Stream These Tearjerkers When You Want To Ugly-Cry
Plus, we recommend a couple films available to stream on the brand-new Criterion Channel
Some of you have cried during more movies than you can count, while others can’t even remember the last time you shed tears. Even if you’re not typically a movie-cryer, you’ve probably at least had a catch in your throat when watching the classic tearjerkers, like The Notebook, Titanic, Schindler’s List, Toy Story 3, just to name a few. There’s something visceral about a well-made sad movie that wrecks our emotions more than any book or TV show could.
This week we are recommending a few of the best tearjerkers currently available to stream. These aren’t seen as classics like the ones I mentioned above, but they are perfect for settling in for a good ugly-cry.
Drew recommends:
Room (streaming on Netflix)
It has to be impossible to watch Room and feel nothing. This is the story of a young woman and her son finding freedom after being imprisoned in a locked room for seven years. Your heart breaks both because they are held captive by a madman and because her son was born in that room and has never seen the outside world. Once they get out (don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler), the film takes us on an emotional journey as Joy (Brie Larson) tries to grapple with her return to normal life and Jack (Jacob Tremblay) experiences everything for the first time.
Larson is stunning in Room, and the Academy gave her the Best Actress Oscar for it. Appearing in almost every scene, she gives the film a deep authenticity that not many actors could pull off. This isn’t the only tearjerker she starred in for today’s newsletter.
Then there’s Tremblay, who was only about eight years old when the movie was shot. As Jack, he brings you to the verge of tears just by the look of wonder on his face when he sees the sky for the first time. Both Larson and him anchor Room with their heartfelt performances.
Blue Valentine (streaming on Netflix)
Considering it presents the disintegration of a marriage, Blue Valentine is far from an easy watch. However, every emotion is so raw and unfiltered that it ends up a pretty powerful tearjerker. The credit for that goes to writer-director Derek Cianfrance and his two stars, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, who completely own the movie.
Gosling and Williams play David and Cindy, a couple that we see fall in love and then, eventually, out of it. Their story is told in a bittersweet way, as the scenes of young love are interspersed with later scenes of conflict and pain. And even though you know where this relationship is going, you can’t peel your eyes away from the magnetic performances from Gosling and Williams. Blue Valentine is probably the worst first date movie ever, but there is an uncommon realism at play that might leave you blubbering.
Billy recommends:
Short Term 12 (streaming on Amazon Prime)
Short Term 12 is the perfect type of tearjerker. There are no huge moments that try to be emotionally manipulative. The constant emotion through the actor’s performances slowly draws out the tears. Destin Daniel Cretton, the director, understands the talented actors he is putting on screen. Looking back on this film makes one thing clear: This is one of the best casts ever assembled.
I love looking back on a film with a new lens. Especially now that we realize the cast is so freaking stacked. It has two Oscar winners in Brie Larson and Rami Malek, plus Lakeith Stanfield, who is one of the most interesting actors working today. And a group of actors that constantly have you saying, “Oh ya! I’ve seen them before.” Given such a great cast I am so glad that Cretton uses long takes and intimate scenes that drive the story.
Those long takes make the emotion hit so much harder than they would if the scene had a lot of cuts in them. One particular scene encapsulates what the director is trying to say with this story. He is trying to tell a story about a group of children that are forgotten about, abused, or abandoned. We have one of the employee’s at this treatment facility sitting with a teenager who is writing a rap song. He ends up rapping the song and the lyrics are incredibly powerful. I want to leave you with a quick snippet of a particularly powerful verse…
Look into my eyes so you know what it’s like
Look into my eyes so you know what it’s like
Look into my eyes so you know what it’s like
To live a life not knowing what a normal life's like
Criterion Channel recommendations
There’s a new streaming service in town! The Criterion Channel launched this week to the delight of cinephiles everywhere. With a library of over 1,000 indie, foreign, and classic films, there’s a whole world to dive into on The Criterion Channel, which you can have access to for $11/month. In light of this news, we decided to each recommend one film you can watch on the new service right now. So sign up for that 14-day free trial and get started right here.
Drew: Blood Simple
The Coen brothers are responsible for some of the best films of the past 35 years, and they got their start in 1984 with Blood Simple, a Texas crime story where a jealous husband hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new partner. This is where the Coens began to develop their trademark style with its distinct mix of dark comedy, irony, violence, and profundity.
A young Frances McDormand, in her first on screen role, plays the cheating wife. She’s so remarkable you’d never guess this was her film debut. After shooting Blood Simple, she would marry Joel Coen in 1984 and then go on to star in several more of the Coens’ movies, most memorably winning the Best Actress Oscar for Fargo in 1996.
What’s most impressive about Blood Simple is how amazing it looks on such a small budget. Made for just $1.5 million, the Coens already had a sense of how they wanted their films to look. In Blood Simple, they created a noir set during hot Texas nights at neon-lit bars. Plus, it’s just a blast to watch this story of greed and loyalty (or lack thereof) unfold. There’s many titles on the Criterion Channel that demand patience; this isn’t one of them.
Billy: In the Mood for Love
This is a foreign film. I know I have lost a ton of you by even suggesting such a movie. In the Mood for Love is not only my favorite foreign film of all time, it is one of my all-time favorite movies. In this film we follow a man (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) who begin to form a relationship after moving into an apartment complex that does not have a lot of space. Therefore interactions with your neighbors are a common occurrence.
Their relationship is not romantic. It is 100% platonic. While their relationship grows they begin to realize that each of their spouses are having an affair. Most movies tend to have the revenge plot where the person being cheated on wants to give them a taste of their own medicine. This movie does the opposite. Both lead characters decide to remain faithful through all of the heartache.
That is why this film is so unique. It is not often that we have a movie that has such a strong moral stance. Mainly because that does not bring about the most exciting movies. Morality in a movie can be boring. Audiences want to see the conflict. This movie essentially has all of its conflict off screen or it has the characters talk about the conflict. That should be a recipe for an incredibly boring film, but instead, we get a beautiful tale about two people who are trying to remain faithful.
In the Mood for Love is beautiful and moving. That is why the Criterion Channel is so useful. They make films like this so accessible. Please watch this film in honor of the Criterion Channel starting its streaming service.
Streaming TV Corner
What we’re watching this week…
Billy: High Maintenance (streaming on HBO Now)
This is such an easy watch that will be perfect after streaming a couple of tearjerkers. This show follows a weed dealer in New York City from client to client. Every client we see gets its own little story. We see different people’s backgrounds, funny scenarios, and people getting really freaking high. The lead character, the weed dealer, is incredibly charismatic and it leads to an easy watch. This show won’t change your life, but it will put a smile on your face.
The Office Episode of the Week
Drew: “Murder” (S6 E10)
This is just a terrific episode all around. In the cold open, we get Dwight’s martial arts fight against himself (egged on by Jim, of course). Then, as it seems like Dunder Mifflin may be going out of business, Michael tries to distract the office with a murder mystery game. “A murder you say? I… do… declare.”
The rest of the episode gives most of the characters a chance to do some high-level comedic performing. Creed flees when he thinks there has been an actual murder, Oscar does his best high-pitched Savannah accent, and Dwight guesses correctly that Phyllis is the killer (“the person I most medium suspect”). We are also treated to a great Michael line that’s fun to drop at work: “You’ll have to be more specific, Dwight. I get like eight emails a day.”
Finally, a Mexican standoff between Michael, Dwight, Andy, and Pam (“I’M NOT GOIN’ DOWN FOR THIS!”) caps a stellar season six episode.
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