Yesterday when I was out in East London for the day I took the time to photograph one of the area’s forgotten treasures: The Carlton Cinema, Essex Road. The cinema has long since fallen into disuse which, given how beautiful it is, is something of a travesty. As planning permission wars continue and the building gradually degrades further I thought I’d better take some photos whilst the old girl is still standing. I’m not a professional photographer by any stretch but hopefully these give an idea of how intricate the design is.

Last year I asked illustrator Alfie Gallagher to create an image reflecting what The Carlton would have looked like on its opening in 1930 to accompany an article on the cinema’s history. It’s a sharp contrast to how the cinema looks now but once, this old picturehouse was given the love it deserves.

Limited copies of New Empress Magazine issue 2 are still available for anyone wanting to know more about The Carlton Cinema.

Cover design by Alfie Gallagher.

Today I unveil the title for my film book.  Was it what you were expecting? Last week I ran a competition to win a copy of the book and the results are as follows:

The most humorous guess-the-title prize is awarded to Martin Conterio who, if he gets in touch with me via Twitter, will receive a free copy of my book when it is released mid-March. People who made the acknowledgements are: Daniel Green for ‘We Need to Talk About Helen’ Jane Read for ‘Slinema’, Tony Cowin for ‘Hissing in the Back Row (of the Movies)’  and Bazmann for ‘Monsterplex.’

About the Book
Think that the likes of Mannequin on the Move are devoid of artistic value? Think again. True Love is like the Loch Ness Monster and Other Lessons I Learnt from Film is a collection of essays detailing important moral messages from the last century (and a bit) of cinema. More details and the opportunity to sample and pre-order my book will follow in the coming weeks.