The Oscars 2004 By Steve Rudd

The highlight of Hollywood's calendar, The Oscars seem to come around faster every year. Our man in LA to report back to Britain on proceedings was Film 2004 face Jonathan Ross who didn't do a bad job at all, but seemed hampered by his panel of three accompanying guests in the form of Welsh (supposed) funnyman Rob Brydon, and the impersonating duo of Ronni Ancona and Alistair McGowan.

Rob, for starters, got upset early on in the proceedings after somebody fleetingly insinuated that he might be gay, and he proceeded to sulk for the rest of the night making a big and hugely unfunny issue out of the apparent fact that he really was not gay, all the while being pettily hell-bent on showing off his best impression of Ronnie Corbett.

Meanwhile, the egos of Ancona and McGowan seemed to jar and clash. There were some funny moments derived from the meeting of such comedic minds, but the focus seemed to be less on the night's honours and more on their own vain attempts at proving themselves to be funny people - when the show, obviously, wasn't designed to be about them at all.

In that respect, every time the action flitted back from the grand Kodak Theatre (in which the annual award's ceremony was being elaborately staged and broadcast to circa a billion people - give or take a million - across the globe) and to Ross and gang, the professionalism of impending affairs instantaneously slumped.

McGowan remained defiant in remarking that he found The Lord of The Rings boring, while Ross had the cheek - when talking about previous films that had near-swept the board and won nearly every award that they'd been nominated for - to bluntly remark that he thought Titanic was rubbish.

The awards themselves, on the inside of the Kodak, were impeccably timed as always and presented with extraordinary flair by Billy Crystal, who's neither a stranger to presenting the show (having done so before) nor afraid of utilising his wit in all its glory. And boy can Billy really sing.

As for awards winners, The Lord of The Rings did sweep the board, claiming all 11 of its nominations; Best Film, Best Costume design, Best FX etc., etc… - they were all in there. Meanwhile, Sean Penn won the Best Actor award for his emotively intense performance in the dark, tragic drama Mystic River, which also spawned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Tim Robbins along the way.

Pity Sean Penn looked so miserable on receiving the award though; he did however thank his beautiful wife Robin Wright Penn (Jenny in Forrest Gump) which was a nice touch. Bill Murray, on not winning the award despite being one of the firm favourites to do so, looked visibly upset sat there in the crowd when Sean's name was called. Mmm… Bill Murray - he's another actor who rarely raises a smile, on camera or off.

The movie that Murray was nominated for as Best Actor was the dull-albeit-sweet and offbeat romantic-drama Lost in Translation, which was also nominated for Best Film but obviously lost out to the, er, obvious. On the brightside, the pretty but shy Sofia Coppola won the Best Director award for Lost in Translation, historically being the very first American woman nominated for such an award - which is quite remarkable.

Charlize Theron won Best Actress for her crazed, homicidal role in Monster, while overall awards ceremony surprises seemed to remain at a minimum.

All in all, it was great as always to see so many A-list movie stars crammed into the front rows of the same Theatre at the same time. And Billy Crystal, as the show's truly AMAZING host for the evening, himself deserved some sort of award in recognition of his supreme talents as a spontaneous comic who's seemingly unfazed by neither anything nor anyone, least of all the gig of presenting the most watched event - via the medium of TV - on the planet. The Oscars ceremony, put simply, is one thing we cannot live without.

Articles - World Book Day 2004 Event Review By Rich Mills

	It may not be the actual World Book Day 2004 until the 4th of March, and the 100th anniversary of Dr. Seuss being born on the 2nd of March, but Lifelong Learning at the city council held an event at the Ferens Art Gallery on this Saturday. The event which lasted from 10:00am until 3:00pm, was a day of workshops and great fun for the children and adults alike. Read more...

Articles - If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next (How Hull helped the children of Spain.) By Rich Mills
	In May 1937 the Spanish liner Habana left Bilbao in Spain, on-board were 4,200 Basque children being brought to the safety of the UK. The Spanish Civil War had started on July 17th 1936, and the world stood by and watched in horror as innocents were slaughtered. Some however took it upon themselves to do something about the blood-shed. Read more...

Articles - Pregnancy - Revisited by Nicholas Boldock
	Life - it's a funny old game. Love, loss, rejection, success, pride, humility, happiness, sorrow - all part and parcel of the old cradle-to-grave board game. Personally, my life has taken a turn for the "bloody hectic" over the last week or so. And I think I now have an idea what this funny old game is all about. Those of you who are lucky enough to have no problems with short.. Read more...

Articles - Radio Airplay - Why just go for English Radio Shows? - It's a Big World Out There

	By Glenn Williams (Lazyswede productions) Bands are always complaining that they cannot get their CD's played on air and it's true, for most unsigned bands is not easy unless it's something really special. There are shows Like Alan Raw's Raw Talent which does its best to give all bands an opportunity to be heard which is very good. Read more...

Articles - Hull, Hell And Incidents, Deliver Us. By Patrick Henry

	My arrival in Scarborough at the age of zero happened only months after my folks moved here from the Hull area, so that their voices and views impressed me stronger than those in my birthplace. Mother said Hullers look down or up to nobody, but Scarborians look always over their shoulder jealous of anyone having more than deserved, or more than grabbed by themselves. Read more...

Articles - A Woman in Chains.

	I am, I suppose, a woman in chains. In this extremely bizarre world we try to live in, I will always be linked to my past.... 15 years ago I was involved in a crime, something I did because I was young, unguided and naïve. I lost more than my freedom as if that wasn't enough; I lost my children, my home, my family and most of my friends. Read more...

Articles - Festivals - Organising the Organisers By Cilla.

	Isn't the Internet a fantastic thing? I recently posted a message on www.ents24.com, a music forum, letting people know about the music section on thisisUll.com. Later that evening I returned to the forum to see if my posting had been looked at - it had. A chap called Pete had left me a message after visiting this website. Read more...

Articles - The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang By Patrick Henry
	The Hole-in-the-Wall is a pub found in Scarborough's Vernon Road, a steep hill linking the town centre almost to the sea-front and the Spa, and in the lower half of the street is almost the only building but for the quaint Rotunda museum. Otherwise only blank tall walls rise, holding up gardens and terrace-housing high beyond. Read more...

Articles - Tribal Tattoo . By Starpaw.

Last week the humdrum of everyday life was getting me down; I needed a pick-me-up, a rush - but where exactly do today's rebellious teena...20 somethings go to get their kicks? A piercing and tattoo shop? Surely not? It'd been a week since I'd been gearing myself up for this, the time it had taken to find a willing victim, I mean friend, to take with me to hold my hand, so to speak while I pay.. Read more...

Articles - Star Wars Enter the Folk Music Scene

	By Patrick Henry. The NorthYorkshire moors are a remote area full of historical incidents up to the present when the Fylingdales missile-defence station has just been pledged to the U.S. Star-Wars system. Roman forts, Viking raids, besieged castles from the Normans to the Stuarts, litter the fringes. The Cold War nuclear brink .. Read more...

Articles Reply to - Woe is Me - I Live in Hull

	By Nick Quantrill After reading the article by Allen Miles on the 'is Hull crap or not?' debate I want to add my views. It's something that has been on my mind recently owing to my girlfriend moving to the city full time. Although I've lived in Hull all my life it's only now that I've really thought about whether or not Hull qualifies as a.. Read more...