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BAFTAs Review 2012
It was a night of 30s glamour at the BAFTAs last night, with a string of dresses inspired by the film looking set to clean up this awards season, The Artist. A slightly disappointing STEPHEN FRY was presenting, looking distinctly overweight and replacing jokes with QI-style strings of unnecessary adjectives. TOM JONES opened the night singing Thunderball, a celebration of 50 years of James Bond on screen, and there were a couple of references to WHITNEY HOUSTON’s sad death. Strangely however both Houston and STEVE JOBS were included in the industry obituaries slideshow, where they looked distinctly out of place beside the list of less well known cinematographers – an indication perhaps of BAFTAs continued attempt to balance a British bias with international aspirations. BRAD PITT and GEORGE CLOONEY were the biggest Hollywood names both present, neither picking up any of the awards they were nominated for. Leading actress went to MERYL STREEP for her part in The Iron Lady, losing her shoe on the steps up to the podium and having it slipped back on by the ever-gentlemanly COLIN FIRTH. The award for actor went to JEAN DUJARDIN, for his role in The Artist. Best film went, by this point unsurprisingly, to The Artist, having already picked up the BAFTAs for best original screenplay and director. Martin Scorsese was awarded the Academy’s highest honour, the Fellowship, for his careers which has spanned six decades. While nothing went wrong last night, the big names were out in force and the selection of films was stunning, the BAFTAs 2012 didn’t quite manage to sparkle in the way that it wanted to. We await the Oscars on Sunday 26th with baited breath.
Reviewed by Paul Moore
Drive Review 2011
Drive Review
Drive tells the story of a 'driver' in every sense of the word; he's a stunt driver for films and TV but by night he's getaway driver for the criminals of the city. Played by Ryan Gosling, this Driver falls for his neighbour, who's husband is currently hold up in prison. He slowly builds a relationship with Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son before he husband is released from prison and all hell seems to break lose.
After a heist gone wrong their is a contract on the Driver's life. Drive is violent, suspensful and heartwrenching. One of the best films I've seen in a long time. Gosling is superb as the shy, reserved neighbour with a fierce dark side. The 80's vibe soundtrack is a perfect backdrop for this story that holds you on the edge of your seat. Eyes will be covered and tears may fall for this unique tale of gang violence on the streets of LA.
URF Elections a Resounding Success
And so it came to pass that on the 1st of December 2011, after nearly three hours of speeches, voting and counting, the highly anticipated 2012 URF Exec Team was elected. All seven executive positions were available for the taking, with each hotly contested by members both young and old.
The evening was hosted by the 2011 Chair, Kit Bradshaw, and began with a recap of the station’s many successes over the past year. Whilst sucking intently on the boiled sweets offered at the beginning of the event, members were reminded of how the 2011 Exec had worked to rebrand the station, produce an award winning interview and increase awareness of the station during Fresher’s week, among other things. With nerves running high in the room, Bradshaw then began the election proceedings by inviting candidates for Chair to step forward. This vote was shortly followed by the elections for the equally important role of Station Manager.
After a short counting period, and the subjection of the members to the cringe-inducing ‘URF Cribs’ video, it was announced to wide applause that the Chair of 2012 would be Sophie Howard, and that Sophie Wallace would be stepping up to become the Station Manager in 2012.
An elated Sophie Howard said, “I’m so happy to be Chair. It’s a really exciting opportunity as we can help continue the good work of the previous exec and develop the station further.” A similarly thrilled Sophie Wallace also expressed her eagerness to get started, whilst acknowledging the amount of work the Station Manager must take on.
The next two roles to be decided were Head of Music and Head of News, introduced by the outgoing leaders of each team, Benjamin Rees and Simon Lynwood, respectively. With five members in contention for the Head of Music role and two of URF’s finest standing for Head of News, the voting periods for the two roles were among the tensest of the evening. After multiple recounts, Caitlin Bartholomew was revealed as the Head of Music for 2012 and Imogen Towner as the Head of News for 2012.
In typically excitable and jokey fashion, Caitlin Bartholomew stated, “I’m really ecstatic. I was up against great competition, but I was the right person for the job... although I don’t think I should ever be given this much power!” Towner added, “I’m really excited to increase my involvement with the News Team. I’m elated to be the new Head of News; it’s about time we had a girl in charge of this department!”
After a brief recess, including a video watching session and yet another toilet break for Lynwood, the elections continued with the positions of Head of PR & Events, Head of Tech and Secretary still to be decided. Ray Jennings went on to be voted as the Head of PR & Events for 2012, after a very strong and focused speech, with references to his many contacts within Brighton.
Kris Lipscombe then went on to be re-elected as the Head of Tech with a landslide victory, thus making him the Head of Tech at URF for an unprecedented but unsurprising third year. Lipscombe also took the opportunity to unveil the newly-updated website to the members, which was met with many gasps, ‘wows’, and ‘oohs’.
The final vacancy to be resolved was the much-coveted Secretary position, with two team leaders on the 2011 Exec Team standing for the role. The eventual winner was the ever-charismatic Sam Hayes, who was overjoyed to remain as an exec member at the station. Hayes’ passion for URF shone through in his speech, as he promised to continue with his same hard work through 2012.
And so, with emotions running high across the lecture hall, the URF Elections of 2011 closed to rapturous applause. With the adrenaline still pumping and with some members having found the elections arousing in a somewhat different way, the station’s members went out on the town to celebrate the resounding success of the night. If the elections and after-party are anything to go by, URF is in for a very exciting 2012.
For more information on the new exec team, email exec@urfonline.com
Reviewed by Simon Lynwood