I think like most college kids, I enjoy browsing Netflix and Hulu on rainy days for a good movie to watch. In the last 10 years of my life, I have had significant amounts of tragedy in my life and was finding it hard to enjoy regular movies. I like Disney movies because they remind me of the last few years of my childhood when I was no longer able to be carefree and a free spirit. I remembered watching a few movies that many people consider ‘heart-warming,’ but I didn’t feel as though it helped me any. I began to seek out movies that I thought made me feel better and made others feel better all while making a difference.

I compiled a list of movies that I believe are both humbling and heartwarming (in no particular order).

1. "The Help"

A movie that helps you understand that racism existed and that it still does, but one small voice can make a big difference in the world. A wonderful movie that will make you smile and cry at the same time

2. "Schindler’s List"

A movie set during WWII, with the focus on the Holocaust and how one single man risked his life to save many despite the danger he faced. This was the movie that made me interested in preserving the tragedy that was the Holocaust

3. "Still Alice"

The story of a woman who is still young but battling a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, and how she encourages those like her to stay strong and stay true to yourself while loving others around you. I just watched this movie recently, and it made me very grateful for my mental health.

4. "What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?"

One of Johnny Depp’s lesser known movies along with one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best roles, this movie deals with DiCaprio (Artie) as Depp’s youngest brother who battles mental challenges while trying to work with a town and family who outcasts them because Artie just doesn’t always understand despite his big heart. This movie made me want to stand up for the silent.

5. "Forest Gump"

If this movie doesn’t make you happy, what does?

6. "The Blind Side"

The true story of how a wealthy family took in a troubled and homeless young man despite the stereotype that surrounded him, and gave enough support for him to play high school, college, and professional football. Honestly, this is the only movie regarding sports that I enjoy (besides "The Sandlot").

7. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

A movie with plenty of famous ‘older’ movie stars. They all decided to pack up and leave their homes and move to India where they all live in a hotel together and learn about a new culture and learn to be young again. This movie made me smile until my face hurt. The cast is unbelievable, and it just made my heart happy

8. "Patch Adams"

One of my favorite Robin Williams movies, which is based on a true story, about how a young medical student gives up school to open his own practice for those who cannot afford medical care, all while making people laugh and smile. I love Robin Williams, and I loved that this movie was so simple and wonderful.

9. "Heaven is For Real"

For those who are Christian and enjoy hearing stories about the afterlife, this is based on the true story and book of a young boy who is at the brink of death and visits Heaven and slowly tells his story about his experience. After losing many family members, this movie gave me hope for the day that I will be gone many years from now.

10. "August Osage County"

A movie that follows the lives of a family after the patriarch is no longer there. Each member coming to the table with their own problems must learn that there is more to life than anger and suffering. It doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, but I believe that it is one of those movies that can hit home with people and hits on the notion that not every family is perfect. I have a crazy family, and this movie reminds me that I’m not the only one with those problems.

11. "This Is Where I leave you"

A funny, sad, and interesting movie with Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda. The patriarch of the family is also gone and it brings together a family, each section having their own problems, to mourn the death of their father and build relationships from broken ones in years past.

*Below are for those interested in movies about war*

12. "Saving Private Ryan"

One of the first WWII movies that really shed light on the violence of the war, it follows the story of multiple soldiers tasked with bringing home Private Ryan because he is the last son of his family to be alive during the war. (My father never let me watch this movie when I was young because he said that I needed to watch it when I was mature enough to understand the severity of war and everything our family had endured during that time.)

13. "Unbroken"

A beautiful film directed by Angelina Jolie that follows the story of a U.S. Navy sailor that survives a bombing of his ship, but is taken captive by Japanese soldiers and forced into a prisoner of war camp. It shows his strength and determination during his time of suffering in the POW camp (something you won’t read in a textbook), and how his strength led him to the Olympics

14. "Fury"

The story that follows a group of men forced into a metal tank together during WWII, and how they must learn to not only tolerate each other but also work together as a team. As time goes on, the respect grows, and they fight together in one last fight where it is one tank against hundreds of German soldiers, and demonstrate strength while fighting through even when the outcome was bleak.

15. "American Sniper"

The controversial Clint Eastwood movie that everyone has praised and ranted about. I believe that all controversies aside, after talking with many veterans, that Eastwood’s depiction of Chris Kyle and the recent war overseas has been one of the most accurate in the last few years. I believe that by watching these movies, we can understand somewhat better how our soldier and veterans handle their lives.

16. "Lone Survivor"

The movie based on the true story of Marcus Luttrell’s experience surviving a firefight on the side of a mountain where it was hundreds against four Navy Seals is a tearjerker. I have seen grown men cry over both this movie and "American Sniper," due to the sheer raw power of both movies. I think both Mark Wahlberg and Bradley Cooper knocked it out of the park on both movies for how they portrayed American Heroes.

For all of my war movies that I listed, I would just like to say that my father was very adamant about me learning about WWII, because one day everyone who served will be gone and their legacy must live on, because if my generation doesn’t remember it, then who will? For the movies about our modern war, I am a Social Work major and my passion is to help veterans find their way back home and to help them, but you must first understand what it was like. Movies can’t depict everything of war, but it can give a good idea of what our men and women fought for.

*Other movies that I think are noteworthy, but don’t fit into my categories that I think are worth watching to change your point of few on the ‘bad things’ in life*

17. "The Fault In Our Stars"

The movie that made every girl swoon at how a young boy with cancer chooses to love a young girl with cancer. Plain and simple, the power of love is unbelievable in this movie, based on John Green’s book. It’s full of laughter, smiles, and tears, and you can’t help but fall in love with Augustus Waters. Everyone knows this doesn’t have a happy ending, but the ending when everyone celebrates life is better than everyone hurting

19. "Dallas Buyer’s Club"

The unrecognizable Matthew McConaughey plays a man plagued by AIDS when the disease was starting to become well known. He refuses to give into sorrow and finds new ways to treat himself and others, despite it being against the law

20. "Bully"

The documentary that follows a group of kids in different parts of the country, and how each is affected by bullying and how they seek to raise awareness of the pandemic that seems to be sweeping our nation. This movie kick started me wanting to bring awareness to the bullying that is affecting so many children, and it hit close to home because it was an issue I dealt with myself.

21. "A Beautiful Mind"

A mathematical genius learns to deal with his paranoid schizophrenia and battle his very prestigious work with his home life.

Other honorable mentions:

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Marley and Me," "The Bucket List," "UP," "My Sister’s Keeper," "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Dead Poet’s Society"

I have personally watched all of these movies and feel as though I have received something from each of them. I think that they humbled me and changed me for the better