Reel 10: SorkinFest Part V–The UNcredited Rewrites

We wrap up Sorkinfest with a look at two films for which Aaron Sorkin did NOT receive any writing credit. Bulworth, and Enemy of the State, both from 1998.

Listen in as we discuss the two films on their own merits and try to figure out which parts Sorkin left his fingerprints on. 

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time around we’re prematurely celebrating the end of the pandemic as we look at a pair of films which are set in a kind of post-apocalyptic situation: 12 Monkeys (1995) and Children of Men (2006). 

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Reel 9: SorkinFest Part IV–The Credited Rewrites

We’re closing in on the end of SorkinFest as we get to Part 4 of our five-part series looking at the work of Aaron Sorkin. And this time around we’re looking at a couple of films that Sorkin had a public hand in writing–or, more accurately, re-writing: 1993’s Malice, starring Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin, and Moneyball, the 2011 film starring Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

These two films couldn’t be more different in their subject matter or their approach to storytelling, but Aaron Sorkin has a few tricks up his sleeve that have you realizing that, even when he isn’t the primary writer, he’s going to manage to put his stamp on the film anyway. 

NOTE: I (Claude) accidentally put in the code for an older episode in the space below. My apologies if you were confused.

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Reel 8: SorkinFest Part III–Mostly-True Stories

That’s a little bit of a misnomer, but not by much.

This episode–the third in our series of five episodes dedicated to Aaron Sorkin’s work–looks at two films he worked on that told stories about specific individuals: Steve Jobs (2015), Directed by Danny Boyle, and Sorkin’s film directing debut, 2017’s Molly’s Game.

Now, with Steve Jobs, Sorkin took some of the storylines provided by Walter Isaacson’s biography, and placed them into specific contexts, with the upshot being that many of the real-life counterparts found themselves saying “…yeah, that’s not quite how it went,” but you can blame that on Isaacson, not Sorkin. Molly’s Game, on the other hand, is based on the story as told by Molly Bloom in her book, so if there are inaccuracies, then it’s either Bloom herself as the unreliable narrator, or Sorkin taking a little artistic license, or maybe it’s a little of Column A and a little of Column B.

Either way, what we have here is a pair of films that both work well with Sorkin’s dialogue and aren’t especially heavy-handed with some of the allusions they make.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: In the next episode we step back a little bit and look at two films for which Sorkin has a credit for doing re-writes. Tune in for our look at Malice and Moneyball.

Reel 7: Sorkinfest, Part 2

Aaaand, we’re finally back, thank goodness.

SorkinFest continues with the two films that Aaron Sorkin wrote after his series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was cancelled after only one season. (Interestingly, the same people who seemed kind of disappointed in Studio 60 as it aired are viewing it a little more generously in retrospect.)

First we take a look at 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, the more-or-less true story of Congressman Charlie Wilson of Texas, who manages to almost single-handedly drum up political and financial support for the Afghan people in their battle against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This was Mike Nichols’ last theatrical film, and it was a great film to go out on.

We then move on to 2010’s The Social Network, directed by David Fincher. This film doesn’t hew quite as closely to the way it all went down in real life, but you do get the broader outlines of the story without casting a specific good guy or bad guy, and in that respect it’s a strong movie that’s easy to follow despite its non-linear structure.

Coming Attractions: Reel 8 will feature a pair of biographical films Sorkin worked on: Steve Jobs (2015) and Sorkin’s directorial debut, Molly’s Game (2017). Both films are available for streaming on Netflix, and can be rented or purchased through the usual outlets.

Corrections and Housekeeping

Hello, Friend:

Still with us? I hope so. We’ve been having some ridiculous technical issues that have us rethinking our podcasting host, but those seem to be straightened out for the time being and we’ll be back on track with a new episode tomorrow evening. I hope we’re still cool.

In the meantime, Sean offers up a little contrition for you. See, he’s good enough at this that he can correct me in real time, but he has to go back and fix HIMSELF later on. He writes:

This is your other co-host, Sean. I discovered a couple of errors I’d like to correct, as well as apologize for. Both of them are from our podcast on the first two Godfather movies.

The first is, when I talked about the films Gordon Willis shot in the 70’s, I mentioned All the President’s Men, but incorrectly said it won Best Picture, when it was only nominated for it (it lost to Rocky).

Secondly, when talking about how directors of the late 60’s/early 70’s sometimes quarreled with cinematographers of the studio system about how to light particular scenes, I mentioned Bonnie & Clyde, but misidentified the cinematographer; it was actually Burnett Guffey, not Robert Surtees (Surtees served as the cinematographer on the other major “new Hollywood” movie of that year, The Graduate, and unlike Guffey, was happy to comply with the director’s wish to try out new things, including using less light).

