''Emotional roller coaster'' is a horrible, hackneyed phrase, but it's a cliché for a reason: Something in our nature craves a ride on the ol' manipulation machine. Nine times out of 10, we know long before pushing play that the movie involves a terminally ill loved one, or an impossible love, or a giant robot that dies for our sins. And then there are the ambushes we still haven't gotten over...like Bambi's mom. (Let's not talk about Bambi's mom, okay?) Yes, there's something about fictitious grief — different, it must be noted, from the real thing. (That's why you won't find The Sorrow and the Pity, or any other documentary, on our list.) Sure, laughter may be the best medicine — but discriminating depressives know that nothing beats a good sob.

(SPOILER ALERT! We give away the plots — and even endings — of some of the movies covered within...)

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