MandyGuaranteed Tear Jerkers
July 15th 2008 02:33
I don't cry a lot.
When I was younger I would sooner die than cry in front of friends or family. The only time it happened in public was in Year 11, when my friend Ellie went back to New Zealand off a six-month exchange. We were in art, the last lesson of the day, and reality hit us all hard and set off a chain reaction of sobbing 16 year old girls. I held it in for as long as I could before hiding my face in my hands as the tears began to fall.
"Are you crying?" someone asked, peering between my fingers. "Mandy's crying!" they said, stunned. A hush fell over our group. "I'm sad!" I protested in a quivering voice, and everyone laughed through their tears. Someone hugged me. The teacher looked on sympathetically It was awful.
All I'm saying is, I'm glad I never saw these movies with my friends:
Armageddon: Say what you want about this movie- it's cheesy, it's big, dumb, loud and in-your-face, it has Bruce Willis saving the world- but the fact remains: I've never watched this with anyone who DIDN"T cry. Army cadets. Hardened football players. Even my dad cried.
Deep Impact: The OTHER killer asteroid movie of 1998, less famous but quietly better than Armageddon. It's the montage that gets me every time, the damn montage with the sad music, and the words of hope from the President, and Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski getting to safety, and Tea Leoni reuniting with her dad on the beach right before a tidal wave kills them. But mostly the words of hope.
The Day After Tomorrow: The words of hope again are the catalyst for tears in this disaster movie, but it's usually a restrained spillage rather than the proverbial waterfall. In another montage, Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum fly away in the chopper, looking across the frozen wasteland that was New York city, while the vice-President (cos the President died) makes a speech of humility and hope as the dawn breaks on the defiant hand of the Statue of Liberty.
The Land Before Time: Dear God. You might think that, at 19, I'm too old to be affected by this animated dinosaur movie. But you'd be wrong. As soon as Littlefoot's mum dies, the waterworks start, and they don't stop until the exquisite credits are over. James Horner's heartbreaking score keeps wreaking havoc with my emotions until I'm a puffy eyed, sobbing wreck. And when Littlefoot sees his own shadow and thinks it's his dead mother...!
The Lord of the Rings: Was Peter Jackson trying to kill us all? I'm ruined after watching any of these films. Which is why I insisted on seeing them by myself in the theatre. Howard Shore's unforgettable score is engrained in my heart forever and I can cry just by listening to it.
From The Fellowship of the Ring:
1. "I will take the ring to Mordor! Though... I do not know the way."
2. When Gandalf falls off the bridge of Khazad Dum ("GANDALF! NOOOOO!")
3. When Pippin and Merry distract the orcs so that Frodo can escape
4. When Boromir dies protecting Pippin and Merry
5. "Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone."
From The Two Towers:
6. Wormtongue's tear of terror at the sight of the Uruk-Hai army
7. The March of the Ents
8. "Fell deeds awake... now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn... Forth Eorlingas!"
9. When the Rohirrim arrive with Gandalf at dawn
10. Isengard falls, Osgiliath is overrun, and Sam's speech ("There's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for!")
And the worst of the lot, The Return of the King:
11. Faramir rides out to Osgiliath and certain death, while Pippin sings to Denethor- possibly the most heartbreaking thing ever committed to film.
12. Pippin lighting the beacons of Gondor
13. Sam rushing into the orc-tower to save Frodo
13. Gandalf comforting Pippin before the battle
14. Theoden's speech to the troops ("Ride now!... Ride now!... Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!")
15. Aragorn's speech to the troops
16. "I can't carry it for you. But I can carry you!"
17. Aragorn, Merry and Pippin leading the charge against the Morgul army ("For Frodo!")
18. Barad-dur falls (I'm tearing up just thinking about it! What's wrong with me?)
19. "I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things."
20. The Grey Havens
Okay, I need to take a breather.
