So last time I wrote about the movie "If I Stay" and about my thoughts about death. One additional thing about that movie is that it is the rare movie that has made me cry, as in bawl-my-eyes-out cry. Katie M and I talked about the movie over dinner Monday night - it didn't get to her the same way it got to me, which surprised me since she's actually been through a near-fatal car accident. But it turns out that going through that kind of experience firsthand makes it easier to be more critical of the movie version.
We talked about other movies that make us cry so I thought I'd make a list of my own personal tearjerkers. Mind you, this doesn't necessarily mean these movies are the best or even my all-time favorites (although some are on that list), but they are all good enough to warrant being in my extensive collection. If I've written about the movie previously in this blog, I've linked the prior entry to the movie title.
Obviously, if you haven't seen one of these movies, you shouldn't read the descriptions because there are spoilers throughout so consider yourself warned. So in no particular order, here are the movies and the moments that make me tear up, get a lump in my throat or sob uncontrollably.
If I Stay - The moment when Mia (Chloe Grace Moritz, in her best role since "Let Me In") finds out that her brother has passed away and sobs in the hallway of the hospital. Also, when her grandfather delivers his bedside speech to her, telling her if she feels she has to go, she should go.
Interstellar - Seeing Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) sob as he hears the message from his long-estranged daughter Murph (Jessica Chastain), and then when he finally returns to her on her deathbed.
Les Miserables - Fantine (Anne Hathaway) singing "I Dreamed A Dream."
Ben Hur - The end-of-film reunion of Judah (Charleton Heston) with his miraculously healed mother and sister.
Furious 7 - This ending obviously has a real-world tragic dimension since the actor Paul Walker actually died during filming. So when Brian and Dom (Vin Diesel) are racing for the last time at the end of the movie, you know that, after 14 years and seven movies, it is truly the last time they will look at each other across the starting line.
Toy Story 3 - The ending scene when Andy gives his beloved toys to Bonnie and leaves for college.
Wreck-It Ralph - The moment Vanellope tells Ralph to escape Sugar Rush without him (as fully described on this Tumblr fan page) and the end when Ralph gets hoisted up and sees Vanellope winning her race and she waves at him.
Wall-E - When Eve restarts Wall-E and it seems like his memory has been wiped out, but then he manages to find his way back to her.
Love Actually - When Jamie (Colin Firth) proposes in broken Portuguese to his maidservant.
Armageddon - When Col. Sharp (William Fichtner) asks to shake Grace's (Liv Tyler) hand upon returning to Earth.
A Beautiful Mind - John Nash's (Russell Crowe) Nobel Prize acceptance speech to Alicia (Jennifer Connelly).
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - The final scene when Sam (Emma Watson) and Charlie (Logan Lerman) kiss in the tunnel.
