1. The children escape up-river by night in Charles Laughton's "Night Of the Hunter"

At this point in the film, the physical world shifts into a dream-like reality. Shot on a stage, the riverbank setting is un-apologetically surreal and the sequence is full of classic fairytale imagery. This style change should be at odds with the rest of the movie, but actually it's a great way into the childrens' perspective of their world: A real leap of the imagination.

2. At a wedding, Gelsomina is led away by children to perform for their quarantined brother in Federico Fellini's "La Strada".

I cried like a baby when I first saw this scene; God knows why. Zampano has bullied and abused his assistant but she never learns to be cynical. I suppose it's her innocent spirit entertaining the bed-ridden boy that makes the moment so touching. Anyhow, I blubbed like a good'un.

3. The opening scene of Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West"

This opening really pulls you into the world of the film. It's difficult not to be transfixed by the details: the leaking water tower, the creaking door, the fly, all contributing to a very defined sense of time and place.

4. In order to avoid a lynching from the hick citizens of Rockridge, the new sheriff kidnaps himself at gunpoint… in Mel Brookes' "Blazing Saddles".

Mel Brookes brilliantly illustrates how the townsfolk are so prejudiced and easily-led that they go along with the sheriff's act. I must have watched this film over thirty times and it never stops being funny.

5. The prisoners march back and forth over their man-made hill under the sweltering North African sun in Sidney Lumet's "The Hill".

You can really feel the exhaustion of the men as they struggle to keep up: the camera keeps moving over the Hill even if they can't. The edit-less, continuous move makes the exhausting action even more languid. I was about 14 when I first saw this film and it really got me excited about the possibilities of cinema.

6. The scene when Harry visits his mother to discover she is addicted to amphetamine slimming tablets in Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream".

In a very short space of time we understand the complex relationship between the wayward son and his self-deluding mother. Pride, guilt and frustration are all played out in a painfully familiar way…

7. The final 'football game in the snow' scene in Lucas Moodysson's "Together"

Having discovered that free love and commune-living work better on paper than in practise, the characters in "Together" forget their problems in a football game in the snow. A path to their liberation turns out to be playfulness not politics.

8. A broken Emmet Ray comes across his once-loyal ex-wife in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown"… only to find that she has re-married.

Knowing that he once took her for granted, he approaches the mute Hattie, seeking some of her former affection. When he reads her scribbled reply, he becomes crestfallen. He replies: "Oh…Good for you. Any kids?"

It’s a very sad moment because he realises there's no going back; he's thrown away real love. The power of the moment is made by the filmmakers' 'lightness of touch': simple camera and cutting, subtle dialogue and underplayed acting make this a great movie moment.

9. While billions are about to perish in nuclear war, the US President breaks up a catfight between his Chief of Staff and the Russian Ambassador in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr Strangelove"

The scene summarises the irony of "Dr Strangelove", and includes the classic line: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room." I first saw it on TV as the Berlin Wall was coming down, and the association has stayed in my head ever since.

10. The scene where Richard Drefuss's car is overtaken … by the alien spacecraft in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of a Third Kind".

This is a classic Speilberg moment and I remember jumping out of my seat at the time! Richard Drefuss waves the lights in his rear view mirror to overtake… And they pass above the car. Magic.

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