Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

Movie Speak: How to Talk Like You Belong on a Film Set by Tony Bill
Workman, £6.99

COME on, admit it! You want to be a star. You’re desperate to eat at The Ivy – and not pick up the bill. Or simply be an icon. Or both. In this stupefying and never ending age of mindless celebrity, it is your rightful place to join Jordan and Will Young on the red carpet.

Robert Giddings, who was Professor of Communication and Culture at Bournemouth University, is a broadcaster and literary critic who writes regularly for Tribune reviewing radio programmes, classical music and books. An expert on the life and work of Charles Dickens, and editor of a new edition of Bleak House (Atlantic Books, £8.99) he reflects here on Dickens and Honourable Members in the light of the current scandal of MPs caught with their snouts in the trough.

Star Trek
US 2009

Little Ashes
UK/Spain 2008

STAR Trek the re-imagined motion picture strikes sparks from its young and mostly unknown cast filling the V-insignia sweaters vacated by William Shatner, DeForrest Kelley, James Doohan et al. Only Leonard Nimoy as the Vulcan purveyor of logic, Mr Spock, returns, passing the catchphrases “Fascinating” and “Live long and proper” on to his successor, Heroes star, Zachary Quinto.

Horizon: How Violent Are You?
BBC 2

The Incredible Human Journey
BBC 2

I FIND Michael Portillo quite intriguing. He seems to be more riddled than most with contradictions. There’s the former Thatcherite firebrand who gave up politics (for now anyway) without turning a hair; the shy and laidback individual who threw a vast, ego-boosting party in Alexandra Palace and who pops up in the press and on television at every turn; the dignified political commentator who seems to relish taking part in embarrassing reality TV. Those who remember his spell as Tory Defence Secretary would certainly have boggled to hear him describe himself as a “pacifist” at the start of Horizon: How Violent Are You? “I don’t have an aggressive bone in my body”, he assured us. “I’ve never hit anyone or been in a fight in my life.” It seems he was brought up to resolve all conflicts peacefully, cannot bear to watch boxing or wrestling and is (or was) mystified as to the causes of “extreme acts of violence”.

Picasso: Challenging the Past
National Gallery, London

LIKE a cubist painting, which ever way you look, Picasso somehow avoids being pinned down. Yet, no matter how much he moved from one style to another – from academic study to free play, from precision to wild experiment – Picasso consistently referred to the great art of the past as both a source of inspiration and as way of viewing the world.

PLANNING to attend the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June? Good idea. The 63rd renewal of the long-running event, which finally moved from its traditional August slot last year with no noticeable drop in sales, quality or buzz, looks potentially the strongest for some time.