Ellen Cheshire

Well the good news is that each 'year' it is getting easier to find films directed by women, on the down side they still only represent a...

On the 1st May I spotted this #30DayFilmChallenge on twitter and thought that it would be fun challenge to both choose the films, and watch them. It seemed particularly apt given that my 50th birthday fell in May, so I was already pondering my first half century as film fan - read my blog on 50 films from the last 50 years . Day 1 The first film I remember watching was seeing at the cinema, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) produced by Walt Disney, at the Muswell Hill

I've been doing a #30DayFilmChallenge, and day 20 is a 'Film that changed your life'. It was a tough one as I couldn't initially recall a...

Well I’ve reached a milestone – the big 5-0. And what would any self-respecting film fan do to commemorate this? Make a list, of course!...

One of my fave podcasts, The Cinematologists , recently celebrated its 100th episode. I've been a fan from the outset enjoying both the episodes built around a single film, and the bonus episodes. All episodes feature an intro with hosts Dr Dario Llinares (@dariodoublel) & Dr Neil Fox (@drneilfox) enjoying a wide-ranging catch-up of recent films watched, as well as conversations around the nature of podcasts, film study etc. I was delighted when they asked me to introduce a

Jane Campion photo by By New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General - https://gg.govt.nz/file/12859, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91235992 On Jane Campion's birthday, I thought I'd take some time-out to trace my history and fascination with her extraordinary body of work. I first saw The Piano (1993) in screen one of the Barbican Cinema when it was first released. I was working there at the time, and so had been looking at the striki

3 Years ago on the 23 April 2017, I was present at an historic event. After 30 years, director David Leland was reunited with Emily Lloyd, who had starred in his 1987 film Wish You Were Here , based on their early life on infamous British madam, Cynthia Payne. Cynthia Payne was born in Bognor Regis, but the film was largely shot in Worthing (with some scenes shot in Bognor), which is why I had been researching and writing about it for an HLF funded book for Worthing WOW, Elec

In celebration of International Women's Day, I've set myself the challenge to pick one film a year, directed by a woman since 2000....

In 1990 Gérard Depardieu, the darling of the French cinema for 20 or so years, became an international star with the release of Cyrano de...

Wow! Congratulations to Bong Joon-Ho and the Parasite creative team on their victory at the Oscars. Parasite is a well-deserving winner. Since the beginning of this year, I have been keeping a record of all films I've seen on Letterboxd, you can find me there as cheshellen and on twitter @cheshellen . For some, Bong Joon-Ho is not a new name, and I have long been a fan. Here's a review of Memories of Murder that I wrote for South Coast Magazine in 2003. I leave it h

On the 9 Janaury 2020 the Bognor Regis Picturedrome celebrated 100 years as a cinema, with a fabulous Black Tie event... Here's an overview of the evening: - two spotlight light beams could be seen for miles -local dignitaries and industry people arrived in their finery -via red carpet we were taken in through a secret entrance, we were greeted and had photos taken with 'Marilyn Monroe' and 'Charlie Chaplin'. - the entrance took us straight through to the newest screen 2 wh

In addition to thinking about the best films of the year, given that we have reached the end of the teens, it's that time to think about...

It's been a GREAT year for films. It's been tough to choose only Top Ten new releases in UK cinemas in 2019. But here goes... 1) The...

It's been 30 years since I first saw The Tall Guy (1989) directed by Mel Smith from a script by Richard Curtis. It stars Emma Thompson...

The cinemas are alive with the sound of music, as the BFI celebrates the film musical. Alongside the 1,000s of film screenings across...

The #52FilmsByWomen pledge was started in 2015 by Los Angeles’ Women in Film, an organisation dedicated to promoting equal opportunities...

This is the final post on film versions of Alice in Wonderland with a particular emphasis on the Gothic and the Uncanny, which I...

On this day, 22 August 1902, Leni Riefenstahl was born in Berlin. As you may have spotted from my writing and talks, I am very interested...

With the Chichester International Film Festival scheduling a screening of Monsoon Wedding on 20 August at 20.45 I thought I'd post a...

This is the third of four posts on film versions of Alice in Wonderland with a particular emphasis on the Gothic and the Uncanny, which I...