Some context and perspective.

Sister Helen Prejean & the death penalty: A Critical Review
Dudley Sharp, contact info below

” . . .makes you realize the Dead Man Walking truly belongs on the shelf in the library in the Fiction category.” “Being devout Catholics, ‘the norm’ would be to look to the church for support and healing. Again, this need for spiritual stability was stolen by Sister Prejean.” Victim Survivors, Dead Family Walking

From: I. Dead Family Walking: The Bourque Family Story of Dead Man Walking , by D. D. deVinci, Goldlamp Publishing, 2006

“On November 5, 1977, the Bourque’s teenage daughter, Loretta, was found murdered in a trash pile near the city of New Iberia, Louisiana lying side by side near her boyfriend–with three well-placed bullet holes behind each head. ”

http://www.deadfamilywalking.com/ contact: T.J. Edler, 337-967-0840

Sister Helen Prejean “Dead Man Walking” & the death penalty: A Review
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters, contact info below

II. The Victims of Dead Man Walking
by Michael L. Varnado, Daniel P. Smith

comment — A very different story than that written by Sister Helen Prejean. Detective Varnado was the investigating officer in the murder of Faith Hathaway. 2003

III. Death Of Truth: Sister Prejean’s book The Death Of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.

Four articles

(a) “FOR GOOD REASON, JOE O’DELL IS ON DEATH ROW”
scholar(DOT)lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950728/07210224.htm

quote: “The DNA report commissioned by O’Dell and his lawyers actually corroborates O’Dell’s guilt. There is a three-probe DNA match indicating that the bloodstains on O’Dell’s clothing is indeed consistent with the victim Helen Schartner’s DNA as well as her blood type and enzyme factors.” “There is certainly no truth to O’Dell’s accusation that evidence was suppressed or witnesses intimidated by the prosecution.”

(b) “Sabine district attorney disputes author’s claims in book”
www(DOT)shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050124/NEWS01/501240328/1060

quote: “I don’t know whether she is deliberately trying to mislead the public or if she’s being mislead by others. But she’s wrong,”
District Atty. Burkett, dburkett(AT)cp-tel.net

(c) Book Review: “Sister Prejean’s Lack of Credibility: Review of “The Death of Innocents”, by Thomas M. McKenna (New Oxford Review, 12/05). http://www.newoxfordreview.org/reviews.jsp?did=1205-mckenna

“The book is moreover riddled with factual errors and misrepresentations.”

“Williams had confessed to repeatedly stabbing his victim, Sonya Knippers.”

“This DNA test was performed by an independent lab in Dallas, which concluded that there was a one in nearly four billion chance that the blood could have been someone’s other than Williams’s.”

SNIP the rest at

Sister Helen Prejean & the death penalty: A Critical Review
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/05/04/sister-helen-prejean–the-death-penalty-a-critical-review.aspx

Dolores Claiborne, quite possibly. Good storyline, marvelous performances by Kathy Bates, Judy Parfitt, and the always underappreciated David Strathairn. Certainly in the top five King adaptations.

Toy Story, most definitely. Not only a classic in its own right, but launched a whole sub genre of kids movies, and Pixar is still churning out great films almost 15 years later. Animation, story, script, voice acting, etc. were all superb.

Seven-the head in the box has become a classic moment of cinema; it deserves a spot. And, while it is certainly gruesome, it avoids the violence porn criticism lobbied at Braveheart; actually, a remarkable portion of the violence in Seven takes place off screen. Still, it also has to apologize for making us think Kevin Spacey is a better actor than he actually is.

Like it is the movie that when it comes on TBS, I will stop, mid-chew, and watch the rest of the movie, commercials and all, until that very last cheesy Dupont Circle line that I don’t understand because I don’t live in DC and I don’t drive, but it still gets me every time. Let’s face it, it’s basically liberal porn, but it is amazing!

Mark, I really like your additions — know that “Clueless” JUST misses my cut (and, like you, “12 Monkeys” sits as my #11). I will say I don’t think the fact that “The American President” presages “The West Wing” is a mark against it. Much as I grew weary of Sorkin, that show holds up.

As for my “expansion pack,” I’ll throw in:

“The Usual Suspects”
“Dead Man Walking”
“Before Sunrise”
(my Top 3 of the whole year)

then for the last two, I’ll add the incredibly enduring “Seven” and the perpetually underrated “Dolores Clairborne.”

Totally agree: Usual Suspects should have been nominated, and should have won. I don’t remember being mad about this at the time, but I think that just speaks to how different the Oscar race was back then.

I was in college and following all these films really closely — in fact, I saw EVERY FILM YOU MENTIONED, which never, ever happens any more — and I remember just gamely pulling for Babe. No righteous indignation about the Usual Suspects snub at all.

But hey, what about Toy Story? Shouldn’t that be on the list? Was it eligible? It seems like the Best Picture Expansion Project really means nine slots every year a Pixar film came out …