There's No Crying in Baseball

Something very strange happened to me this afternoon (I should clarify: this was now an afternoon over a week ago), so strange that it inspired a blog post.

First let me give a little back story.  I've been student teaching in a 5th grade classroom throughout the month of January (which should help explain my absences from the blog, my apologies).  We've had indoor recess everyday that I've been there and I offered to bring in some movies for the children to watch.  I tried to think of wonderful classic movies that the students might enjoy so I could turn them into young classic film fans.  I wracked my brain, but I honestly couldn't think of anything that was fully appropriate (if anyone has any ideas let me know, I'd love to figure out a way to incorporate my love of classic movies into my teaching).  So while I couldn't even think of any appropriate movies, the other hiccup was that there was only a VCR available.  I realized that the only movies that really fit the bill were my old Disney movies on VHS.  I decided to bring in 'The Lion King,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Aladdin,' and 'Mary Poppins.'

I'll admit it, I love Disney movies (even though each one of them has a scene or two that gave me nightmares and traumatized me as a youth, but I thought and hoped the 5th graders could take it).  The students ended up loving the movies and some of them would sing along with the songs and some of them were watching them for the first time.  It was a great experience.  Anyway, I digress.  So we started with 'The Lion King' and then moved onto 'Beauty and the Beast.'  It's so interesting to watch a movie in parts over a number of days, semi-annoying, since you can only watch the movie 20-30 minutes at a time.  But it also gives you time to think about the movie in distinct separate parts.  I don't think I'll be changing the way that I watch movies by breaking them up over days, but it was kind of interesting.

I had to miss one of the days of 'Beauty and the Beast,' for ya know, teacher stuff.  So I decided to watch the whole movie when I got home (yes I also have it on DVD).  When the movie ended I realized that I was crying!  Full on crying.  I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I've seen Beauty and the Beast.  I remember going to see it in the theater, more than twice, when I was younger.  I watched it a ton of times when I finally got the VHS, watched it with my boyfriend and numerous friends when I bought the DVD in college.  I even aw a production of it in NJ when my 12 year old cousin was cast as Chip.  But it never once made me cry.  There was something about this viewing that got me.  The line, "At least I got to see you, one last time," gave me goosebumps and got me crying.  So very strange.

This experience made me think about the other movies that make me cry...not just cry, but weep every single time I watch the movie.  I'm pretty sure some of these movies are ridiculous and oddly enough I think there are fewer classic movies than contemporary movies that get me teary eyed.  So my apologies in advance, since this is a classic movie blog, but this post is more of a movies post.  Here are the movies and some of the scenes/lines that just get me (I tried to be spoiler free, but it was hard):

The Kid (1921)-  Charlie Chaplin holding Jackie Coogan and crying is just so heart breaking.  The whole movie is so sweet and emotional.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)- I'm pretty sure I'm not alone with this one, but the scene at the end when the town is bringing him money and support, it not only makes me cry but it gives me chills.

An Affair to Remember (1957)- I feel like Rita Wilson's character in 'Sleepless in Seattle', but the scene when Cary Grant realizes that Deborah Kerr was in an accident, it just tugs at my heartstrings.

Terms of Endearment (1983)- When Shirley MacLaine's character is demanding the nurses to give her daughter her shot and when Debra Winger's character is saying goodbye to her boys!

Steel Magnolias (1989) - M'Lynn (Sally Field):"but my daughter never could," pretty much that entire speech, Sally Field is great in that scene.

My Girl (1991)- "His glasses, he can't see without his glasses!"

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991)- The whole premise of this movie is upsetting and very sad, amazing performances by Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.

My Life (1993)-  The whole movie is amazing, Michael Keaton is so good in this movie.

Schindler's List (1993)- There's a scene when all the shoes and personal items next to the train station that just makes me sniffle and cry.


Little Women (1994)- Beth (Claire Danes): "Why does everyone want to go away? I love being home. But I don't like being left behind."

Armageddon (1998)- I know this is a lame one, but it gets me every time.

The Green Mile (1999)- I'm pretty sure the book also made me cry.

My Life Without Me (2003)- Again, the whole movie, just a downer kind of movie, but an amazing movie too.

Finding Neverland (2004)- I even cried when I half-watched this on a plane!!

 Hmmm....that list ended up being much longer than I thought it would.

What are your 'make me weep every time I watch it' movies? 

Are there any classic tearjerkers that I'm missing out on?