Perhaps the most harrowing film of the 1980s, The Killing Fields is unstinting in its visceral portrayal of the Cambodian Holocaust. American journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and local guide Dith Pran (Haing S Ngor) are documenting the civil war in Cambodia, but as the Khmer Rouge close in, Pran is taken prisoner and must try to escape from the Killing Fields as the country is turned into a horrific death camp. The entire film is gut-wrenching, particularly the scenes when Pran has to bid his friends and colleagues farewell as he is taken prisoner, and when he and Schanberg are reunited at the end, to the sounds of Lennon's 'Imagine'.

A bittersweet tale of inter-generational conflict featuring real-life father and daughter Henry and Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond has added poignancy owing to its being Henry Fonda's only (and final) film with estranged daughter Jane. An elderly couple find themselves looking after their daughter's new stepson, bringing to the surface family resentments. Have a hanky ready when the pair confront their long-held angst, and when Henry becomes disorientated during a walk, and is forced to confront his own frailty in old age.

This wordless animation about a boy whose snowman comes to life on Christmas Eve has been a staple of the festive season in Britain for years. The pair go on a magical adventure together to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus. Although it was made as a children's programme, The Snowman is tinged with a sadness that cannot fail to move the grown-ups too. It has a haunting soundtrack, including the famous Walking In The Air and a downbeat ending - when the boy races out to see his friend again the next morning only to find he has melted.

Jonathan Demme's movie was the first major Hollywood picture to deal with the subject of AIDS. Tom Hanks is a gay lawyer seeking justice, having been sacked from his job when his employers found out he was HIV positive. Although the film has been criticised for shying away from depicting any form of sexual relationship between Hanks and his on-screen partner Banderas, it was still a moving attempt to bring the issues to a wider audience in the early 1990s. A dying Tom Hanks' overly emotional monologue to the strains of opera is sure to tug at the heart.

Hugh Grant is at his bumbling best in this feel-good farce about whether or not to tie the knot. British filmmakers showed Hollywood how to do romantic comedy and Oscar nominations followed. Although Four Weddings is responsible for giving the rest of the world the impression that everyone in England spends their time (and money) only going to weddings and funerals, the characters are so richly drawn that you can't help loving them. You'll be weeping, along with everyone else, when John Hannah reads WH Auden's 'Stop The Clocks' at his lover's funeral.

Sensitive fable about Victorian England's most renowned "freak", John Merrick, from David Lynch. Black and white widescreen provides a sumptuous backdrop to excellent turns from a youthful Anthony Hopkins and an unrecognisable John Hurt. You will weep; especially when Merrick returns elated from a night at the theatre and decides it is his time to die.

Pre-English Patient Oscar glory, Anthony Minghella charmed us with this love beyond the grave tale for his big screen debut. Juliet Stevenson is a newly bereaved widow who cannot bear to live without her beloved husband (Alan Rickman). So when he returns as a ghost, it's initially a source of comfort. The spectral weepie will have you reaching for the tissues when Rickman returns from the dead to join his wife playing Bach on the cello, and when he recites Pablo Neruda's La Muerta poem to her.

Gregory Peck delivered his greatest performance as the noble lawyer Atticus Finch in the film adaptation of Harper Lee's famous novel. Finch has to defend a black man wrongly accused of rape in America's racist deep south. Peck brings such courage and decency to the role, that it's impossible not to be moved by Atticus' heartfelt speech in court urging the jury to look past their prejudice and do the right thing. The moment the black audience stand as a mark of respect when he leaves the courtroom having lost the case also lives long in the memory.

Described by Richard 'Four Weddings' Curtis as 'the greatest programme I have ever seen', The Office went from cult hit to comedy classic over the short course of two series and a Christmas special. The brainchild of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary observed life in the Slough branch of paper merchants Wernham Hogg. Gervais might have run the show (at least until David Brent was given the boot), but it was Tim and Dawn's will-they, won't-they flirting which provided the genuinely romantic ending we'd been hankering after since the beginning of the series.

Freedom! Mel Gibson dons a kilt and hair extensions and proceeds to slice up some English with a huge sword in this stirring account of the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. After the evil English murder his wife, Wallace leads a rebellion against their oppressive rule. The film won bucket-loads of Oscars for Mel and the scene in which Wallace finally gets his come-uppance, is genuine lump-in-the-throat stuff.