Boyz n The Hood (1991)

In Oscar-nominated John Singleton's drama about hoods growing up in South Central LA:

• the scene of divorced, strict and overbearing father Jason 'Furious' Styles (Laurence Fishburne) lecturing his son Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) about how any punk kid can have sex: ("Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children")
• the climactic scene in which Darin 'Doughboy' Baker (rap star Ice Cube) takes his half-brother Ricky's (Morris Chestnut) dead body home to their mother (Tyra Ferrell)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

In Francis Ford Coppola's faithful adaptation of the Transylvanian Dracula vampire tale:

• the most memorable image of Count Dracula's (Gary Oldman) orgasmic expression when he sees London real estate agent Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) cut himself and draw blood while shaving - and afterwards the Count's licking of the blood off the sharp razor
• the special-effects scenes of Dracula transforming into a beastly werewolf and then into a pack of rats that scurry away across the floor
• the scene of the Count's pursuit of Harker's bride-to-be Mina - believing her to be his own long-lost reincarnated beloved bride, Elisabeta (Winona Ryder), at a London exhibition of the new art of movies

Braveheart (1995)

In Mel Gibson's own Best Picture-winning warrior epic:

• the courtship, marriage, and consummation of love (in the moonlight) between future Scottish freedom-fighter William Wallace (Mel Gibson) and Murron (Catherine McCormack)
• the legendary face-painted Scottish hero's fight against the English in the awesome battle of Stirling Bridge after he has rallied his men by riding among them
• his cry of "Freedom" during a brutal execution scene in which he is partially hung, racked, disemboweled, and beheaded (offscreen) - while reuniting with his already-murdered wife seen walking in the crowd

Brazil (1985)

In Terry Gilliam's futuristic fantasy:

• the inventive opening scene ("Somewhere in the 20th Century") envisioning the stylized world of an alternative future with ductworks
• anti-terrorists falsely accusing the Buttle family due to a dead beetle causing a print-out to read Buttle instead of Tuttle (Robert De Niro) - an example of technological-automation gone wacky and oppressive bureaucratic muddling in the Ministry of Information
• a fantasizing, middle-management worker in the dull bureaucracy Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) with recurring dreams of soaring with metal mechanical wings toward a mysterious girl-savior Jill Layton (Kim Greist) in the clouds
• in an alley - battling baby-faced mutants and a giant Samurai Warrior comprised of bureaucratic paraphernalia
• the grotesque plastic surgery of Sam's narcissistic socialite mother Ida (Katherine Helmond)
• the scene of the terrorist bombing of a high-class restaurant as patrons continue to consume their meals
• Sam's arrest and his strapped confinement in a torture chair within a domed building in the downbeat conclusion (with his fantasizing that he was being rescued by commandos led by Tuttle)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

In Blake Edwards' 60s comedy:

• a spirited and radiant New York call girl Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) wearing a sculpted evening gown and standing outside the locked Tiffany's jewelry store in the film's opening scene
• the scene of Holly's advice about how to overcome the fearful and horrible 'mean reds': "Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of...Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away"
• the simple scene of her strumming a guitar and singing Henry Mancini's Oscar-winning "Moon River" on a fire escape landing
• the film's final scene in an alleyway during a downpour when Holly finds her abandoned nameless Cat and kisses neighbor writer and 'kept' man Paul Varjak (George Peppard) - with the cat squeezed in-between them and her last line: "Cat! Cat! Oh, Cat... ohh..."

The Breakfast Club (1985)

In John Hughes' quintessential, dialogue-rich teen comedy:

• the honest, realistic conversations between five teenaged high-school students from diverse backgrounds, all serving an all-day Saturday detention time in the school's library, and placed there by their Shermer (IL) High School principal Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason):
  - athletic wrestling jock Andrew 'Andy' Clark (Emilio Estevez)
  - brainy nerd Brian Ralph Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall)
  - arrogant rebel and James Dean-like loner John Bender (Judd Nelson)
  - popular red-headed WASP "princess" Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald)
  - outcast recluse and insecure neurotic Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy)
• each is told to write an essay reflecting on who they think they are and what they did wrong
• the escapist dancing to break the boredom by the teens
• the poignant scene of Andy's soliloquy-description of the reason for his detention (his brutal abuse-humiliation of a nerdy boy in order to please his father: "I wanted him to think I was cool")
• the letter written by Brian to Vernon
• the scene of Allison using her dandruff to provide snow for a drawing she makes
• the romance that blossoms between Claire and John culminating in a passionate kiss and her giving him one of her earrings to wear
• John's triumphant fist pump (basking in the love of Claire) as Simple Minds' anthemic 1980's song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" plays at the film's end

