Top 10 times when its acceptible for a guy to cry at movies

There’s a lot of sad movies on this list, but I don’t think any of them rival this one. While other selections on this list have complex reasons for why they are affecting or particularly evocative to a guy, this one is just straight up sad. The horrors of war juxtaposed with the innocence of childhood is brutally exposed throughout this move. As ever, the soldiers and generals fight the battles but it’s the regular people who suffer, and the most vulnerable have the least chance of survival. Nothing on this list is sadder, if you’re unmoved by this then you’re dead inside.

As with most people my age, I look back on movies from before 1970 with a mixture of confusion and trepidation. I’m never sure when someone’s going to break into song and dance, expose themselves as casually racist or slap a woman to put her in place. Despite all this, I saw this movie and the message and the story were so universal it was like it was written yesterday. Too brilliant to be explained on a website like this, you should simply go and see this movie if you haven’t already. Many cinemas play it at Christmas and its one of the finest movies ever made. The moment when George’s brother says "To My Big Brother George, The Richest Man In Town", I can’t help but struggle to maintain my composure. He means rich in love…….Goddamit I’m losing it again!

This movie remains an inspiration for every filmmaker who has worked hard at something only for it to flop at the cinema. Shawshank performed terribly at the box office then went on to build a cult audience and eventually became such a well loved movie that it broke into the mainstream, boosted the careers of its two leads and frequently tops the lists of best movies of all time. There are many tough, emotional scenes in the movie, but the moment when Tim Robbins escapes the prison and emerges from the sewer pipe and raises his arms up to the sky cleansed is so iconic its instantly recognisable. The ending on the beach is a little over wrought; it would have been far more elegant to have ended with Morgan Freeman on the bus unsure of his fate. Nonetheless the scene where the two are reunited raises a lump in the throat and the emotional payoff is justified by how much s**t (literal and metaphorical) Andy Dufresne has had to go through.

The word "crazy" is over used in popular culture. Whether you’re waiting in line for a sub thinking "if this guy orders ranch AND chipotle dressing I’m going to go crazy" or you’re listening to Britney sing "Let’s go crazy", you’re not thinking of Daniel Johnston crazy. His kind of crazy is more the type where you try to kill yourself and your friends, communicate with and battle the Devil every day and write some of the most beautiful but weird music ever committed to tape. Inspiring everyone from the Butthole Surfers to Nirvana, Johnston battled his illness all his life and in this documentary, you feel as much pain for him as you do for his family and friends who he put through great stress and even physical danger. While there are hints of Johnston’s genius throughout the movie, it’s not till the closing moments of the film when we hear one of his finest and most poignant songs and see Daniel completely enraptured in his music that we understand how talented he really is but also how high a price he has paid for that talent. When the titles roll and "Some things last a long time" plays, only a robot would feel nothing for the guy.

Another classic that I only watched fully last year, this movie is driven by an absolute master performance by Gregory Peck. It wasn’t until I watched this film that I realised exactly what kind of good person I had already aspired to be: it was Atticus Finch. Gregory Peck makes Atticus a sympathetic and grounded character that is nonetheless heroic beyond any action movie hero. He is brave, paternal, honest, protective, forgiving and willing to put his own reputation and safety on the line when he feels that something must be done to stop evil, even if it means standing up against a whole community. In my mind the most memorable scene will always be the tense showdown when Atticus is spat at and shows immense character and restraint in face of deliberate and twisted provocation. The most affecting scene though immedietly precedes that one when Atticus’ journeys to Tom Robisnon’s family to tell them what has happened to their son…