shows up in malice, and then it shows up in Charlie Wilson's war”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:16:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Molly's Game: The Kevin Costner father-daughter scene has no reason to be in the movie and is the best part.
    “there is absolutely no reason for that scene to be in the movie or the father-daughter thing to be in the movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:17:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Sorkin's father-of-daughters tic reaches even Chicago 7, where a minor character has two daughters.
    “character has 2 daughters who takes walking on the park.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:18:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about The American President: The president really should not date a lobbyist.
    “The president shouldn't date a lobbyist.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:35:28 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about The American President: Amanda showed the VHS to a Republican friend's dad at a sleepover: too liberal for him.
    “I just remember him saying, he's too liberal for me.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:36:24 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Aaron Sorkin: Lord of the walk and talk; the intercut is his newer trick for real events.
    “He's the lord of the walk and talk.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:38:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about A Few Good Men: As a kid Amanda or Sean practiced Jessup's speech on a park basketball court shooting free throws.
    “The Jack Nicholson speech from a few good men out loud while shooting free throws”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:41:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Moneyball: Billy Beane joining the Fenway owners group is an end cap to the movie; Red Sox lure scene.
    “he is joining the Fenway owners group, which is John Henry's company”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:51:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Moneyball: The hosts joke about a Moneyball-every-week spinoff podcast and not being invited on The Rewatchables.
    “Just talk about moneyball every week.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:53:15 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Steve Jobs: Seth Rogen as Wozniak should have won an Oscar.
    “It's absurd to me that Seth Rogan was not nominated for an Oscar.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Steve Jobs: Kate Winslet has more of a Polish accent in the later sequences than the first; a filming-order theory.
    “I don't totally understand why she has a Polish accent in the future, but not in the past.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:55:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Michael Fassbender: Fassbender's Wikipedia page now says actor and race car driver.
    “Michael Fassbender is just his Wikipedia page now as his actor and race car driver.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 0:57:35 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Steve Jobs: The iPod is invented on top of a parking roof.
    “Can't believe we didn't talk about how he just invents the iPod on top of a parking roof?”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:01:08 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Sports Night: A laugh track was added at some point; the show tried to change the network sitcom form.
    “And at some point there was a laugh track, which is ill conceived.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:09:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Sports Night: Sports Night and the West Wing were being written simultaneously, so plots overlap.
    “I believe that Aaron Sorkin is writing the 2nd season of Sports Night and the 1st season of West Wing”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:11:27 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about A Few Good Men: Among the most rewatched movies of a lifetime, alongside Network, Oz, Godfather, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction.
    “It's in the conversation for the most rewatched movie of my lifetime.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:19:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about A Few Good Men: Kids in Atlanta quoted 'you can't handle the truth' as an elementary school joke.
    “I remember like you can't handle the truth being like an elementary school joke”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:23:22 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about The West Wing: Start with season two; a Netflix mini hub of Sorkin work mirrors Scorsese and Baumbach.
    “I would recommend that you start with season two.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:28:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.70 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Bobby Seale is bound and gagged in the courtroom in an extraordinary sequence.
    “he was bounding, gagged in the courtroom in this extraordinary sequence”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:37:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Tom Hayden reads the names of the war dead at sentencing; the film ends there.
    “chooses to read the names of every single American's older who has died in Vietnam”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:39:19 · Amanda Dobbins (0.60 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: The score pairs fake 60s guitar rock with syrupy film music; real radicals would be playing the MC5.
    “you have to play the MC5.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:43:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: Sorkin intercuts real brutality footage but cuts back to dramatized versions, which is less scary.
    “the real stuff is scarier and realer.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:43:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about Michael Keaton: Keaton plays Ramsey Clark; Amanda cheered when he appeared.
    “I just want to see Michael Keaton walk in and just like explain to people how it is.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:49:48 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  26. fun, about Jeremy Strong: Strong's Jerry Rubin line is a new catchphrase: you've asked that question in a form of a lie.
    “you've asked that question in a form of a lie”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:51:07 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
  27. fun, about Mark Rylance: Rylance as Kunstler is the custodian of decency in a film by a believer in decency.
    “he's the custodian of decency”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:51:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  28. fun, about The Trial of the Chicago 7: A drive-in screening at the Rose Bowl, courtesy of Netflix.
    “We went to a lovely drive-in screening of this film at the Rose Bowl.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:54:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  29. fun, about Jane Fonda: Hayden later married Jane Fonda; the host wants her take and recommends her autobiography.
    “All I want to know is what Jane Fonda thinks of this movie.”
    The Big Picture · Aaron Sorkin Top 5s and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ · 1:57:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong