The Top 10 Songs That Make Me Cry

 

Time for one last round of tears fellow Otaku & Metalheads.

We’ve gone through the movie scenes that make me cry, along with the moment from my personal television history that turn on the waterworks. Today, I’m finishing up this month of cleansing with the 10 songs that make me cry, and let me tell you that this was the toughest out of all the lists to make. Given how much music I’ve listened to (Metal & Otherwise), going through the audio sea before me was a daunting task. However, I managed to pull through, and picked what I consider to be the definitive songs that turn my eyes into Niagra Falls. Some are going to be surprises, while others are going to be seen coming from a mile away (Especially if you know me well). So, with that said, here are the top 10 songs that make me cry.......let’s begin.

10)  Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Father Christmas (Song)
- We begin the list with a rather odd pick, and in the minds of some people I can understand. Emerson, Lake & Palmer are one of the most iconic Progressive/Art Rock groups, so to see them release a Christmas song was probably odd. This is even more odd when you actually listen to it: as it plays there’s something you pick up, and you’re not quite sure what it is at first. It’s not until you finish it that you finally realize......this is a very cynical song. It’s not mean or nasty in any way, but many of the lyrical choices come across as bitter. Almost as if the band felt betrayed by something during the holiday season. I think that’s why this song makes me cry: a genuinely wonderful time of the year that has a streak of black sewn into it. On the other hand.....

9) Majestica - The Joy of Christmas (Song)
- Much like U.D.O. & Iron Savior, the over the top nature of Tommy Johansson’s resurrected band was needed to heals the wounds from the plague ridden year that was 2020. However, I think fans of Majestica had no clue that this healing wave would come in the form of a retelling of the classic Holiday story, A Christmas Carol. The whole album, as I stated in my top 5 albums of 2020, is absolutely fantastic. Taking a timeless story, and saturating it in bells, holly, and Power Metal just makes it that much more heartwarming & joyous. However, it’s the song that’s in the middle of the album that really hits me. The Joy of Christmas is a genuinely beautiful song, and for half of the tune it’s not even a metal track! The first half is a stunning mix of piano & orchestra, complete with chimes that sound like icicles being tapped, and this makes it all the better when the guitars kick in. When they show up, that’s when the flood of the Holiday season comes rushing at you.....and you can’t help but cry when you’re hit.

8) Ernest - Gee I'm Glad It's Raining (Song)
- I talked about this in my first list this month (Read here if you haven’t yet), but in that one I talked about the scene. This time around I want to talk about the music, and to be honest there really isn’t all that much. It’s just some gentle rain in the background, and a simple keyboard playing throughout the whole thing (Along with some other instruments toward the end I can’t tell). Perhaps the most striking thing is Jim Varney’s voice, as his singing comes across as a little crackly, but it’s the emotional weight emanating from him that really seals the deal. Ernest 99% of the time is an idiotic, happy-go-lucky, yet genuinely kind person that just wants to do the right thing for the people he meets. So to see him so genuinely broken is incredibly tragic, and this song perfectly captures that feeling of defeat. It’s enough to make a grown person cry.

7) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Funky Waters (Amiss Abyss)(Song) & One Must Fall 2097 - End (Song)
- Sometimes it’s not just normal music that stirs the emotions in people. Game Music has just as much capability of conjuring a variety of feelings as anything you’d hear on a CD or the radio, and these two tracks bring out the tears in me. It’s funny, because I’ve never played Tropical Freeze, but watched a bunch of gameplay. For whatever reason, the music that’s played in Amiss Abyss brings in the nostalgia tears really hard for some reason. It harkens back to a much simpler time for me. A time where I was much happier, and I didn’t have to worry about things. Same with the ending song for a game that I have played! One Must Fall 2097, as I stated ages ago, is my number 1 video game of all time. The memory of getting in when I was so young left an incredible impression on me, and strangely enough the ending song is the tune to get me to cry. When you’ve defeated the main bad guy, this tracks plays. It’s an odd mix of triumphant victory, yet this creeping sensation that perhaps something is off. Like that you may have defeated evil, but there’s something still lingering around. It’s that duality that can make me crack once in a while, and if you’ve played OMF yourself, it might for you as well.

6) The Colbert Report - Goodbye Song (Song)
- Like I stated in the middle of the month, the final episode of The Colbert Report was sad. Not because of the atmosphere, cause it was anything but sad. It was sad because, for one final time on Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert showed that he was one of the funniest people around. However, perhaps the most tender moment of the episode is the recreation of the musical number We’ll Meet Again. Bring back all of the guests he’s had on the show (Or as many as he could), they sing the song that’s equally comforting & sad. Yeah, we’ll meet again, but when? That’s the definitive question as the tune goes on. All that was needed was piano & everybody’s voice. Not much else to say.....other than we’ll meet again next month.

5) Type-O Negative - World Coming Down (Song)
- I still stand by that World Coming Down is the darkest metal album ever made. The late 90s was the worst time in Pete Steele’s life: family dying, an ex girlfriend passing away, drug & alcohol addiction get worse with each day, and depression both biological & psychological is the worst mix imaginable for anybody. I think this is best summed up on the record’s title track: this 11 minute funeral dirge perfectly encapsulates what Pete was feeling. He hit rock bottom, and he hit it hard. There’s no light, merriment, or any of that dry humor he was known for. This is the very incarnation of defeat, as the instrumentation is played as slow as a funeral march, and the vocal work sounds like a choir of sadness. Despite the sadness it creates in me, it manages to be one of the reasons why I like World Coming Down (The album & the song). Yes, it’s a slap of tragedy across the cheek, but at the same time is an incredible piece of audio art that everyone should experience at least once. Just be sure to have a tissue nearby if you do.

4) Nostalgia Critic - F**king Love Christmas (Song)
- I think it’s a safe best to say that the Nostalgia Critic is a joke at this point. Over the years since his return, he’s becomes slowly less funny & entertaining, and thanks to the illuminating ChangeTheChannel document, it’s apparent that he doesn’t know what he’s doing most of the time & has lost a lot of his power. However, during this descent he still had some funny moments, and this one came out of nowhere! In a way it’s almost hard to describe, since it’s pure Holiday chaos from beginning to end. Even the Critic himself is all over, as his outfit & makeup is what happens when you shove a Christmas tree into the number 5 reactor at Chernobyl. However, despite all of this chaos, there’s a considerable amount of heart as well. It’s obvious that Doug Walker loves the holidays. Each & every year he seems to top himself in terms of his December content, and I think this song is the pinnacle of that. It’ll also make you cry from laughing so hard as well!

3) Ministry - LiesLiesLies (Song)
- Now here we get to the really personal songs. The songs that truly get me to cry, and for starters we have a tune from a time that was incredibly devastating for me & my Dad’s side of the family. I’ve talked numerous times about the tragic death of my Uncle Randy, so I won’t get into it here. Ironically, the song that ultimately helped me during that time I found out a month beforehand. Kinda like what’s at my number 2, I definitely enjoyed it, but for whatever reason I put LiesLiesLies in the back of my head. Not only that, but for the longest time I thought it was about general lies of the Bush administration. When I found out that it was about 9/11 conspiracy theories, it became a tiny bit hokey to me. None the less, I still cry up once in a while when I listen to this song. Though I moved on from my Uncle’s death, I do admit I go back there once in a while.....and this track is always there waiting for me.

