I never really thought about it until I caught myself grinning like a fool when I had been in a not-too-great mood.

It's not like I was in a horrible mood or anything, just a bit crankier than usual. I was getting ready to go out, doing it in stages. You know, wash the hair, pause and watch TV. Wash the face, pause and watch TV. Comb out wet hair, pause and watch to TV. You get the idea.

Any way, I had been flipping through the channels when I stumbled upon one of my favorite movies, "Scent of a Woman," on Cox Cable 9 (aka My45).

I drifted in and out of the room for a bit as Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino) tormented his aid, a prep-school student named Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell). But I had to stop and watch -- really watch -- when Frank and Donna (Gabrielle Anwar) take to the dance floor.

"If you make a mistake and get all tangled up, you just tango on," says the Colonel to a hesitant Donna, who always wanted to learn to tango but hadn't because of her bonehead boyfriend.

It's a captivating scene. I couldn't have looked away if I'd wanted to. And I didn't want to.

Sitting on the couch watching them dance, I realized was I smiling. Not a small wistful smile or a polite your-joke-wasn't-that-funny smile. A full-blown ear-to-ear grin.

While the movie is full of great scenes (It was, after all, nominated for a Best Picture Oscar® in 1993.), the tango scene is one of the best -- perhaps the best. I don't think anyone will argue with me on this one. (Next, in my opinion, is when Frank, who is blind, gets behind the wheel of a Ferrari. "Don't she purr," he says.)

In a better mood after the tango, I got to thinking about other scenes that have a similar effect on me.

I thought of the volleyball scene in "Top Gun." That one might be more drool-inspiring than smile-inspiring, but I still like it. (OK, so maybe it's a little sexist, but a nicely cut Rick Rossovich, Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise stripped to the waist ... can you blame a girl?) There's also the scene in which Cruise and Anthony Edwards, backed by an entire bar, serenade Kelly McGillis.

I also thought of the "Oh, Captain, my captain" scene when several of Robin Williams' students, including Ethan Hawke, stand on their desks at the end of "Dead Poet's Society." (Another favorite.) You can't not smile at that. I dare you to try.

And I can't leave out the "Tawanda" scene in "Fried Green Tomatoes," when Kathy Bates repeatedly slams her car (accidentally on purpose) into a car belonging to a pair of obnoxious bimbettes who stole her parking space at the grocery store with a snarky, "Face it, lady. We're younger and faster." Crash, crash, crash. "Face it, girls. I'm older and I have more insurance," Bates' Evelyn Couch replies before driving off. We've all felt that way. I know I have, but I'm protective of my new-ish car -- Bella -- and wouldn't want to smash her nose. Still, you've gotta love it.

And pretty much any Disney animated movie, except "Dumbo" -- I hate "Dumbo" -- will do it for me, too, at some point.

I asked my mom if she had any movie scenes that made her smile. She thought about it for a minute, then grinned and said, "'Gone With the Wind,' when Rhett Butler asks Mammy about the red silk petticoat he gave her." I have to agree. (Others do, too, apparently. There's a San Fancisco Music Box Company collector's figurine of Mammy showing Rhett her petticoat. "Oh, Mr. Rhett, you is bad! Lordy!")

My sister came up with something a little more unusual -- "Time Warp" in "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Okaaaayyy. Maybe. I don't necessarily disagree, but I think you have to be in the right mood (and maybe an altered state of consciousness) for "Rocky Horror." But that's just me.

"GMAZ" movie guru Lisa Fuller-Magee gave me one from "The Princess Bride." It's just after Westley (Cary Elwes), masquerading as the Dread Pirate Roberts, has saved Buttercup (Robin Wright) from her captors before she realizes who he is. "You mock my pain," she says, to which he replies, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." So true.

Dan Davis said his favorite smile-inducing movies are "Stripes" ("What kind of training? Army training.") and "The In-Laws."

"GMAZ" producers Liz Petroff and Kelly Deisner, weighed in, too.

Kelly said she loved the part in "Sixteen Candles" when Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) shows up in his Porche at the church to pick up Sam (Molly Ringwald). It's the scene leading up to the birthday-cake-on-the-table scene. Good call, I think.

Liz, whose favorite movie off all time is "Empire Records," gave me the parade scene in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," specifically when Matthew Broderick sings "Twist and Shout."

Suzanne Bissett didn't hesitate when she told me she loved the hunting scene in "Wedding Crashers." "I laugh hysterically every time," she said. She also mentioned the scene in which Steve Carell gets waxed in "The 40 Year Old Virgin." I haven't seen the movie, but I have seen the previews and it's pretty funny.

It's all about the sports for Scott Pasmore. He loves the scene in "Rudy," when Daniel E. Ruettiger -- aka Rudy -- (Sean Astin) runs out for the last play of the last game of his college career. Just a few seconds on the field, it would be the first and only time Rudy would ever officially play for Notre Dame, a dream he had clung to and worked toward for years. Fortune (Charles S. Dutton), the field manager and a former college player himself (one full of regrets), looked on proudly and cheered Rudy for all he was worth for that one play. Talk about scenes that stick with you... this is definitely one of them.

For 3 On Your Side's Gary Harper, it's an entire movie -- "Goodfellas," starring Robert DeNiro and Ray Liotta. "I'm glued to it," he said. "There's not one part I don't like."

So, what movie scenes make you smile?