'Brian's Song': The top 10 movies that always make me cry

Brian's Song

I'm not a big crier in real life. It's not that I am some sort of unemotional robot, it just takes a lot for me to go full blown ugly cry. That said, films have a unique ability to produce waterworks from me --I think honestly because of swelling music scores. If I actually had a soundtrack of maudlin music playing in the background of my life I'd probably be sobbing on the regular, but alas that isn't an option for me.

I do however, believe in the healthy concept of a "good cry." Many times -- especially after a bad romantic break-up -- I have sought solace in films that I know will elicit a certain physical emotional reaction. I don't know why it's cathartic for me to cry, I'm not smart enough to explain that, but there is something very powerful about letting yourself be moved to tears.

Recently, I revisited the classic 1971 TV movie Brian's Song, which is sort of infamous for being the one film that breaks the heart of even the biggest jocks in the world. The story has the added virtue of being based on a true story and its running time is largely devoted to the comradarie between two opposites attract pro-athletes played exceptionally well by James Caan and Billy Dee Williams.

And then the hammer comes down -- the sudden terminal disease -- and the movie becomes a total weepfest. One of the things I really appreciate about this movie is that the illness really does come subtlety, there isn't that cliched scene when a character starts coughing and indicating to the audience that they're about to get really sick (even Straight Outta Compton makes this hackey mistake). The movie also takes time to set up the relationship between the Caan and Williams characters so the payoff is well-earned.

Watching this movie got me thinking about the other tearjerkers that always get me going. Here are the examples that immediately leap to mind:

Field of Dreams - I don't recall ever playing a game of catch with my father and yet there is something universally stirring about the climax of this whimsical fantasy where Kevin Costner's Iowa farmer is miraculously able to toss a baseball back and forth with a younger version of his own long-deceased father. It's a gorgeously rendered moment that always bring a tear to my eye.

Fruitvale Station - One of the most unjustly overlooked films of recent memory is an intimate and realistic portrayal of the last hours in the life of Oscar Grant, a young black man who was senselessly killed by an Oakland police officer on a subway platform. The film's central theme -- that all lives have value -- is made compelling by the performances, especially Michael B. Jordan's in the lead. When I saw it in theaters there wasn't a dry eye in the audience.

Up - The opening of this Pixar masterpiece is infamous for the impact its had on audiences. It's a silent nearly 6-minute montage that just floored me, perfectly capturing the arc of a relationship over several decades. I saw this one right after a break-up and found myself sobbing underneath my 3-D glasses. I am sure the children seated around me were appropriately uncomfortable.

Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby - I feel like this one really snuck up on most people. Audiences came in expecting a rousing female version of Rocky and left emotionally pulverized by a last act that takes a dramatic and tragic turn. Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood make an incredible combo, with the latter giving perhaps the most vulnerable performance of his career. To this day, if I listen to the soundtrack on my iPod I get choked up.

The Shawshank Redemption - There's just something about Morgan Freeman's voice, it's both steely and sensitive at the same time. He works wonders in this prison drama, which ranks among his greatest roles. In its last act where (SPOILER ALERT, but seriously if you have cable television you have seen this movie by now) he is reunited with his best friend (played by Tim Robbins) always leaves a lump in my throat. It's the swelling music, the overhead shot -- an audience pleasing moment of perfection.

Kramer vs. Kramer - This Oscar winner really piles on the emotional weight. A superb Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep play a separated couple fighting over custody of their son. It's the young Justin Henry as the boy who really blows my mind. He manages to give a very mature performance without ever not seeming like a real kid. When Hoffman has to break some sad news to him late in the film I fall to pieces every time, even when I know it's coming.

Terms of Endearment - Often cited as The Godfather of tearjerker movies, this familial drama does pack a wallop, especially since it plays like a heartwarming comedy for most of its running time. Although they apparently despised each other in real life, Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger are totally authentic as mother and daughter in this moving movie that took home best picture and was a box office blockbuster. Not as corny as its reputation suggests, trust me.

Antwone Fisher - Whenever I feel like I want to cry I watch this ultimately uplifting Denzel Washington-directed drama about a young seaman who plumbs the depths of his troubled childhood in order to become a more socially adept adult. Derek Luke gives an exceptional performance here (that sadly he never capitalized on) and the film is just full of emotionally gut-wrenching confrontations and moments and remarkably it was written by the person who the film is based on.

Four Little Girls - Spike Lee's devastating documentary about the four young women killed at the height of the civil rights movement in the bombing of a Birmingham church is probably the most powerful film of its kind I've ever seen. I literally remembering having to pause it to collect myself at one point. It's not manipulative in any way and unlike some of Lee's narrative films it's totally stripped of excess -- is just that compelling and sad a story.

Selma - This recent film about Dr. Martin Luther's King's historic voting rights campaign was wildly underrated and ridiculously overlooked by the Oscars. Director Ava DuVernay wisely does not spare us the ugly side of segregation or the emotional toll oppression took on activists and their families. Rarely does a movie move me both because of its brutality and its inspiration. Hopefully, it will find the audience it richly deserved now that the smoke has cleared over its so-called controversies.