Movies about court are always such bullshit, aren't they?

[HEyHEY]

I watched "A time to kill" the other night. I cover court for work quite often. I can only assume US court is similar to Canadian court. By that I mean cross-examination does not consist of one question asked by a yelling screaming prosecutor to the accused. Or five minute summations.
It drives me nuts cause I can't watch such movies without seeing a million holes in the proceedings or thinking, "bullshit," every two minutes.
What drove me nuts in "A time to kill" was the way the "judge" allowed the focus of the prosecution to stray so of course it almost ended up hitting an iceberg.

Oye.

[mainegreen]

1. I feel that way whenever you see movie characters use computers.

Especially government computers.

Government software does not consist of HUGE FONT LETTERING and search functions do not display on screen every piece of data one by one in a flash-card style manner as it does searches.

That, and the fact that every passcode used by bad guys is their murdered fathers birthday, or their aunts maiden name or some crap like that allowing easy cracking, as opposed to the more likely styled passwords, such as 'K!!23@ds#0(!^foks1'.

[DS1]

3. I love it when a billion dollar spy satellite sails by the screen banging out

rapid morse code.


Goddamn idiots.

[Shakespeare]

11. And when they show government computers = Macs, I just die laughing.

A little Hollywood myopia for ya.

[DS1]

2. It's a lucrative career for black women

I have no idea what happened to all the white male judges I've seen in my time :shrug:

[Critters2]

9. I think this all the time. I used to have to go to court to pick up VORP cases.

Not one of the judges in the county was a black woman. And I just know from watching TV and movies that the vast majority of judges in the world are African American women. I've admired how they've been able to break that particular barrier, while still working toward liberation in so many other areas.

[av8rdave]

4. Just the entertainment world's idea that a judge actually pays any attention

to what's going on is what gets me. Anytime I've witnessed anything in court, the judge is reading the paper or playing on a laptop.

Guess they've heard it all before - or so they think.

[terrya]

5. Yes, they are.

I'll see a movie like "And Justice for All", with defense lawyer Al Pacino yelling at the judge "YOU'RE out of order" and roll my eyes. Hollywood never gets it right with courtroom scenes.

[JVS]

6. But TV shows about court are teh Awessomz!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iTqoDH0vFU

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. I love how trials in movies....

....always happen the day after the person is sued/arrested.

[HEyHEY]

12. Yeah, in ATTK the freakin' trial starts weeks after - as if

[LanternWaste]

8. If Hollywood got it right, wouldn't that be...

If Hollywood got it right, wouldn't that turn out to be a movie that's just, well... boring as hell?

More power to Hollywood to dramatize the shit out of stuff-- otherwise, why go to the movies in the first place?

[Critters2]

10. When I was on jury duty a few weeks ago, I thought

"Geez, there's all this clutter in here--clerk's desk full of files, judge's bench full of files, computers, etc. Not at all like the courtrooms on TV, with no visible clerk, no files, no computers. Just Jack McCoy, a judge and whichever up-and-coming actor is playing the defense attorney this week."

[Zavulon]

13. On behalf of the United States of America, I apologize to you.

"A Time to Kill" was the worst courtroom movie ever made. Boring, utterly predictable (like we couldn't see "Now imagine she's white" coming in the closing argument), and Samuel L. Jackson's performance ruined by Matthew McConaughey, the worst actor alive.

I wish I could give you those 2+ hours back, friend.

[NewJeffCT]

14. "12 Angry Men" is one of my favorite movies

It's not directly about "inside" the courtroom - it's the jurors in one room just outside the courtroom.