And we have a winner!
My Cousin Vinny was posted three times in our contest to name your favorite justice-related movie!
Yes, we were totally surprised – My Cousin Vinny had not been our radar – but clearly it is on yours! So it’s a three-way tie – everyone who posted My Cousin Vinny as their favorite will receive a nifty OneJustice water bottle.
We received so many fantastic suggestions – you all really went all out. So we just had to share the results! We’ve compiled the full list of all postings – and it makes a terrific “must watch” movie list for all us justice-hungry people (although it might take more than one year to watch them all). The list is posted below with a short summary and links to more info about each movie.
What do you think? How many of these movies have you seen? What movies are missing? We thought Twelve Angry Men and The Accused might show up – what else would YOU add?
Thank you to everyone who posted, and happy watching!
P.S. Keep an eye out for our February contest, which will be posted February 1. A hint……it might involve singing. Get ready!
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The most frequently posted favorite justice move – My Cousin Vinny (1992)
The Winner: My Cousin Vinny
Posted by: Cyndi Tyler (on facebook), Lillian Moy (facebook), and Toby Rothschild (on the blog). Congrats to Cyndi, Lilian and Toby!
Two New Yorkers are accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college, and one of their cousins–an inexperienced, loudmouth lawyer not accustomed to Southern rules and manners–comes in to defend them.
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Your 2013 “Must Watch” Justice Movies List (in alphabetical order)
A Few Good Men (1992): Neo military lawyer Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder; they contend they were acting under orders.
A Time to Kill (1996): A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
Anatomy of a Murder (1959): In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
The Andersonville Trial (1970): A dramatization of the 1865 war-crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the notorious Confederate POW camp at A
ndersonville, Georgia.
Bananas (1971): When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.
Breaker Morant (1980): Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
The Central Park Five (2012): A documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Dead Man Walking (1995): A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim’s families.
Disturbing the Universe (2009): William Kunstler was one of the most famous lawyers of the 20th century. The New York Times called him “the most hated and most loved lawyer in America.” His clients included Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Phillip and Daniel Berrigan, Abbie Hoffman, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Leonard Peltier. In Disturbing the Universe: Radical Lawyer William Kunstler, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore their father’s life, from middle-class family man, to movement lawyer, to “the most hated lawyer in America.”
Gran Torino (2008): Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski’s prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.
Heavy Metal (1981): A glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with a collection of stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
The Help (2011): An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maids’ point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Inherit the Wind (was posted twice!) (1960): Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961): In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes.
Lawless America (2013): The Movie is all about exposing the fact that we now live in Lawless America.
Legally Blonde (2001): When a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined.
Les Miserables (2012): In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care f
or factory worker Fantine’s daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.
Motorcycle Diaries (2004): The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life’s calling.
Norma Rae (1979): A young single mother and textile worker agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved.
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996): A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
Paths of Glory (1957): When soldiers in WW1 refuse to continue with an impossible attack, their superiors decide to make an example of them.
Philadelphia (posted twice!) (1993): When a man with AIDS is fired by a conservative law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
Pink Floyd The Wall (1982): A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
To Kill a M
ockingbird (1962): Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.
True Believer (1989): A cynical former civil liberties attorney now reduced to “specializing” in defending drug dealers becomes transformed by an eight-year-old murder case.
The Verdict (1982): A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957): Agatha Christie tale of a man on trial for murder: a trial featuring surprise after surprise.
Awesome list! Thanks so much for this post — and for keeping the justice train on track.
No one mentioned The Paper Chase….
Thanks Claire and Rina! And we absolutely agree – there are many, many more movies that could be on the list. We’re going to have to run this contest again in the future and keep the list going!