2) Sodom - Body Parts (Song)
- Last year marked the 5 year anniversary of my Mother going into the hospital for Diverticulitis, and the 5 year anniversary that I discovered what I can only describe.....as audio Splatterpunk. Much like LiesLiesLies, I found Body Parts a month before it’s energy was needed. I was still getting adjusted to Death Metal in 2015, so in a way this helped with that adjustment. However, it’s significance comes with being a bloodsoaked security blanket for me during the week Mom was in the hospital. The whole album is absolutely brutal, but Body Parts opens it up to perhaps some of the most graphic imagery that Tapping The Vein creates. You’re given the scene of the scariest hospital that’s ever existed, and what happens inside is better left not talked about. However, it was the horrific possibility that my Mom wasn’t coming back that made the vision of this song so brutal. The only reason this is my number 2 is that on rare occasions I don’t cry during this song.....unlike what’s at my number one.

Now before we get to my number 1, I wanted to talk about some honorable mentions. The incoming tracks are certainly something. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad! These 2 songs are wonderful in their own right, but for whatever reason they don’t quite pull my emotional heartstrings as hard as everything else on here. With that out of the way, here are the honorable mention tunes that get me to cry.

HM1) Everfrost - A Whisper In A Frozen Tale (Song)
- I said this in my review for Winterider, and I will repeat myself again. This song is too long! At 15 minutes it’s unnecessarily big, and drags out the end of the album. That being said, it’s a hell of a tearjerker! I won’t get into story specifics, but suffice it to say if you were rooting for the characters......yeah. Weirdly enough the song is split into 3 different sections, each with their own sound & feel. They’re all really well done, but because of the length of the total package they can be just a bit annoying. I know I cry during this song when I stop at the track just before it...just to not hear those notes of tragedy that come afterwards.

HM2) Led Zeppelin - All Of My Love (Song)
- I wouldn’t exactly say that this song makes me cry, and given the circumstances that lead to this song’s creation that’s saying something. Losing your child (In this case, Robert Plant losing his son) is the most devastating thing a parent can go through, and you can certainly feel his pain in this tune. However, the reason I don’t cry is that All Of My Love is that it’s an oddly life-affirming song at the same time. Yes, losing a loved one is a brutal experience, but just because they pass away doesn’t mean you never stop loving them. You’ll always have the good times with them, and it’s the energy of those times that keeps you moving! Because of that, All Of My Love doesn’t make me cry....but it does tug at the heartstrings.

1) Sabaton - Inmate 4859 (Song)
- Every time....I cry when this song plays. Every time I hear the first 10 seconds.....I cry. Make no mistake, the actions of Witold Pilecki is nothing short of insane & courageous, and Sabaton treats this Polish hero with nothing but incredible respect. However, the tale of this incredible man is one of the most tragic things you’ll ever hear. Voluntarily going into Auschwitz is madness, and while the track never goes into specific details, it obvious that he went straight into hell & came out with scars. I don’t think there’s ever been a time where Inmate 4859 didn’t make me cry.....and I don’t think it’s ever gonna not make me cry.

And those were my top 10 songs that make me cry. Last year was hell. Pure, unadulterated hell. Though there was a little good that happened in 2020, it was almost buried by how absolute garbage everything else was. With this last bit of cleansing done, I’m hoping that I can continue through 2021 with a fresher & more positive outlook on things. Next up is February, and the first of 2 Metal Overview posts are coming. See you soon!

The Top 10 Moments in Television That Make Me Cry

Welcome back fellow Otaku & Metalheads! Ready to cry some more?

At the beginning of the month, I showed you the scenes from cinema that bring me to tears. Now, I wanna show you the moments from television that get me to cry. This one was a bit more difficult to make, as I’ve watched a practical horde of TV, and because of this I may be stretching the definition a little bit. Not across the whole list, but there are certain positions where something outside the televised screen was chosen. So with that being said, here are the ton 10 moments in television that made me cry. Let’s begin.