When I was younger I would sooner die than cry in front of friends or family. The only time it happened in public was in Year 11, when my friend Ellie went back to New Zealand off a six-month exchange. We were in art, the last lesson of the day, and reality hit us all hard and set off a chain reaction of sobbing 16 year old girls. I held it in for as long as I could before hiding my face in my hands as the tears began to fall.
"Are you crying?" someone asked, peering between my fingers. "Mandy's crying!" they said, stunned. A hush fell over our group. "I'm sad!" I protested in a quivering voice, and everyone laughed through their tears. Someone hugged me. The teacher looked on sympathetically It was awful.
All I'm saying is, I'm glad I never saw these movies with my friends:
Armageddon: Say what you want about this movie- it's cheesy, it's big, dumb, loud and in-your-face, it has Bruce Willis saving the world- but the fact remains: I've never watched this with anyone who DIDN"T cry. Army cadets. Hardened football players. Even my dad cried.
Slo-mo walkout: always effective
Deep Impact: The OTHER killer asteroid movie of 1998, less famous but quietly better than Armageddon. It's the montage that gets me every time, the damn montage with the sad music, and the words of hope from the President, and Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski getting to safety, and Tea Leoni reuniting with her dad on the beach right before a tidal wave kills them. But mostly the words of hope.
Even the poster is sad
The Day After Tomorrow: The words of hope again are the catalyst for tears in this disaster movie, but it's usually a restrained spillage rather than the proverbial waterfall. In another montage, Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum fly away in the chopper, looking across the frozen wasteland that was New York city, while the vice-President (cos the President died) makes a speech of humility and hope as the dawn breaks on the defiant hand of the Statue of Liberty.
I'm still here!
The Land Before Time: Dear God. You might think that, at 19, I'm too old to be affected by this animated dinosaur movie. But you'd be wrong. As soon as Littlefoot's mum dies, the waterworks start, and they don't stop until the exquisite credits are over. James Horner's heartbreaking score keeps wreaking havoc with my emotions until I'm a puffy eyed, sobbing wreck. And when Littlefoot sees his own shadow and thinks it's his dead mother...!
Littlefoot and his mother
The Lord of the Rings: Was Peter Jackson trying to kill us all? I'm ruined after watching any of these films. Which is why I insisted on seeing them by myself in the theatre. Howard Shore's unforgettable score is engrained in my heart forever and I can cry just by listening to it.
From The Fellowship of the Ring:
1. "I will take the ring to Mordor! Though... I do not know the way."
2. When Gandalf falls off the bridge of Khazad Dum ("GANDALF! NOOOOO!")
3. When Pippin and Merry distract the orcs so that Frodo can escape
4. When Boromir dies protecting Pippin and Merry
5. "Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone."
"Of course you are! And I'm going with you!"
From The Two Towers:
6. Wormtongue's tear of terror at the sight of the Uruk-Hai army
7. The March of the Ents
8. "Fell deeds awake... now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn... Forth Eorlingas!"
9. When the Rohirrim arrive with Gandalf at dawn
10. Isengard falls, Osgiliath is overrun, and Sam's speech ("There's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for!")
And the worst of the lot, The Return of the King:
11. Faramir rides out to Osgiliath and certain death, while Pippin sings to Denethor- possibly the most heartbreaking thing ever committed to film.
12. Pippin lighting the beacons of Gondor
13. Sam rushing into the orc-tower to save Frodo
13. Gandalf comforting Pippin before the battle
14. Theoden's speech to the troops ("Ride now!... Ride now!... Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!")
15. Aragorn's speech to the troops
"There will come a day, when the strength of men will fail But it is not this day!"
16. "I can't carry it for you. But I can carry you!"
True friendship
17. Aragorn, Merry and Pippin leading the charge against the Morgul army ("For Frodo!")
18. Barad-dur falls (I'm tearing up just thinking about it! What's wrong with me?)
19. "I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things."
20. The Grey Havens
Okay, I need to take a breather.
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