Haha Kurt.
I was replying with the assumption that it had to be a film I had seen more than once and as the thread says, gets me “every time”. If I was to make a list of all the films that have made me cry once, it would break this web site.
Also, I was trying to seem at least somewhat cool by not mentioning all the films that get me every time, but off the top of my head, here are some more:
Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
The Royal Tenenbaums
Baraka
The New World
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Kurt, that Cassevetes Criterion box set was a gold mine of emotion for you. It’s enough to compel me to buy it. Good call?
I am still stuck in the period of forties melodrama/romance. I can’t get myself out of it. That is why I cry at each viewing of Portrait of Jennie (see my thread for the reason) or Enchanted Cottage, for example. It shows that I am either a hopeless romantic – stuck in the past – or a complete mental case. The jury is – I hope – still out! Also, Lassie Come Home destroys me everytime – as does any Lassie movie. I have cats now to compensate.
Armageddon:
Tommy: Mom, that salesman’s on TV.
Denise: That man’s not a salesman. That’s your daddy.
Get’s me everytime.
Cinema Paradiso, Babel, A Mighty Heart, 21 Grams…
there are more but I just can’t think of them right now but I’m sure you notice that I have two Innaritu films listed.
He is one of my FAVORITE directors. I found him through a BMW super short film he directed titled POWDER KEG.
The film is less than five minutes long, yet he had me weeping/keening within 30 SECONDS of the beginning of the film!!! The images, silent story telling, composition…
He is a genius who understands the human condition on a deeper level than most drectors. I love naturally cathartic films that don’t push or force emotions.
Adam, Buy the Cassavetes set now!
Bob, PoJ had me crying also. I already want to watch it again.
La Vita e Bella
Films that got to me: Seven Samurai, Children of Men, Schindler’s List, The Wrestler
Films that actually conjur tears: Parts of The Lord of the Rings, the ending of Jackson’s King Kong.
Le notti bianche, the ending gets me everytime.
“Adam, Buy the Cassavetes set now!”
I’m gearing up for a mass purchase from Criterion.com ($215 away from the $50 credit, yay!), so odds are I will.
I dont cry in movies, I feel enlightened by images. Enlightenment is BETTER than emotions.
Man on Fire; recent film with Denzel Washington makes me cry,
Pita: I love you, Creasy. And you love me too, don’t you?
Creasy: Yes, I do. With all my heart, Pita. Go.
Dead Poet’s Society gets me every time. The ending of The Color Purple. The little girl’s awakening from brain surgery scene in The Fall. Finding Neverland. And Grave of the Fireflies.
And yes the ending of Field of Dreams.
Ray Kinsella: Hey… Dad?
[John turns]
Ray Kinsella: [choked up] “You wanna have a catch?”
John Kinsella: I’d like that.
Get on the Bus, and now Strayed
Every time, without fail – The Elephant Man. Even thinking about it … gulp!
And E.T. Honestly, you want me crying like a baby, wait until the Christmas showing of E.T.
I have to confess there are moments in film that can get me sobbing quite spontaneously and sometimes violently, but it’s not to do with the sadness of a scene. Sometimes the elements of a film can just reach a sublime moment where everything just fits beautifully and spectacularly and … I can’t help it … tears pop into my eyes and I might even make an involuntary choking noise.
For example (and believe me the examples can be one-off and pretty embarrassing), one day I decided to rewatch Tim Burton’s Batman. The moment when Batman saves Kim Basinger and drives off through the forest with her in the bat mobile. She’s trying to see who he is. He turns on a little spotlight to distract her. she turns and … WAAAAAAAHHHH … the music hits a crescendo as the batmobile drives towards a rock-face, she screams, and they’re actually in the bat cave. I don’t know why. It’s a mix of Elfman’s du-dum-du-dum score building up and reaching this sudden moment of choir hitting their note, and the shock of the rock coming towards them. What makes it difficult to explain is that it was really that moment in time when I watched it that it affected me in this way. I’ve seen it since and it didn’t push the same buttons.
Is this just me (the involuntary flooding of emotions not the examples)?
It’s a Wonderful Life. Every single time.
Yeah The Elephant Man kills me every time, especially when Merrick says
“My life is full, because I know I am loved.”
The trick to crying in movies is having enough real world experience accrued. You need to know firsthand that life is hard in order to truly connect with a film telling you life is hard. If you’re thinking “well of course life is hard but I still don’t cry at movies”, just fucking wait. Wait for Mom to die or a friend to get cancer or etc. etc. etc. Deep films require a deep connection with reality to work and if you haven’t experienced major parts of life, you are not going to understand as well.
With that said, it’s not as simple as I’ve made it out to be. Some people just don’t cry as much as others. However, I assume many people here are young and their worst life experience is their pet lizard dying.
Oh yes. And I cry during Synecdoche’s end!
Donnie Darko, Forest Gumb, Breaking the Waves, La Vita e Bella and yes, I have to go with the Elephant Man too
Showgirls
Anything with Katrin Cartlidge in it (damnit – she died too young!). When Kinski says “the trailer…” in Paris, Texas I just choke up every time; stupid stuff gets to me too: Toy Story 2, Jackson’s King Kong, Beautiful Girls_…even, dare I say it?…_Casper…Yes, I have problems.
La Vita è Bella
Schindler’s List
Big Fish
Gran Torino
(…)
Sansho The Bailiff, Ugetsu and The Iron Giant.
I cried in about half of the Decalogue episodes.
Tarkovsky’s Offret: I start to tear up when everyone is reacting to the news about the begining of WWIII.
Tim Burton’s Big Fish: I start to tear up close to the end during the bedside chat.
Peter Jackson’s Return of the King: I cried the during the second to last end when Frodo leaves.
Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men: Favorite movie of all time (tied with Solaris 1972) makes me cry throughout.
Solaris (both versions) : When Hari #1 is shot into space, I think the remake effects me more because you can see Hari’s face and the look is absolutley devastating.
Very few movies really ever make me tear up and only a smaller fraction make me cry. I’m still looking forthat one movie that I can say made me ball, so I don’t seem like a completely heartless bastard.
October Sky is the only movie I’ve ever seen that I can honestly say I’ve cried during every single time.
CJ Roy
Never cried but I tear up without fail at Ikiru, Wall-E, and Saving Private Ryan.
The closest I’ve come to cracking so far was that damn montage in Up. It’s the only time I’ve even allowed a single tear. Though I think I did the same for Ikiru.