10) Conair Flight 5191 News Footage (Scene)
- 2021 marks 15 years since one of the worst aviation disasters took place in the United States. On the 27th of August, 2006, 49 people (Including my Uncle) died due to a tragic com-tower & pilot error. Back in 2016 there was a memorial to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the accident, and I found it incredibly difficult to watch. I didn’t exactly cry, as my attention wasn’t fully devoted to it, but the times I did have my eye on what was going on.....I can tell you that my eyes were definitely moistening up.

9) Sesame Street - Mr. Hooper’s Death (Scene)
- Being born in the late 80s, I never managed to watch what was a surprisingly deep moment for Sesame Street. Mr. Hooper was a big fixture on the show for quite some time, but when he died in real life, the producers saw an opportunity to teach a heavy lesson to kids. Yet, they didn’t shove it in the audience’s face. They let the scene play out naturally, and let the viewers themselves take the lesson instead of someone telling them about it. Taking that into consideration, the death of Mr. Hooper is Sesame Street at it’s most mature & tear inducing. Creating a moment that’s not forgettable in any way, it’s lesson is something that every child should pay attention to and remember. Death is always there, but by learning to cope in just the right way.....it’s not so bad.

8) September 11, 2001 News Footage (Scene)
- This year marks the 20th anniversary in which one of the most infamous days in American history took place. It was on this day that terrorists came through Canada (Not Mexico like the far right enjoys to say), trained themselves to be pilots, and drove planes into the World Trade Center. Overall, their actions caused the deaths of 2,996 people (Including themselves), and left a permanent scar on my home nation. To this day, seeing the planes crash into those tall spires is incredibly shocking. I actually learned of a family member on my Mom’s side died that day, but didn’t know about it till a few weeks later. Given the significance of what’s coming later this year, it seemed only right to talk about this day somewhere on the list.

7) Queen - These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Scene)
- As I said in the intro, I did have points where I would stretch the definition of television. Granted, music videos used to be on TV for the most part, they’re now exclusively within the realm of websites like Youtube. In regards to this spot, it was actually hard to pick. The music videos that came from the brief Innuendo period are all pretty emotional. Show Must Go On was almost selected to be here, but I have to ultimately select the tender These Are The Days Of Our Lives. I think in this video is where you see Freddy at the bottom of the barrel in terms of physicality. Though his soul shall forever be beautiful, at this point his body was not what it once was. Even if he was still at the top of his game in a physical manner, the song itself is really deep and emotional. It’s obvious that the band is pouring out their heart, reflecting on their past in the process. Coupled with the simplistic trappings of the music video itself, and you have something that really brings out the tears.

6) Sabaton History: Episode 42 - Inmate 4859 (Scene)
- Once again I’m stretching things here. Technically, Sabaton History is more of a mini-documentary series on Youtube with a brief interview at the end. However, if there was one exception I wanted to make, it would for episode 42 of the series. Now, I had known of the story of Witold Pilecki and his brave & suicidal mission of entering the hell on earth that is Auschwitz in an effort to destroy it for some time, I wasn’t ready to see some of the imagery used. I won’t describe what I saw, but I will say it is some of the most horrific footage & pictures anyone will ever see. Even the interview at the end, you can see that Joakim is taking things pretty seriously for the most part. I got a little bit more to say....but I’m saving that for another time!

5) Sainsbury 2014 - Christmas Eve 1914 (Scene)
- If you recall from my original top 10 best Christmas commercials list (Which you can read here), you might remember I placed this 2014 advert at the no. 1 spot, and I still stand by that decision. Since 2017, watching this 3-minute piece of advertising has become an essential holiday tradition for me. Even if it wasn’t, the amount of care and detail that went into the commercial is incredible. From the uniforms, to the setting, and even to the atmosphere, it was obvious that Sainsbury weren’t going for something cheap or sappy. The history that was behind the Christmas Truce, and the act itself, is nothing short of a cosmic miracle that will quite possibly never ever happen again. That alone is enough to get me to cry.

