Most of the time when you go to the movies, you can expect the story you see on the big
screen to be resolved by the time the lights come up.
Maybe not all the good guys will make it to the end, but for the most part the world will
be as it should be.
But not every story can have a happy ending.
Sometimes the price of victory is high, and characters we learned to love are taken away
from us.
Other times the heroes don't win at all, no matter how much they sacrificed.
Man on Fire may not have been a favorite of critics, but Denzel Washington's performance
as alcoholic bodyguard John Creasy was one of the most moving of his career.
After years of booze and bullets, Creasy gets a shot at redemption as a bodyguard for Pita,
played by Dakota Fanning.
When a powerful crime syndicate captures Pita, Creasy buys pretty much every gun in Mexico
and goes on a murder spree, eventually capturing the kidnapper's brother.
Dying from a gunshot wound, Creasy trades himself for the safety of his charge.
But before handing himself over, he reunites with Pita for just a few seconds.
When he tells her goodbye, it's a moment that will make even the toughest action fan weep.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm goin' home, too."
While the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby may at times feel as inspirational as Rocky,
Rocky Balboa never ended a movie quite like this.
Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a backwoods waitress hoping to make her name as a boxer,
and director Clint Eastwood plays grizzled trainer Frankie Dunn.
Dunn is reluctant to teach a woman at first, especially one as old as Maggie, but eventually
her persistence wins him over.
Maggie proves her worth, KOing her way to a championship fight, and that's when the
movie takes a hard left turn.
Maggie is paralyzed from the neck down when her opponent illegally punches her after the
bell.
Our hero falls hard from the punch, smashing her neck against a footstool.
Maggie loses her leg, and she begs her trainer to end her suffering.
Dunn refuses at first, but agrees after Maggie tries and fails to commit suicide.
Before Dunn administers the lethal injection, he tells Maggie the meaning of her Irish nickname.
"'Mo Cuishle' means 'my darling, my blood.'"
Even steely-eyed Eastwood can't keep the tears back here, and you know if even Dirty Harry
is getting weepy, there's no way you're going to be able to hold it back.
"Niagara Falls, Frankie Angel."
After the tragic death of bear-enthusiast Timothy Treadwell at the jaws of a brown bear,
director Werner Herzog assembled Treadwell's footage and created Grizzly Man, one of the
most moving documentaries of all time.
Grizzly Man follows Treadwell as he journeys into the Alaskan wilderness, interacts with
animals, and shares his unique view about man's place in nature.
While Treadwell's behavior is sometimes questionable, it's hard not to admire his passion.
With the help of Herzog's guiding hand, we grow attached to Treadwell as Grizzly Man
heads for its inevitable tragic ending.
While we go into Grizzly Man knowing Treadwell's fate, it's upsetting to finally say goodbye
to such a unique soul.
In the film's last moments, we watch for the last time as Treadwell wanders into the woods,
accompanied by two fuzzy friends and a mournful country song that feels like it was written
just for him.
While Wes Anderson directs comedies, there's always a deep sense of melancholy underlying
his work.
That's especially true for The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Set in the fictional European country of Zubrowka, the film's narrative is nestled inside multiple
timelines, with the bulk of it set during the 1930s.
Our hero Zero Moustafa played by both Tony Revolori and F. Murray Abraham, works as a
lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel under the guidance of flamboyant concierge M. Gustave,
played by Ralph Fiennes.
The plot involves a dead heiress, a missing painting, and a family of greedy goons, but
the drama revolves around the dark shadow hanging over this dreamworld.
In the 1930s, the hotel is an impossibly charming world of pastel colors.
As the story continues, both Zubrowka and Grand Budapest are overrun by enemy forces,
quasi-Nazis followed by quasi-Soviets.
As the totalitarian horrors of the 20th century creep in, M. Gustave's civilized world starts
to fade.
Guests stop coming and eventually the building is torn down.
M. Gustave is killed during the war, communism washes over Zubrowka, and Zero is left alone
with nothing but his memories of better days.
The film ends with the nostalgic author saying over the closing frame, "It was an enchanting
old ruin, but I never managed to see it again."
On its cold, gray surface, The Blackcoat's Daughter is a movie about a girl who's demonically
possessed.
But under the slow-building dread and eerie music, there's a tragic story about a helpless
child afraid of being alone.
Played at first by Kiernan Shipka, and later by Emma Roberts, Kat is a boarding school
student with some serious abandonment issues.
When her parents are late to pick her up for the semester break, Kat freaks out.
It doesn't help matters any when she has an unsettling dream about her parents' untimely
fate.
Terrified her parents are dead and that she'll be all alone in the world, Kat literally makes
a deal with the devil, allowing herself to be possessed in exchange for companionship.
