Ahira's Hangar

I saw this list recently in Entertainment Weekly. I usually think of tearjerker movies as weepy romances like Sweet November or Autumn in New York, and quite frankly I do not care for that sort of movie.

I was surprised by the different sorts of movies on this list:

1. Terms of Endearment (1983)
2. Bambi (1942)
3. Sophie's Choice (1982)
4. An Affair to Remember (1957)
5. It's a Wonderful life
6. Longtime Companion (1980)
7. Brian's Song (1971)
8. E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)
9. Ghost (1980)
10. Field of Dreams (1987)
11. Old Yeller (1957)
12. Brief Encounter (1945)
13. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
14. Life is Beautiful (1998)
15. Titanic (1997)
16. Glory (1989)
17. Love Story (1970)
18. Ordinary People (1980)
19. Stella Dallas (1937)
20. Steel Magnolias ( 1989)

What movies on this list have you seen? Which of them have you enjoyed? I know that there are a few (like Brief Encounter) that I have never even heard of...

The poll question:
Which of the top five tearjerker movies (as according to Entertainment Weekly) is your favorite?Terms of EndearmentBambiSophie's ChoiceAn Affair to RememberIt's a Wonderful LifeShow results ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Kramer vs. Kramer is better than all but two of the movies in the top ten, and it really deserves a spot on the top ten. Ordinary People deserves to be rated higher on the list than it is, as does Love Story. Field of Dreams, if they felt the need to put on a baseball movie a better selection would be The natural and The pride of the Yankees. Why isn't Dances with wolves on the list, it makes me cry every time I see it. Just my $0.02.

Brief encounter, 1945, made in the UK, directed by David Lean (Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia), starring Trevor Howard. The movie was banned in the Republic of Ireland. Strangers meet on a train. <i>Edited by: taraswizard at: 5/4/06 5:01 pm
</i>

Heh. The other movie I had never heard of is Longtime Companion.

In full agreement about Ordinary People. It is incredibly painful to watch, but also incredibly good.

As a long time Disney fan I know this will be heretical, but Bambi is one of my least favorite of the "classic" Disney animated films. I have always thought it to be a bit on the dull side. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I don’t normally seek out tearjerker-type movies myself. Not that I hate them per se, I just generally don’t like films that are too obvious in their intentions. Tearjerkers can be pretty ingratiating.

That said, I love Ordinary People. It’s one of my all-time favorite films. Yes, it made me cry because it affected me in an honest, direct way, not in some typically fake, overwrought Hollywood manner. Like duchess says, the movie is at times painful to watch. The emotions get pretty raw. It takes guts to do the kind soul-baring acting required in this film, especially for Timothy Hutton’s character. I guess I don’t really want to tag Ordinary People as a tearjerker, just as I don’t want to label Unforgiven as merely a Western or 2001: A Space Odyssey as merely a science fiction film. They are all great dramas that happen to fit particular genres that we arbitrarily create.

The only other films on that Top 20 list I’ve watched through entirely are Ghost, Titanic and Steel Magnolias. (I assume Ghost is the 1990 Patrick Swayze film, because I’m not familiar with any movie from 1980 with the same title.)

As far as being a “good” tearjerker, I feel Steel Magnolias is clearly superior to both Ghost and Titanic. Again, because the emotional journey in Steel Magnolias feels genuine, whereas the other two films suffer from that Hollywood maudlin excessiveness. (It’s also about the only movie in which I can tolerate Julia Roberts.)

By the way, if there was a “None of the above” option in the poll, I’d take that. I’ve never seen Bambi and have only watched portions of the other four. But from what I’ve seen of It’s A Wonderful Life, I think it’s overrated.
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It's a Wondeful Life, overated, ya think. It amazes me when such sentimentalist pablum is rated so high on like AFI lists and such. I'll be back later. taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
Chicago area
W/T forever, always
Buffy fans Chicago
my livej<i>Edited by: taraswizard at: 10/19/06 6:00 pm
</i>

I've never heard of It's an ... Mod added, corrected typo, and I only had like two minutes to write the message. <i>Edited by: taraswizard at: 10/19/06 5:58 pm
</i>

Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford, an emotional and powerful narrative in cinema, maybe it's the best performance by Donald Sutherland ever. The movie is dripping with family tradegy and circumstances beyond the bearing of it. However, does the movie really belong in the same category as Terms of Endearment or Love Story? taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
Chicago area
W/T forever, always
Buffy fans Chicago
my livej<i></i>

Don't think I've ever seen a movie that made me cry or even want to. OK, I'm not usually very emotional, but for movies, I just can't suspend my disbelief that easily. *shrug*

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib<i></i>

Carrington, the story of the artist Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) and Lytton Strachey (J. Pryce). And I know most of you think I made this movie up, since none of you ever heard of it (FWIW, a mod on another bulletin board deleted a thread about this movie cause he'd never heard of it); HOWEVER, Lucimay and I chatted about this movie on the Watch one night a little while ago. taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
Chicago area
W/T forever, always
Buffy fans Chicago
my livej<i></i>

I'm guessing It's A Wonderful Life is acclaimed so much because James Stewart + Christmas = sacred Americana.

It's just plain inertia, if I can use that word. The tradition of always airing It's A Wonderful Life at Christmas time has turned the film into an institution as much as Christmas itself is.

This may sound sacrilegious to Jimmy Stewart fans, but I always found his acting mannerisms a tad annoying. Maybe it was his slightly whiney voice that got to me. <i></i>

Haha, good post MW. Never thought it was that great at all. Bit...sanctimonious, you know? Still, made a nice appearance in Naylor's Better Than Life, the sequel to Red Dwarf.

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib<i></i>