I can handle a sad, weepy movie, but my 17-year-old son can't. Just the other day we were scrolling through the TV channels and he saw that "Ol' Yeller" was playing. His reaction was over the top. "I hate that movie! I hate it!" Uh, why? "It's just so sad."
This isn't a new development since his dad's death. He's always been this way.
His girlfriend talked him into watching "A Walk to Remember" the other day, and he grumbled about the sadness of it for days. To me, of course. Not to her. Her presence made it quite bearable at the time.
Take my hand, my friend. We are here to walk one another home.
Aww... for your son. Ol' Yeller is an awefully sad movie, I totally understand. Don't let him read the book, it's much worse!
I enjoy a good weepy movie now and then. Somehow it feels good to have a good cry. I don't know why, it just does. I recorded Tarus Bulba and will soon do just that...tomorrow maybe, or Thursday...
Texas, Land of the Free, Home of the Tumbleweeds....
My oldest is going to St. Louis for a weekend in July to meet some imaginary friends he's known for years.
He's 19, and it's his money he's spending, so we couldn't exactly forbid him—especially as I did the same thing last fall and met some terribly frightening people such as Wampus and Voronwë and Anthriel and Eruname and Axordil and Nerdanel and Teremia and Frelga and Faramond and Griffy and baby tuckoo and Misha and—
<pauses to boggle at own marvelous luck>
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
When we moved from Georgia to Louisiana back in '99, my daughter was 18 and informed us she was staying in Georgia. We told her it will be hard. She said she knew, and that she learned better the hard way. We said ok, bye.
She did have a very hard year. We called it Life 101. In the spring of 2001, after my mom passed away, we drove up to pick up the piano and other furniture...and my daughter. She had enough and was ready to come home. She's 26 now and still living at home, but she's almost ready to move out again. This time however, she has alot more knowledge and experience under her belt and I won't be quite as frantic as before.
Texas, Land of the Free, Home of the Tumbleweeds....
I agree with the consensus that Requiem for a Dream is best seen only once. I'd say the same for Pi, which I saw twice. The first time was at a theatre, and it was in-your-face and relentless and a rather mind-bending experience. The second time was on a small screen TV and it seemed rather mundane.
I have not, needless to say, seen "Silence of the Lambs". While it was out in the theatres I couldn't bear the tone of the advertising, as if there was something smartly sophisticated in the monster Lecter, and the hint of some kind of sexual tension between him and the character played by Jodie Foster. Now, I could be completely wrong, of course, and there may have been no such hint, I might have imagined the whole thing.
It does pretty much look like that. The film almost dares you not to half-root for Lecter, even knowing what he is...very very disturbing. Almost as bad as (the brilliant) A Clockwork Orange, which shamelessly manipulates you into feeling sorry (almost) for that little bastard Alec.
Oh, list. Schindler's List; I couldn't take it a second time. Platoon. It was years before I rewatched Alien.
narya, I was just going to mention Requiem for a Dream, but I see now that several others have already brought it up. It was an excellent movie, but as disturbing as hell. I just don't think I could ever watch it again, knowing what will happen.
I just watched "Tideland" and had to resurrect this thread. I found it more intense than "Requiem for a Dream" or "Traisnpotting" to be honest.
Apparently Michael Palin told Terry Gilliam "Thats either the best or the worst movie you've ever made". Not sure about that, but it certainly challenges the viewer. Disturbing.
Uh, why? "It's just so sad."
for your son. Ol' Yeller is an awefully sad movie, I totally understand. Don't let him read the book, it's much worse! 
She's 26 now and still living at home, but she's almost ready to move out again. This time however, she has alot more knowledge and experience under her belt and I won't be quite as frantic as before. 
