Crying. Some of us are of a gender that does it only when the Earth, Mars and Jupiter are aligned perfectly in a straight line. Some of us are of another gender that tends to bawl if they see a cute kitten and it makes them think to their pet Snookums in the third grade who keeled over and died from eating their fish sticks that they thought would be appropriate, except that cats can't really handle trans fat too well. But, for some reason, movies can get us all alike, male and female, young and old.

A little while ago, we asked our staff and forumites to give us some of their favorite *sniffle* moments from movies. Sad... tender... embarrassing... it's the stuff that tears are made of. Spoilers Ahead! So, here goes!

PoolMan says, "The end of Monsters Inc, when Boo says goodbye to Sully, gently petting his whiskers. Gets me every time. Also, I don't actually cry at this, but I always get choked up during Return of the King when the Rohirrim ride onto the plains at Minas Tirith. The ferocity in the men's eyes as they ride in, the look of fear on the faces of the orcs as they realize what's happening... there's so much determination and desperation in the scene, it really pulls at me. I also really loved the final moments between Theoden and Eowyn, especially when he repeats his line, 'I remember your face'. Actually quite touching and well acted."

Al says, "Once Upon A Time in the West — Sorry, GB+U fans, this is the western in my mind. Jason Robards, trying desperately to hide his mortal wound from Claudia Cardinale, says to her just before he rides off, 'You know what? If I was you, I'd go down there and give those boys a drink. Can't imagine how happy it makes a man to see a woman like you. Just to look at her. And if one of them should pat your behind, just make believe it's nothing. They earned it.' It's not much to look at written down, but it socks me in the gut on every viewing."

ThePickleMan says, "Boromir's death scene in Fellowship of the Ring. I always cry."

The Lion King seems to be a popular choice. Al: "Simba after the wildebeast stampede is a killer." TheOogieBoogieMan: "I cried the first time I saw Musfasa's death scene, but never again."

TheOogieBoogieMan says, "Oh! The Fox and the Hound! The scene when the old lady leaves the fox in the woods got me all the time as a kid. The reason it still doesn't is cause I haven't watched it since I was a kid."

StarOpal says, "Big Fish, the second time I watched it I was feeling kind of down and when it gets to the part where the son is the one telling a story, and in the story starts carrying the dad. Also, when Jimmy Stewart is running through Bedford Falls in It's a Wonderful Life, 'Hello movie house! Hello you old savings and loan!' Every time. It's my one consistent cinematic weakness."

Duckie says, "When Rudy gets carried off the field always chokes me up a bit. Well, actually, there are probably a number of spots in that movie (like when he finally gets in to Notre Dame, or when the team all decides to hand in their jerseys so that he can play in their place, and so on) which can get my eyes swelled up a bit. Also, I really got choked up when Old Yeller died. I think half the elementary school audience bawled, when they showed the movie to us during assembly."

Doctor Teeth says, "I typically cry: 1. When the Iron Giant flies away to stop the missile and says "I'm Superman" (my girlfriend thinks that's really dumb of me, but I sob like a baby). 2. When a dying Li Mu Bai's reveals that that he loves Shu Lien at the end of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 3. When John Coffey is executed at the end of The Green Mile.

Sue says, "In Love Actually when Emma Thompson's character opens the present from her husband and realizes that he's having an affair since the jewelry she saw him buy obviously went somewhere else. In Lilo and Stitch when Lilo throws her ugly doll away, then runs back, grabs it and gives it an apologetic hug. The 'death' of E.T."

Philotix says, "The first time I ever cried at a movie: I was 14 years old, and our class was watching the movie Glory for the first time. The entire last half hour of their final charge and the next morning, I was bawling. There was something beautifully tragic about a group of men fighting an impossible battle and dying for something that they strongly believe in. That these men would throw their lives away for an ideal, that is the thing that moves me the most."