I apologize for both errors; I should have known better.

We were going to have Sean severely beaten, but he’s already taken to wearing a haircoat and self-flagellating, so there’s not much else we can throw on the pile.

See you tomorrow!

Reel 6: SorkinFest, Part 1!

It’s time for SorkinFest! For the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about the work of Aaron Sorkin, and in our usual fashion we’re going to do it in a way that the films are paired up by common threads.

This week we’re looking at the films that were directed by Rob Reiner. First up is the 1992 film A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak and Jack Nicholson. This one was adapted from Sorkin’s own play script, but he’s managed to make changes that make the story just as much of a mystery as a courtroom drama.

Next is The American President from 1995, starring Michael Douglas, Annette Bening and a bunch of people you’ll see again when Aaron Sorkin takes a few elements of this film and turns them into his television series The West Wing. However, while The West Wing is a political show with a lot of comedy bits in it, The American President is a cross between a romantic comedy and a screwball comedy, with a political overlay on it.

Next Episode: Charlie Wilson’s War and The Social Network.

Reel 5: The Film Was Better

When a book is adapted for movies, the usual thing you’ll hear from people who have consumed both versions is that “the book was better.” In this week’s episode, Sean (who has read the books) and Claude (who hasn’t) explore the reasons behind why this isn’t always the case.

The first film on our virtual projector is 1994’s Nobody’s Fool, starring Paul Newman, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis and a host of amazing character actors. Newman is doing his “lovable rogue” thing but he’s toned it way down, and it truly works. Robert Benton directed this film, based on the novel by Richard Russo.

Atom Egoyan is the director behind our second film, The Sweet Hereafter. Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood and Sarah Polley headline this film in which a lot of small moments manage to come together in a way that will allow you to bring them back on your own, without much help from us.

Next episode, we begin SorkinFest with four episodes looking at the works of Aaron Sorkin. We start with Sorkin’s pairups with films directed by Rob Reiner, The American President and A Few Good Men.

Reel 4: One-Song Musicals

In this episode we take a look at a pair of films that center themselves around a single piece of music.

First we have 1992’s The Mambo Kings, directed by Arne Glimcher. It’s a bittersweet film that gives us a look at a pair of Cuban immigrants who briefly achieve success as musicians in the 1950s, due to a song that one of them has written about a lost love. There’s a story to that lost love, however, that he doesn’t discover until several years later. And while both Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas do a fine job, we have to give extra points to the women in this film: Maruschka Detmers, Cathy Moriarty and, in a much smaller role as the lost love and subject of the song, Talisa Soto.

Then we have Tom Hanks’ directorial debut from 1996, That Thing You Do! This film also traces the brief rise and fall of a musical act based on a single song, only this one takes place in the early 1960s, in the shadow of the original Beatlemania. And while Sean and Claude share some of the Beatles allusions with you during the show, there are plenty more for you to find on your own as you watch this film. This is a fun little comedy that you can enjoy right up to the last minute…but maybe stop the playback before that last minute happens. Just trust us on this one; we’ll all be a lot happier.

Reel 3: Gordon Willis and The Godfathers

Different eras of film can often be traced to specific “generations” of directors who came up together and had similar mindsets, and while that’s true, sometimes they can be attached to technological advances, some of them not initially part of the industry. For example, with the rise of teen culture and a general boom in consumerism, the drive-in movie exploded in popularity, which meant that studios had to create film prints that were very bright so they could project a long distance and still be seen on a huge screen.

This, in turn, led to advances in film stock and gave directors and cinematographers the ability to create more subtle lighting schemes. And one of the pioneers of using light and color was Gordon Willis. His cinematography shaped the look of films such as All the President’s Men, Annie Hall (and several other Woody Allen films), and Pennies From Heaven. But he’s probably best known for his work on the three films in the Godfather series he did with Francis Ford Coppola.

In this episode we look at the first two films (mostly) from a cinematography standpoint, and talk about how Willis’s use of light and color shaped the look of the films but also heralded a change to the way movies were going to look for the foreseeable future.

Reel 2: Malcolm X, Selma

In today’s episode, Sean and Claude take a look at two films about civil rights leaders of the 1960s: Malcolm X (1992), directed by Spike Lee, and Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay.

In general, people have very different images of these two icons in their heads: Martin Luther King as the nonviolent, peaceful “passive resistance” guy and Malcolm X as a radical out to get what he wants “By Any Means Necessary”. And for many, that painted him as a violent person.

But Malcolm X’s tactics were steeped in defense, not offense. And unfortunately his break from the Nation of Islam crowd came just a little too late. However, in reviewing these films we discover that there were many more things these men had in common than not.

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