THE half term holiday could be just the right time for a trip to the Cinema and if you are wondering which movie to go for, read on to get the views of three young people whose entries were judged the winners in our film review competition.

We teamed up on this project with the Apollo Cinema, Burnley, and Film Education to support the National Year of Reading's "Screen Reads" initiative.

Pupils in local schools who took the opportunity to see free showings of either Shakespeare In Love, or Madeline, were invited to send us their opinions with the chance to win two more free tickets from the Apollo.

The two joint winners from secondary schools are Sajida Hussain from Edge End High School, Nelson, and Lucy Brown of West Craven High School, Barnoldswick. In the younger age group, Charlie O'Reilly, aged eight, of St Peter's RC Primary School, Newchurch in Rossendale, gained first prize.

In her review of the film Madeline, Charlie says that one of her favourite parts was the dramatic rescue by the dog when the young girl Madeline fell into the water.

"I was also very excited," she continues, "when the pupils at the boarding school decided to raid the kitchen while the nun and the cook were busy playing cards.

"The parts that made me laugh were the tricks played by the girls and their friend Pepito, to try to stop their school from being sold."

Older students saw a preview of the 15+ rated film Shakespeare In Love and submitted rave reviews. As Lucy Brown, one of our joint winners, says: "Whoever said that Shakespeare is boring will have to eat their words after seeing this one." The story revolves around Will (Joseph Fiennes), a struggling playwright, who has several scripts to deliver and debts to pay, yet can't seem to string a paragraph together, let alone a whole play.

Meanwhile, the aristocratic Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) longs to be an actor, but being female was, at that time, prevented by law from achieving her ambition. Convinced the stage is beckoning, she disguises herself as a young lad, Thomas Kent, and claims the leading role in Shakespeare's latest play in rehearsal, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter.

Sajida's account continues the story: "The intrigued Will follows Thomas home only to discover the girl of his dreams and the inspiration for his real masterpiece Romeo and Juliet.

"The young couple face huge opposition and Will has to do everything in his power to keep the girl, but does he succeed? This excellent movie is guaranteed to keep you entertained and guessing till the very end, and with a great mix of comedy and romance, is highly recommended."

Well done to all three winners and watch out for more NIE activities linked to the National Year of Reading monthly themes right through to June.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.