I don't exactly cry, but I do get choked up a lot depending on the movie. For me to get sad, there has to be a balance between good storytelling and emotional manipulation on the part of the filmmaker. (1) The funeral scene in With Honors... for me, death and funerals are a celebration of life, and the way they handled this scene just gets me every time. (2) The end of Schindler's List... 'I could've done more'. I wonder how many of us will say that at the end of our lives? And how many of our lives will be used unknowingly for a greater good? (3) Rudy... yeah, Rudy."

DarthMadler says, "I don't think I ever out and out cried at a movie since seeing Bambi as a kid but the end of Il Postino certainly came close."

Dajayman says, "I bought my wife Steel Magnolias a couple of Easters ago. And it got me. Not the whole Julia Roberts dying bit, but the part where Sally Field goes to collect her Grandson from the Aunt. Probably because I'm a father now and the thought of losing my wife and my daughter never really knowing what she was like and not being raised by her is just... bad. Jeez, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it. DAMN YOU MRFH!!!!!"

Genetic Mishap says, "This is so lame, but I always get choked up at the end of The Others."

Drew says, "I can't think of a movie I've flat-out cried at since my childhood years (I'm sure I wept like a little schoolgirl over ET, just like everyone), but there are a few that make me get misty-eyed. Big Fish did the first time I saw it, and it'll happen at random times based on my mood with other movies- like, at the end of Last Crusade, where Indy's father tells him to let the Grail go and he makes the right choice... there's no logical reason why that should be a tearjerker, but I remember it got to me one time. Love that movie."

Lissa says, "I'm a total sap - I love crying at movies. I always cry at Mufasa's death, that's the biggie. I also cry at: The end of Moulin Rouge!, when Christian just loses it; The end of Dead Poets' Society, when some of the boys stand up on their desks; Faramir's doomed charge, with Billy Boyd's singing over top of it (assuming I'm not completely smashed, that is); and Lilo and Stitch got me, with the talk about family.

AJWarped says, "The end of Dead Poets gets me too. Good Will Hunting when Robin just keeps telling Matt that it wasn't his fault and they embrace. The end of The Shawshank Redemption, but these are more of happy tears. My biggest tear jerker as of late would be Cinema Paradiso, the end is just so amazing."

Macaroni & Death says, "Recently, the end of The Purple Rose of Cairo just wrecked me. Completely blindsided."

Big T says, "I'm weird about movies and crying because it is usually the happy moments that make me close to tears. The closest I ever came was and always is the end of Mr. Holland's Opus, possibly because band was the best part of high school for me and the well acted tears of joy from Richard Dreyfuss just tug at my heartstring... oh now i need a tissue. I get all misty during the more recent Miracle on 34th Street, when you see all the people crowding the streets to support Kris Kringle. I just don't know, being overwhelmed by the positive makes my eyes water but while sad bits leave me feeling awful i never even get choked up."

Cheshire Kat says, "Swing Kids, the end when the lead character is being carted off to a work camp and his little brother picks up his umbrella and screams 'Swing Heil!'. Gets me where I live."

Ms. Jellybean says, "I'm probably going to get made fun of for this, but my dearest father and I both start to at least tear up at the end of Field of Dreams. Yes, I know that's a 'guy' movie to cry at, but I can't help it. I'm surprised I didn't see anyone mention it earlier in the board, but then again, I just scanned through. Hotel Rwanda also made me start bawling like a little baby. Genocide is a terrible thing, and it's one of my 'noble' causes to raise awareness about the terrors of genocide."

Shalen says, "I think when I was little I probably cried at Land Before Time when Littlefoot loses his mother. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I choked up when they played the song "Unchained Melody" on the movie "Ghost." Sometimes I do when they play it on the radio, too. It's the only movie that made me want to sniffle without also making me want to use the DVD as a frisbee."

Nancy says, "Okay. So I was reminded that I ball like a baby in the end of Big Fish and that Harold and Maude gets me alot too. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, when Billy kills himself (i did have a spoiler, good for me) always makes me feel really empty to the point of crying, i don't remember if I've actually cried, but it's that same feeling that I get at the end of Easy Rider and American Histroy X, the 'When bad things happen to good people, I know life's not fair but THAT'S NOT FAIR' feeling. The two that ALWAYS ALWAYS get me (I'm in the midst of writing a feature about this so I'll save the details of my tears until then) are the end of The Wedding Singer and pretty much at any given moment during Garden State."

BDC says, "End of Schindler's List is a definite. I cry my eyes out every viewing of The Passion."

Deusdragonexx says, "I dunno why, but the end of Hocus Pocus always tears me up."

Magill says, "Last week I watched Kolya. It's a Czech film in which a skirt chasing cellist in his fifties, through a series of circumstances I won't spoil, becomes the guardian of a 5 year old Russian boy. Neither of them can understand each other's language, which means more opportunities for hijinks. This takes place in Prague right before the Velvet Revolution, so there's a lot of resentment of the Russians by the Czechs. I chose to watch it last week because it's a total chick flick and my boyfriend was travelling for work. The kid is too cute, and there were a few moments that had me crying."

Hilasophy says, "The end of Swing Kids. I just lost it at the end, wanted to curl into a fetal position, lost it."

Scruffybannister says, "Back to the Future trilogy... I always get a little weepy when the DeLorean gets hit by the train. Waaa! The soul of the movie is gone!"

Aargmematey says, "The Fox and the Hound. Pretty much that entire movie. God, WHY WOULD DISNEY MAKE A MOVIE LIKE THAT?! What's wrong with them?! The Land Before Time, when Littlefoot's mom dies, and she's all 'Do you remember the way to the Great Valley?' and then the part where he runs after the shadow, thinking it's his mother. Curses, I'm getting teared up just thinking about it. In the Rugrat's movie, when Tommy's parents forget about him. Oh how I cried when I saw that in theaters. I practically sobbed. In Spirited Away, when Chihiro tells Haku who he is, and the he turns back into a human and they're all falling through the sky! That part is just so beautiful."

RobinFlamingo says, "Oh goodness, I'm a huge crybaby when I watch movies, and I admit it. When Jesus removes the clown makeup in Godspell... "Scarecrow, I think I'll miss you most of all"... Cuckoo's Nest - Billy Babbitt... TKAMockingbird - "Scout, get up. Your father's passin'"... West Side Story... Forrest Gump - several times... Jerry Maguire - "You had me at hello."... Shawshank - When they meet on the beach at the end. I could go on. Believe me. But I'm stopping now. *le snif*"

Siegeshot says, "Star Wars Episode 2 when all of the Jedi are in the arena in the circle deflecting the shots with their lightsabres gets me every single time. It's just such an emotional shot ya know. That epic stuff always gets me, but this one easilly hits the hardest."

Sirgallahad2 says, "1. Dumbo: When dumbo's mom is chained up in the Mad Elephant carriage and the only way she can hold Dumbo is by hanging her trunk out the window. I bawled as a kid and I still get misty-eyed to this day. 2. Good Will Hunting: a two-part cryer, when robin williams tells Will how he looked after his wife as she was dying of cancer and when he tells Will that 'It's not your fault' and Will finally breaks down. Monster's Inc., the Sully saying goodbye to Boo scene at the end. 4. Forrest Gump: When Forrest is speaking at Jenny's grave at the end. Every time. 5. Big Fish: The ending. 6. Blackhawk Down: The final shot of the movie with all of the coffins with the American flags draped over them. I had to put a coffin with my friend's body in it on the airplane home when I was in Iraq. They let my entire company have a memorial ceremony for her right there in the plane. Her coffin was the only thing in the belly of the air craft. I saw the movie when I was home on R&R and when I saw that final shot.... I broke down and cried for a good 30 minutes."