...And Justice for All. (1979)

An American courtroom drama directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino and Jack Warden.
An honest lawyer becomes aware of corruption and apathy in the court system. He is asked to defend a judge he hates and tries to do a good job.
I would think of this as a Serpico (1973) sequel. Al Pacino is in basically the same situation, an honest man amid corruption. The plot definitely held my attention and the characters were developed well. Production looked and sounded very '70s. The video was a little under-saturated and grainy/gritty. The audio was mostly focused in mid-range and I could hear all of the dialogue very well. I guess this goes along with a theme of equality that I've been noticing in 13th (2016), 16 Blocks (2006) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). The basic idea that I'm seeing repeated is that everyone should treat eachother equally and follow the rules, but that becomes difficult when those who make the rules treat everyone else as inferior and don't follow the rules they made. Yes, we live in a contradictory world to the point that when something makes sense, people suspect that something is wrong with it. I rate this good and I'm putting it in a folder with Serpico. You should probably watch it.

12 Angry Men (1957)

An American courtroom drama directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and Jack Warden.
A jury deliberates over a murder case. Most of the men vote guilty at the start, but one of them begins to convince the others that the defendant may not be guilty.
This is one of those classic films that everyone talks about, and for good reason. The plot holds my attention, even though I've seen it countless times. The characters don't even have names, but they are developed more than characters with names in other films I've seen. Besides, if I was on trial for murder, I would want Piglet (John Fiedler) on the jury. The whole thing is based on dialogue and that is what makes it good. This is an example of good writing making a good film. The camera-work and editing are not anything fancy, but the editing is so seamless that it goes unnoticed unless you really look for it. I rate this awesome because it takes skill to turn a simple idea into a good film by writing it well. Watch it!