She's so afraid of losing the spirit's company, she beheads three people at its urging.
When a priest exorcises the demon from Kat, she's so scared of being alone that she begs
the beast to stay.
Unfortunately, her pleas are no match for holy water.
Years later, an older Kat murders two new victims and brings their heads back to the
school, hoping her sacrifice will summon the demon.
When she realizes the evil spirit has left the school behind, the movie ends with Kat
sobbing and screaming into the wintry void.
She realizes now that she's truly by herself.
Nobody will ever come to pick her up, and even the devil doesn't want her.
Directed by Damien Chazelle, La La Land follows two star-crossed lovers: Emma Stone as aspiring
actress Mia and jazz devotee Sebastian played by Ryan Gosling.
Mia and Sebastian enjoy the happiness and heartache all long-term relationships face.
Eventually, because of their conflicting ambitions, they go their separate ways.
Five years later, Mia is a movie star and Sebastian runs a thriving nightclub.
One night they lock eyes across a room, and we're treated to an elaborate dream sequence.
It's the kind of ending we expect to see: the guy and girl end up with one another and
live happily ever after, but the dream soon comes to an end with Mia and Sebastian once
again going their own ways.
It's a heartbreaking reminder that the choices we make always leave the door open for regret.
Before Tony Stark made his Iron Man suit and before Christian Bale donned the Bat-cowl,
there was Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Jackman played Logan to perfection, to the point where it seems almost impossible that
any actor could ever replace him in the role.
He defined Wolverine for well over a decade, appearing in every X-Men movie up until his
blood-soaked swan song, 2017's Logan.
Set in the near-distant future, Logan follows a dying Wolverine as he uses the last of his
strength to protect the young Laura who Logan eventually learns is actually his clone.
A shady scientist wants Laura for nefarious purposes, and he has the vicious cybernetic
Reavers under his command.
At first Logan is such a broken man that he wants nothing to do with Laura, and only the
aging Professor X convinces him to do the right thing.
Unfortunately Professor X doesn't survive the journey, but Logan continues to help Laura
all the same.
When Laura and other mutant children try to escape into Canada, Wolverine makes his final
stand in the woods to protect their escape.
But even after fighting all the Reavers, Logan still must face a clone made to be a stronger,
younger version of himself.
With the help of Laura and her allies, the clone is killed, but Logan's wounds are too
much for him.
Thankfully, after a brutal life full of hard decisions, Logan enjoys a moment of fatherly
love before shuffling off this mortal coil.
In the film's final scene, a tearful Laura gives Logan the eulogy he deserves, quoting
Alan Ladd's final monologue from the classic western Shane.
"There's no living with the killing.
There’s no going back.
Right or wrong it’s a rat.
A rat that stinks."
After ending her speech, Laura tips the cross on his grave over on its side, marking the
Wolverine's final resting place with an X.
While the past few years have given us plenty of amazing superhero movies, Logan was the
first superhero film to truly make audiences weep for such an iconic character.
Since Thanos' first MCU appearance in 2012, Marvel fans couldn't wait for the big purple
baddie to throw down with the Avengers.
The MCU filmmakers only gave us brief, teasing glimpses of the Mad Titan; first a little
bit in the initial Avengers movie, then a lot more in Guardians of the Galaxy, and later
in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Finally, six years after Avengers, Thanos finally arrived with his Infinity Gauntlet,
and Earth's mightiest heroes were completely overmatched.
It looked like Thor was going to save the day when he slammed Stormbreaker into the
Mad Titan's chest, but as the God of Thunder quickly learned...
"You should've gone for the head."
And just like that, with a snap of his fingers, Thanos wiped out half the population of the
universe, including the majority of our beloved heroes.
Along with most of the Avengers turning to dust, almost all the Guardians fell victim
to Thanos' purge.
Rocket was there to watch Teenage Groot fade away, and to hear his final "I Am Groot."
Adding to the sorrow of many fans, Guardians of the Galaxy's writer and director James
Gunn would eventually reveal that Groot's last "I am Groot" translated into the word,
"Dad."
For many fans, Peter Parker's death was the most painful to watch.
Even though he just fought the toughest villain in the MCU, Peter's still just a kid, afraid
of fading away.
Considering we know many of the characters that died at the end of Infinity War have
more solo films in their respective franchises planned, it seems pretty likely Avengers 4
will undo a lot of Thanos' damage.
Still, you know things are bad when Captain America, the team's most optimistic member,
is unable to do anything but whisper...
"Oh God."
Infinity War might have the darkest ending of any major blockbuster ever.
There's no moral victory; no feel good speech.
For the first time, the Avengers have truly lost, and it all ends with Thanos admiring
his handiwork, smiling as the sun rises on a "grateful universe."