4) Most Extreme Elimination Challenge - Any Episode (Scene)
- If any of you can recall the early to mid 2000s, you might remember the channel known as Spike TV. Formerly known as the TNN Network, the programming shifted more into what was being promoted as "The First Network for Men", and as such many of the shows were geared more towards guys like myself. There were adult cartoons like Gary the Rat & Stripperela, new shows Ride with Funkmaster Flex, and the acquisitions of CSI, WWE Raw, and Star Trek. But perhaps one of the most iconic shows that aired on the channel was Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, or MXC for short in later seasons. A raunchy dub of the 80s Japanese gameshow Takeshi's Castle (See here for it’s history), the producers took out every reference to the show they’re making fun of, and instead turned it into basically a dirty version of American Gladiators. If anything, the whole series comes across like a live-action Ghost Stories: original concept thrown out the window, and replaced almost exclusively with over-the-top & politically incorrect humor. MXC is not for everybody, but if you’re willing to turn your brain off for a half-hour, you will be crying due to sheer laughter!

3) Doctor Who (Matt Smith) - Vincent Van Gogh Visits the Gallery (Scene)
- Now we get to some of the really sad stuff. In recent years, I’ve gained an appreciation for the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who. For quite a while I considered him too much of a man-child character, but there were times where a fair bit of maturity behind it. Chief example is at the end of the Vincent Van Gogh episode. After the Doctor & Amy encounter the eccentric artist, they decide to take him to their modern time, and show Van Gogh that there were people who did appreciate how incredible his work was. The artist at first seems confused by what he sees, but after a moment or two, he breaks down and cries. Though he’s happy, the emotional weight from his tears is highly evident. I have another scene from Doctor Who that is perhaps more tragic, but none the less seeing Van Gogh among his art is pretty heavy & tear inducing.

2) The Colbert Report - The Final Episode (Scene) & The Daily Show with John Stewart - The Final Episode (Scene)
- I know it seems a little silly to talk about comedic fake news shows on a list of TV moments that make me cry, but I’m actually being serious. I think for a horde of people, whether from my generation or the one beforehand, we got more actual news & information about the world from these two men than from any news network (Even the exceedingly few good ones). Their dedication to the truth, not to mention how genuinely clever & funny they both are, was highly endearing. So when it came to the final episodes of their respective shows, it’s actually rather sad. These last two episodes were filled with an incredible amount of heart, and showed that at times they were perhaps more than a parody news show. Perhaps John Stewart & Stephen Colbert knew that life sucks & people wanted to know how the world really worked, and they wanted to bring a smile to viewer’s faces. Seeing them on the screen one last time brought tears to my face.....yet they weren’t the most emotional.

So before we get to my number 1 TV scene, I wanted to take a moment to talk about some honorable mentions. Make no mistake: these are pretty emotional moments to me. However, they don’t quite carry the emotional weight as those on my main list. Still, I feel that it would be wrong to not speak of them, so here are my TV show moment honorable mentions.

HM1) Pokemon - Bye Bye Butterfree (Scene)
- I think it’s a safe bet to say that when my generation saw this, we probably had a Nam moment. Fans of the newer Pokemon series probably wouldn’t get it, but this was a really heavy scene. Granted looking back at it, it does come across as perhaps a little too sappy & cheesy, but seeing Ash set his very first caught Pokemon free to be among it’s own really pulls at the heartstrings. At this point it my life I don’t cry much during this scene, but at the same time the nostalgia from it is pretty intense. I can understand if modern Pokemon fans don’t quite feel the same, but for us 90s kids.....we’ll never forget.

HM2) Yan Can Cook - Any Episode (Scene)
- If there’s one good thing I can say about 2020, it would be that the weirdest things sometimes come back with a vengeance. Around May of last year, I’m randomly looking for things on Youtube, when for some reason a cooking show I loved as a kid came back into my brain. I decided to look & see if any episodes were on the site, and not only were there, but there was a channel that was seemingly putting them up every few days/weeks. Watching the episodes I saw never truly made me cry, but there were some big nostalgia waves coming at me, and my eyes were moistened a tiny bit. Definitely a show to watch if you like authentic Chinese cooking!

1) Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) - The Doctor’s Speech (Scene)
- And here it is. The number 1 moment in all of television that gets me to cry. As heavy & emotional as the Van Gogh scene was, this fine moment of Peter Capaldi’s time as the doctor is far more so. Perhaps more than any other point, you finally see the age of the Doctor and the emotional weight he carries. You see the literal hell he’s gone through with ever word he speaks, and at so many points you get the impression that he wants to break down and weep as much as the audience does. On top of that, what makes this such a tearjerker of a scene is how he talks down to the villain. Yes it’s not very realistic, but it’s how he speaks that makes it seem like the most intelligent & realistic solution. Every point that he brings up seems logical, and with every word he says turns the gears in the heads of those that he’s trying to save. If there’s anyone who’s a critic of Capaldi’s time as the doctor....send them this scene.

And those were my 10 moments in television that get me to cry. Again, this list was harder to make than the last one....but it doesn’t compare to the difficulty that is the next post. See you all at the end of the month, when I’ll be talking about music that makes me cry. Definitely some surprises to be there for sure!

The Top 10 Moments In Movies That Make Me Cry

Welcome to 2021 fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

The absolute raging dumpster fire, canal water drinking, rancid penis licking year that is 2020 is done! Yeah we’re still gonna have the plague for a bit longer, and yeah we got a mentally handicapped cheeto in the White House for just a few more weeks, but even the first day of the new year comes across as 20 times more optomistic than most of last year. Now, with a new year on us, it’s time for me to emotionally vent. Nothing bad, but I just need to turn the emotional spiget and let out a horde of tears. Throughout all of January, I’m going to show off what makes me cry, cause I think all of us need to let out some salt water, and to start things off on a fresh note I want to show off the scenes from movies that make me bawl my eyes out. So without further delay, here are my top 10 moments in movies that make me cry. Get some tissues!

10) Honey I Blew Up The Kid - Adam Cries (Scene)
- I’m so ashamed by this one! Way back in 1992 when I watched this, I didn’t cry at this part. Nowadays? I bawl my eyes out! The one thing that the Honey series of movies is that there’s always one emotional scene in each film. There was Anty dying in the 1st one, and then there was the kid with the Potassium issue in the 3rd one. In the case of Honey I Blew Up The Kid, it’s the scene where Adam is crying after getting hurt by the shock from the neon guitar. Seeing a kid/child hurt is always bad, but when for all intent & purposes a baby gets injured somehow & cries out for his mother is absolutely heartbreaking. Definitely a tearjerker of a scene!

9) Rugrats the Movie - Spike Dies (Scene)
- From a kids movie that I watch when I was little, to a kids movie that I actually managed to watch in recent years....and one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever. Rugrats wasn’t exactly afraid to tackle something serious: there was an episode about a family where one parent died, and there was a special about Passover & Jewish Heritage! So when the Rugrats movie came out, it helped expand the world that Tommy Pickles & friends were in.......then Spike moment to shine came. At first it’s actually badass, as he goes to town on the wolf that was chasing the gang throughout the film, and at the moment where he achieves victory......he tragically falls to his death, and the group are practically destroyed. Even Angelica, the show’s resident brat, just collapses at this part. The only reason that this scene isn’t any higher on the list is that Spike didn’t actually die. Spike actually manages to live, and how he did was rather convenient...but to give the movie credit they did the “Does He/Doesn’t He” trope really well.

