Algernon

I'm not crying, it's just something in my eye.

Despite my studying and work, I'm still left with a good amount of free time. The thrill of Cupertino is just too much for me to handle sometimes... and I haven't quite decided on a new hobby to pick up yet (what the hell is out there, stamps?) so I've just been catching up on/rediscovering movies and books. I recently re-read Flowers For Algernon and started thinking... I've never cried because of a movie, tv show or book, but Algernon stood a fighting chance. Other close calls?

Flowers For Algernon: The whole second half of the book is pretty sad as Charlie realizes that he is destined to become retarded once again and documents his descent day by day. How would you act if someone told you you had 2 months to live?

Mr. Holland's Opus: That scene at the end where all of his former students come together for his retirement party and play his symphony that he worked on for years? C'mon.

Lion King: How this does not make anyone's list, I don't know. Right after Mufasa gets trampled by that stampede and Simba, failing to wake him up, wraps himself in Mufasa's paw. Come to think of it, dark themes for a kid's movie: assassination, revenge, coup d'etat, ghosts (Mufasa appearing in the cloud), domestic violence (of Simba's mom), probable rape (Simba's mom again) and virtual cannibalism (hyenas eating Scar). But not enough for the 8 year old me to not sing along to the soundtrack all the time.

Family Man: Right at the end when Nick Cage chases down the woman that was his wife in his other life, and he tells her about the daughter they had. Conversely, remember when he was rumored to play Superman instead of Brandon Routh? Weird.

Field of Dreams: When Kevin Costner sees his Dad in the field, "Dad, want to play catch?" If you've ever played catch with your dad...

Life is Beautiful: This should really be two movies, LIB 1 and LIB 2. It's like that Styx song "Come Sail Away," which was a slow song that prefaced a techno dance song in the same six minutes. Totally different moods and themes. In LIB 1, all the times he charms his woman, and LIB 2, when he is taken into the alleyway and shot, all the while making his son laugh.

A Walk To Remember: Yeah, yeah. Right at the end, when the camera is panning through the church and Landon Carter (freakin' horrible name) is narrating about how happy he was in their marriage before Jamie died.

Forrest Gump: I think the most emotional scene is the one where Forrest is talking to Jenny's grave about Forrest Jr. and starts breaking down. A lot of choose from here.

The Land Before Time: RIP mama brontosaurus.

Rocky: Yes, the last few really sucked, and let's hope that Rocky Balboa was really the last one. But Rocky actually won the Best Picture academy award in the 70's. Rocky was a pretty complex character with a lot of latent issues that were brought out by Mick, his trainer that only paid attention to him once he was set up to fight Apollo Creed. The best scene is where Mick comes to Rocky and offers his help, but Rocky emotionally explodes out of bitterness of being ignored for so long... only to realize that he was being just as bad as Mick, and runs to accept his offer.

Lost in Translation: One of my favorite movies.. The tone throughout the whole movie is so bleakly awesome and the end scene where they have to say goodbye always gets me.

The Full Monty: Yeah, it's about guys who organize a strip show to make money, but there's also the story of a father trying to reconnect with his son. The part that gets me, however, centers around one of the strippers, who is overweight. He backs out because he is incredibly self-conscious, and there's a scene with his wife where he declares "Who would want to see... this... strip?" And she replies "Me," which gives him the courage to go through with it.

Anchorman: When Jack Black punts Baxter off the bridge... not.

Notice that The Notebook definitely did not make the cut here.