The ending of Pan’s Labyrinth chokes me up every time I watch it. Grave of the Fireflies made me into an emotional wreck–I needed about a day to recover.
I took a class on race in undergrad, and it was chock-full of video material that made me tear up. There was the video on Rwanda. Then the video on the repatriation of Saartjie Baartman. Then the eulogy to Bert Williams. The latter was done as a sort of dramatic monologue by a modern black actor, who talked about having to wait at the back doors of theaters in order to be let in, and other such hardships. All the while, he sat at a mirror putting on blackface makeup. I don’t know why it affected me so much, but it did.
The Great Escape: That scene where McQueen goes for the second jump across the wire and into Switzerland, and instead the bike gets hit and he crashes, still earnestly reaching for freedom. Every time I hope for him to make it. Go, Steve, go!
**Field of Dreams ** for me. I love that movie, but I will never, ever be able to make it through that last scene between Ray and his dad without crying.
I think I confused Mrs. BomTek when we saw Million Dollar Baby. I cried like I’ve never cried at a movie while watching that. I was sobbing and heaving, physically shaking from the effort.
**Marley & Me **is another one. That movie is one long glurge chain letter (the book was good though), but I cried so much while I was watching it in the theater. My grandpa was very sick at the time, and I think it had something to do with losing someone who’s always been there for you that shook me. The funny thing is Mrs. BomTek’s grandma had me and a total stranger sobbing on her shoulder on the way out. There was a 17- or 18-year-old kid who just lost his shit too, and somehow Grandma found herself consoling him too.
ETA: the only book that ever made me cry was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The part toward the end where Harry opens the Golden Snitch by telling it, “I am about to die,” was so mature, and so brave to me.
-The Spitfire Grill - most powerful ending to a movie ever
-With Honors - the court scenes were great but they’re gunning for your heart
-Steel Magnolias - Jesus frickin Christ - put a warning label on this movie
-Sisters Act (don’t ask, it’s a sappy good cry)
I saw Tim Burton’s Big Fish on the third anniversary of my dad’s death and bawled right there in the theatre. I own it on DVD now, and every time I watch it I still mist up a bit.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy was an emotional sucker punch, too. I finished it at 2:00 and I recall sneaking into my son’s room to watch him sleep and crying my eyes out.
Are we related? My uncle, who keeps his emotions entirely to himself thank you very much, cries at this. I do, too but that’s not saying anything.
I cry at everything. I cry at movies, books, TV shows, commercials…not always full on weeping, but definite tears. I get misty when the coach or the captain gives a rousing lockerroom pep talk.
The thing I can identify that makes me cry every single time (even though I’d estimate that I’ve seen it over 2 dozen times) is the episode of MASH in which Henry Blake’s plane is shot down over the Sea of Japan. There were no survivors. I’ll remember more specific crying incidents after I click “submit”.
eta I just noticed that TV wasn’t included in the OP. Sorry. I also cry at Sliding Doors, anything directed by Doulas Sirk, Stella Dallas, a heart wrenching Cary Grant/Irene Dunne movie called Penny Serenade.
And the scene in Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hank’s character goes off to weep out of the sight of his men after the death of their medic sends me into gobs of snotty weeping. I think his hand-twitch thing really adds some weird emphasis and weight to that scene. Of course, the scene at the very end of the movie with a now old Private Ryan visiting the Captain’s grave slays me too, especially when his wife approaches and he asks her to “Tell me I’ve been a good man, led a good life” or something similar.
Also, oddly, Forrest Gump does it to me too. Mostly for how the whole scenario with Jenny ends up, with Forrest talking to her grave about their son. God that’s heart wrenching.
Little Women – Beth’s death, the poem Jo wrote about the trunks in the attic, and the end, where Jo leads Friedrich into the house. (I read that passage at my sister’s wedding, and I could barely get through it.)
Toy Story 2 – “When She Loved Me.” Gaaah! I can’t even THINK about that scene without getting choked up!
The Jungle Book, when Akela dies.
The Velveteen Rabbit
Good lord, the children’s books I’ve read my son that I’ve cried over! Love You Forever. WAAAAAAH!
The closing shot of the “Sunshine Through the Rain” sequence in Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams always makes me choke up – it’s one of the most beautiful shots ever committed to celluloid, but the forboding story and surreal dream-logic of the sequence make it really emotionally powerful.
Schindler’s List, when Schindler is whispering “I could have done more.” Gets me every single damn time.
Dragonfly in Amber, when Jamie sends Claire back through the stones. The anguish, the love, slays me. (Of course, Gabaldon rewards her faithful readers for that gut-wrenching scene in Voyager, but just damn.)
Roslin dies and Bill Adama doesn’t realize it for a moment. The look on his face when he knows she’s gone is some of the greatest acting I’ve seen on screen.
I own and enjoy several of the Studio Ghibli movies, but this one… Saw the trailer, read the cover, put the DVD back on the shelf. Haven’t seen it. Coward I am.
And it completely does my head in that its “initial theatrical release in Japan was accompanied by Hayao Miyazaki’s much more lighthearted My Neighbor Totoro as a double feature”.
My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies as a double feature?!
There must have been some traumatized theatre goers that night. :eek:
The funeral scene of Steel Magnolias. I’ve seen this movie 50 times and it never fails. Ditto with the scene at Jenny’s grave in Forrest Gump, and the scene where Forrest realizes that Forrest Jr. is his son and is terrified that he is stupid like him. The look of joy turning to fear turning to relief and joy again on Tom Hanks’ face without saying anything other than “Is he…?” is just an incredible bit of acting.
I agree. And I meant to add earlier that I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made me cry. For some reason, movies can get me emotional but books can’t get the waterworks going. I’ll experience shock, fear, awesomeness, pleasure, etc from books but never sadness to the point of tears. Not sure why.
I’ll admit, I’m a soft touch. I tear up pretty easy. But nothing’s ever gutted me like Kurosawa’s Ikiru. I was absolutely destroyed by that - full on sobbing by the end of the film.