8) Ernest Goes To Camp - Gee I'm Glad It's Raining (Scene)
- I only re-discovered this scene just last month (A few weeks ago, to be specific), and it had been years since I saw the movie in question. For anyone even remotely familiar with the Ernest films, you know that the titular character is an absolute idiot & goofball than none the less has a genuine heart of gold. So to see him defeated & drained of hope is really heartbreaking, and that’s one of the reasons why I cry during this scene. The other reason I cry is how genuine Jim Varney is during the song. He’s a surprisingly good singer in this part, but the cracks in Ernest’s voice make it seem real and from the heart. The amount of emotions in just a little over 2 & a half minutes is equal parts sad and beautiful.....and I kinda like that.

7) The Rocky Horror Picture Show - I’m Going Home (Scene)
- Much like Ernest Goes To Camp, this scene is from another otherwise goofy comedy. Filled with sex, glamour, hilarity, and some good songs, Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 70s cult classic! So it comes as a huge surprise towards the end, when the sensual Dr. Frank-N-Furter is up on stage.....and sings a pretty emotional tune. Taking a more subdued approach when compared to effectively every other track, we have a heartbreaking gospel song sung by Tim Curry. There’s definitely a loudness to it, but that has more to due with the sheer emotional weight coming from Curry. It’s obvious as the scene goes on that he absolutely doesn’t want to leave Earth, yet there’s a part of him that knows that he has to go back to Transsexual.....in the galaxy of Transylvania. Like Ernest’s moment above, this contrasts with the rest of the film, and that contrast is what makes the tears come out for me.

6) Christopher Robin - Tigger Song (Scene)
- I made a brief mention of this back in my Top 5 Movies Of 2018 list (Read here if you haven’t seen it yet), but I’ll elaborate further on it here. Christopher Robin is an increasingly rare example of a live-action Disney movie that’s really fun to watch. This one in particular is a seemingly perfect balance between lighthearted family friendly, surprisingly serious but slightly hammy reality, and touching nostalgia. I was actually really torn between the first encounter between Christopher & Pooh and the Tigger Song, because both scenes were genuine tearjerkers. However, I found it was when the Tigger Song occurred that for some reason I cried just a little more during this scene....and I’m not sure why. It’s not a sad scene by any means, as whenever Tigger is on the screen there’s no sadness at all! If I had to put my finger on it, I would easily put it on the sheer childhood nostalgia impact to my face. By sheer nostalgia alone, I cry during this upbeat moment in the film. Good on you Disney. You actually managed to do something right in recent years!

5) Pokemon the First Movie - Ash Turns To Stone (Scene)
- I think every kid that saw this film in the theaters dropped their jaw at this moment. I was not one of these kids, as I actually watched the movie on tape. However, when I saw Ash become a statue......yeah, I can relate to those kids in the movie theater! The main TV series certain had some emotional moments, but to see a beloved character effectively die absolutely hurts. Not only that, but seeing Pikachu trying in vain to bring him back, and the rest of the Pokemon there absolutely opening the floodgates of tears is basically a childhood/early teens Vietnam. You go through it, and you’re gonna come out with a scar or two. As silly as it sounds, Ash turning to stone is one of the saddest & most haunting moments in any kids film.

4) Blazing Saddles - Welcome, Sheriff (Scene)
- If there was ever an example of a movie scene that makes someone cry due to sheer laughter, it would be this one. If I’m being honest, you can pick just about any scene from Blazing Saddles, and it will make someone cry a lot because they’d laugh so much. However, I have to pick this scene for myself as that example. You got Gabby Johnson as lookout near the church, while everybody else is in the center of town getting ready for the new sheriff. I genuinely can’t describe what else happens, as it would ruin the comedic effect. Suffice it to say, the hilarious clusterfuck that happens when the town’s new lawman arrives is nothing short of genius!

3) Die Hard - Karl’s Death (Scene)
- Right away I can here you laugh. A scene in Die Hard makes you cry? I will not judge anyone for this reaction, and I completely understand if you have this reaction. However, sometimes an emotional scene comes out of nowhere, and hits us so hard that we cry. Ironically, we sort of got a little bit of buildup to it earlier in the film. I won’t spoil it, but for anyone that’s seen this action classic, you know what I’m referring to. Still when the last terrorist gets shot up, and you see the officer’s face after he did the deed.....you can just see the absolute horror. You can see the painful memories of what happened years ago come back to the surface, and if he were to say something, it would be.....”Dear God what have I done”. Again, just a tearjerker.