Breathless (1960, Fr.) (aka A Bout de Souffle)

French director Jean-Luc Godard's landmark New Wave film:

• the image of young thug and car thief Michel Poiccard/Laszlo Kovacs (Jean-Paul Belmondo) pausing outside of a movie theatre and looking dreamily in a mirror, as he gazes at a poster for the film The Harder They Fall with a picture of star idol Humphrey Bogart
• his simple reverent whisper of "Bogie" as he mimes his hero, blows out wispy smoke from his cigarette, and traces his thumb over both closed lips
• Michel's musing: "So I'm a son of a bitch"
• the use of breakthrough jump cuts in the aimless "Why are you unhappy?" discussion between Michel and flighty American girlfriend Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg) while driving a stolen convertible through Paris (with the camera focusing from behind on her for nearly the entire sequence)
• the scene of Patricia telling journalist Van Doude (Himself) in English: "I don't know if I'm unhappy because I'm not free, or I'm not free because I'm unhappy"
• the over 20-minute scene of Patricia returning to her apartment to find Michel in her bed where they talk, flirt, smoke, fight, and make love - often with wailing sirens heard through the open window and drowning out the character’s dialogue
• the ending when a surprised Michel is gunned down by the police after Patricia betrays his whereabouts and he utters these last icy words to her: "Makes me want to puke" (in some versions, he calls her a 'real scumbag') - she asks a policeman: "What did he say?", and is told: "He said you make him want to puke"
• in the ending, she stares directly at the camera and responds by imitating Michel, asking impassively: "What's that mean, puke?", as she runs her thumb across her upper lower lip; she then abruptly turns around

Brian's Song (1971)

In this made-for-TV sports movie:

• the scene in which Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) accepts a courage award and dedicates it to his cancer-stricken Chicago Bears teammate Brian Piccolo (James Caan): "I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him, too. And tonight when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him"

The Bribe (1949)

In Robert Z. Leonard's crime noir:

• the voice-over narration of chain-smoking Federal agent Rigby (Robert Taylor) during flashbacks, some of which appear on his rain-streaked, hotel room window
• the scene of the proposed death of Rigby during a fishing trip - although young native guide Emilio Gomez (Tito Renaldo) is killed instead in shark-infested waters
• the romantic scene on a beach after a moonlight swim between Rigby and femme fatale nightclub torch singer Elizabeth Hintten (Ava Gardner)
• the spectacular finale - a shootout between racketeer-smuggling leader and playboy Carwood (Vincent Price) and Rigby during a fiesta fireworks celebration in which Rigby guns Carwood down in self-defense

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

In James Whales' superior sequel to his 1931 classic:

• the scene of the first appearance of the Monster (Boris Karloff) chest-deep in water when he emerges from the dark shadows under the burnt-down windmill
• the scene of the great mad scientist Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) coercing Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) into creating an artificial bride for the Monster
• the unveiling of the bell-jars with six small homunculi (the Queen, the King, the Archbishop, the Devil, a Ballerina and a Mermaid)
• the Monster's pursuit by townspeople through surrealistic woods and settings
• the Monster's attraction to the blind hermit's (O. P. Heggie) refuge when he hears the hermit playing a violin
• the tremendous pathos of Karloff's characterization of the Monster (with facial expressions, gutteral responses, and words of dialogue)
• the Monster's scene with Pretorius in the crypt/mausoleum
• the classic scene of the creation/"birth" of the Bride (Elsa Lanchester) with a wild electrified hairdo and jerky twitching movements
• the great movie moment of the Monster meeting his bride when she lets go with a piercing shriek of rejection -- and the Monster despairs ("She hate me, like others")

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

In David Lean's Best Picture-winning war epic:

• the opening scene of the British soldiers' arrogant march into the sweltering jungle prison camp to the whistling tune of the "Colonel Bogey March"
• the battle to a standoff of the two stubborn wills of indomitable British Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and Japanese Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa)
• the late night supper scene in which camp commandant Saito invites Nicholson into his quarters and offers a compromise
• the triumphant scene of Nicholson's release and his unsteady walk on his own rubbery legs - winning his freedom from the hot torture oven as a mass rush of troops congratulates him
• the suspenseful finale including Nicholson's discovery of dynamite wires
• the unbearable tension as the Japanese troop train is heard approaching the bridge and the commandos prepare to blow up the bridge
• Nicholson's attempt to save his bridge, the utterance of his moral dilemma ("What have I done?"), and his falling on the dynamite plunger
• the climactic destruction of the railroad bridge and train

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

In actor/director Clint Eastwood's tearjerking romantic drama:

• the rainy afternoon scene of married Iowa housewife Francesca Johnson's (Meryl Streep) fateful, cross-roads decision to remain with her husband (although she partially turns the doorknob) instead of jumping out of her truck at a stoplight and joining lover-National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood) after their short affair

Brief Encounter (1946)

In one of the greatest tearjerker films of all time by young director David Lean:

• the heartbreaking circumstances of two doomed, ill-fated lovers: middle-class housewife Laura (Celia Johnson) and doctor Alec (Trevor Howard) in their weekly meetings
• their first encounter at Milford Junction train station when he removes engine soot from her eye
• the soundtrack of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2
• the scene after a boatride when they confess their love to each other but Laura cautions: "We mustn't behave like this..."
• Laura's fantasy - viewed in the train window - of being with Alex in romantic settings
• their attempt at a tryst to consummate their affair
• Alec's profession of love ("I love you, Laura. I shall love you always until the end of my life")
• the scene of their final day together when they are interrupted by a friend during their last, painful, repressed goodbye (both at the start and end of the film) as Alec gently places his hand on her shoulder and disappears forever (on a medical journey to Africa)
• Laura's near suicide attempt

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974, US/Mex.)

In Sam Peckinpah's under-rated, nihilistic classic western:

• the opening scene of the daughter of vicious, vengeful and wealthy Mexican landowner El Jefe (Emilio Fernandez) being stripped and having her arm broken to divulge who impregnated her - the now-dead Alfredo
• the tale of the haunting, violent quest of penniless, hustling, seedy American bar-room pianist Bennie (Warren Oates) to find the 'head' of Alfredo Garcia (already dead and buried!) for the $1 million bounty
• the road trip with earthy prostitute/girlfriend Elita (Isela Vega) who was Alfredo's girlfriend, including their quiet and tender picnic scene off the road under a tree as they discuss their future and possible marriage
• the macabre scenes in his dusty car when Bennie intimately befriends, converses and asks questions of the decapitated and decomposing head of Alfredo "Al" Garcia in a blood-stained burlap bag as flies buzz around it
• the scene of Bennie placing Alfredo's head under the shower in a moment that references an earlier scene with Elita
• Bennie's apocalyptic bloody confrontation with El Jefe and his hacienda guards when he returns the head for the prize
• the ending image of the smoking barrel of a gun

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

In Howard Hawks' classic and definitive screwball comedy:

• the comedic antics and "misadventures" between shy paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) and scatter-brained, fast-talking eccentric heiress Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn)
• David's opening golf game with Mr. Peabody continuously interrupted by her playing his golf ball and driving away in his battered car
• Susan's olive game
• the scene of David's torn tuxedo and her ripped evening dress including their rapid exit from a supper club as he walks in unison close behind her, covers her posterior and saves her reputation
• David's confessional scene to Susan: "I'm strangely drawn toward you..." after which he sprawls face-first onto the ground
• pet leopard Baby's chicken coop meal
• fluffy negligee-wearing David's exclamation in front of Aunt Elizabeth (May Robson) as he jumps into the air: "Because I just went gay all of a sudden"
• the long search in the woods for Baby with a butterfly net
• the major incarceration scene in the jail cells where Susan pretends to be a gangster moll and the appearance of a leopard (not Baby but a murderous escaped animal from the circus)
• the finale - the return of the missing dog-buried bone and the swaying, crumbling destruction of the reconstructed brontosaurus skeleton as Susan and David dangle from it