Godfrey Cheshire III (born June 3, 1951) is an American film critic, film writer and director. He was instrumental in the founding of Raleigh's ''Spectator Magazine'' in 1978. He served as chairman of the

New York Film Critics Circle The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scho ...

. In 2001 and in 2005, he received three awards for best arts criticism from the

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) is a trade association of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. It provides services to many generally liberal or progressive weekly newspapers across the United States and in Canada. A ...

Personal life

Cheshire was born and grew up in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. His parents are Sis and Buddy Cheshire. He has one brother, Sprague, and a sister, Sugar. He has two nieces, Sarah and Davi, and one nephew, Joe. He lives in New York.

Filmmaker

In 2005, he began shooting a documentary named ''

Moving Midway ''Moving Midway'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by film critic Godfrey Cheshire. The film follows Cheshire's cousin Charlie moving the Midway Plantation House and Outbuildings to a new location, and what the Midway means to his fami ...

'', which shows the effect on his family of the moving of the family's

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

from a site near a busy road back into the woods and a proper, tranquil setting, and at the same time, the effect on his family of meeting descendants of slaves his family had owned, including those descended from a slave and his great-grandfather.

Film critic

He was instrumental in the founding of Raleigh's ''Spectator Magazine'' in 1978. At that time he began writing film criticism professionally. He moved to New York in 1991, and has written for numerous national and international publications, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', ''

The New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'', ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...

'', ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...

'', ''

Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was founded in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ' ...

'', the ''

Independent Weekly ''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the Re ...

'' and RogerEbert.com. Of special interest to him are cinematic representations of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, Iranian film, and the transition from analog to digital technology. Cheshire participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where he listed his ten favorite films as follows: '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', '' Ali: Fear Eats the Soul'', ''

Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (, ), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent epic film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by Sergei Eisenstein, it presents a dramatization of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 ...

'', ''

Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

'', '' The Godfather: Part II'', ''

Intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity or intolerance, undesirable reactions produced by the immune system * ''Intolerance'' (film), a 1916 film by D. W. Griffith * ''Intolerance'' (album), the first solo album from Grant Hart, formerly ...

'', ''

A Man Escaped ''A Man Escaped'', also known as ''A Man Escaped or The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth'' (), is a 1956 French prison film directed by Robert Bresson. The film is loosely based on the memoir of André Devigny, a member of the French Resistance who ...

'', '' The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'', ''

The Passion of Joan of Arc ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'' () is a 1928 French silent historical film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renée Jeanne Falconetti as Joan. It is widely regarde ...

'', and ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery film, mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes, based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "After-Dinner Story, It Had to Be Murder". Originally released ...

''.

References

External links

''Moving Midway''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheshire, Godfrey Iii 1951 births American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members Living people Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina