Atticus Finch literary journals". Alice Petry remarked, "Atticus has become something of a folk hero in legal circles and is treated almost as if he were an actual person". Examples of Atticus Finch's impact on the legal profession are plentiful. Richard Matsch, the federal judge who presided over the Timothy McVeigh trial, counts Atticus as a major judicial influence. One law professor at the University of Notre Dame stated that the most influential textbook from which he taught was "To Kill a Mockingbird", and an article in the "Michigan Law Review" asserts, "No real-life lawyer has done more for the self-image or
Into the Wild (film) is great acting, and more than acting." Ebert added, "The movie is so good partly because it means so much, I think, to its writer-director, Sean Penn." The American Film Institute listed the film as one of ten AFI Movies of the Year for 2007. National Board of Review named it one of the Top Ten Films of the Year. "Into the Wild" also ranks 473rd in "Empire" magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007. In North America, "Into the Wild"