Variations around "emotion"

Burst into tears

• Why do we actually enjoy watching something that makes us burst into tears – fondre en larmes

Weepy
Syn: tearful, emotional, tearjerker

• A weepy is a film that makes us cry – un mélo
• The skin may be red, weepy, and painful to the touch. - suinter

Tearjerker (/ˈtɪəˌdʒ3ːkəʳ/)

• Anne Hathaway starred in the Oscar-winning tearjerker, Les Miserables.- mélodrame

Misty-eyed

• That sad scene in the movie makes me misty-eyed. - larmoyant

To get emotional

• “Les miserable” is a film that makes us get so emotional - émotif
• I get emotional about this because I care so deeply. – parler avec emotion
• When watching a film at the cinema for example, we can let our emotions loose – se laisser aller à ses émotions
• A good film is meant to cause us to reveal our emotions.- révéler ses émotions
• We need a place for to letting our emotions out

To affect
Syn: to touch emotionally

• The film about a cancer survivor affected me deeply – émouvoir
• The government's plan will affect a lot of people. – affecter

To effect:

• There is something else in a film that effects our emotions. – faire ressortir ses émotions
• The government effected change through its policy of taxation.- effectuer

Goose bumps

• The music in the Jaws movie gives us goose bumps. – chair de poule

To cry one's heart out

• The film Toy Story 3 is one film that has had grown men crying their hearts out. - pleurer toutes les larmes de son corp
•  I cried my heart out when my best friend moved away.

Catharsis

• from the Greek Katharsis is used here as "purification" or "cleansing" through letting our feelings out, to release our emotion. 
• More explanation on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis

An outlet
Hitting a punch ball is often an outlet for a person’s anger. – un exustoire

• Writing provided an outlet for his creativity.
• Before you manufacture anything, make sure there is an outlet for it. – un débouché

To blub
Syn: to cry out loud

• A really sad story, if it is well acted and directed, can really make us blub – pleurer comme une madeleine (péjoratif)
• Blub means also to reveal a secret. Particularly among criminals, they may talk about a traitor as one who blubbed to the authorities. - révéler un secret

To sob

• So, the child began to sob quietly, biting his hand until it bled in order not to cry out – sangloter
• Do as you will," said Jonathan, with a sob that shook him all over, "we are in the hands of God! – sanglot
• It’s a crying shame: it's regrettable or it’s an unfortunate situation.

To cry over spilt milk

• to waste time worrying about something small or something that cannot be change.- ce qui est fait est fait 

 

Source: BBC6 minutes english : vocabulary of emotion : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2013/03/130307_6min_tearjerkers.shtml