2) To Kill A Mockingbird - Scout Meets Boo Radley (Scene)
- Despite being one of my honorable mentions of movies, I thoroughly enjoy To Kill A Mockingbird. A film that’s just as good as the book (Maybe even better sometimes), the craftsmanship that went into it is incredible. Visuals, sound, acting, characters, and storytelling are all top notch, & there’s not a single fault to be found. Though there are plenty of moments where one can turn on the waterworks, for me it has to be right at the end of the film. After being attacked, a hulking savior came to the rescue for Jem & Scout, carrying the unconscious body of the young boy back to their house. After some confusion & panic, it turned out that Boo Radley, the oddball that lives in town, was their unlikely savior. The reveal was absolutely perfect: the gentle music, the acting from everybody, and the first-time appearance of Robert Duvall & his steely-eyed yet peaceful stare all combined into a scene that just calls out the tears. The ONLY reason that this isn’t my number one is that on rare occasions......I don’t cry.

Before we get to my tissue destroying number 1, I wanted to talk about some honorable mentions. Make no mistake, I can get some tears from these two. They are emotional, and they tug at the heartstrings really hard. However, both of these scenes don’t quite have that grip when I compare them to everything else on here. With that said, here are my emotional honorable mentions.

HM1) Rugrats the Movie - Tommy Snaps (Scene)
- This was going to be my original no. 9 scene, and let’s get this out of the way: this scene gets me to cry a lot. Seeing an naturally lovable character snap & try to sacrifice his baby brother is incredibly shocking, but where it gets me to bawl my eyes out is when Tommy realizes what he is about to do, and the two realize that is not going to be so bad after all. The only reason that this scene became an honorable mention....is that I’m an only child. Yeah, I know that sounds kinda dorky, but in a weird way I thought that it wouldn’t have been genuine if I put this at no. 9. However, this scene gets me to cry regardless, and for a chunk of us 90s kids.....it does for you also.

HM2) The Mummy Returns - Imothep’s Death (Scene)
- Nearly 20 years later (Technically 20 later this year), this scene still surprises me. The remake from 1999 was a action-packed thrill ride that was awesome, and The Mummy Returns is no exception. Then the betrayal of Imothep’s lover came out of nowhere, and just the absolute crushing of his once-immortal heart really tugs at the heartstrings. The only reason that it doesn’t make it to the main list is that it’s rather short. No more than under a minute, if I recall correctly. Still, this surprising moment definitely makes the eyes misty. However, this one, and everything else above.....don’t compare to the Niagara Falls scene that is my no. 1.

1) Schindler’s List - He Who Saves One Life Saves the World Entire (Scene)
- I don’t think I need to really explain to all of you at just how much Schindler’s List is one of the saddest movies ever put to film. The Holocaust is always a bleak subject, but to see it recreated with such horrific accuracy is incredibly frightening. You could pick literally any scene, and chances are it’ll make you cry. For me, I have to pick the scene towards the end where Oskar & his wife are escaping the advancement of the Russian Army. They have just about everything they need, but the Jewish workers stop them to give them a letter about what was going on, and a gold ring that signifies the tremendous amount of good that Mr. Schindler did. From there, the man just breaks down, weeping that he couldn’t have saved anyone else. The Jews around him just embrace him and comfort him at what is possibly the darkest point in his life.....nothing else to say really.

And those were my top 10 movie scenes that make me cry. With the new year upon us, it’s time for a cleansing, and this is how I’m cleansing. Join me in the middle of January, where I’ll show you the 10 moments from television that make me cry. Definitely some interesting points there!