Star Wars

In 1977, Star Wars first played to audiences when it opened in 32 cinemas in the United States. Now on its 30th birthday, an exhibition has been created to celebrate the magic behind the movies. We take a tour and come face to face with Darth Vadar...

Vocabulary from the programme

'taking the world by storm'

to be extremely successul very quickly in a particular place or among particular people e.g. The play took London by storm interactive allows information to be passed continuously between people, or people and technology

'on set'

in the studio in amongst the scenery used for a film e.g. We need people on set by 5am so we can start filming

phenomenon

a fact or event in nature or society - one that is not fully understood but that can been seen as successful or impressive

NOTE: The plural of 'phenomenon' is 'phenomena'. However in American English, 'phenomenons' is used.

'at the end of the day'

in the final analysis, when you look at everything... e.g. At the end of the day it's not easy being a parent

to get it

to understand somebody or something e.g. I get the joke. I get it

stand in good stead

to be useful or helpful when needed e.g. Learning languages will stand you in good stead when it comes to finding a job

Extras

Programme script (pdf - 21 k)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 mb)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1555_entertainment07/page12.shtml

The Hoax

Actor Richard Gere

In this edition, we listen to a review of a new film called 'The Hoax' which stars Richard Gere. A hoax is a deception, a trick to make people believe something is true when it is not. But as we hear, the film is actually based on a true story - how, in 1971, a writer called Clifford Irving tried to get a fake autobiography of the superstar millionaire Howard Hughes published and make himself extremely rich in the process... Film critic Nigel Andrews uses lots of informal expressions to talk about the setting of the film.

Programme script http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/entertainment/scripts/entertainment_hoax_070924.pdf

Download this programme http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/entertainment/audio/entertainment_hoax_070924.mp3

See the preview

Antony Gormley

A statue on Waterloo BridgeThe British sculptor Antony Gormley celebrates his 57th birthday this week, on August 30th. He is one of Britain's best known sculptors, responsible for such icons as the huge Angel of the North. Recently a new work, Event Horizon, caused heads to turn upwards in the centre of London. In this programme we learn more about Event Horizon from Antony Gormley himself.

Download this programme on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1555_entertainment07/

Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley is a very famous British actress, best known as Patsy in the television comedy series, Absolutely Fabulous. She started her career as a Bond girl in the James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and now she's even had a flower named after her!

Listen to the program on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1555_entertainment07/

Portobello Film Festival

Audience at a Portobello Film Festival screening

In August the Portobello Film Festival takes place in west London. Unlike festivals such as Cannes and Venice anyone can enter a film to be shown and nobody has to pay to see any of the films. How is this possible and does the festival attract established film-makers as well as undiscovered and student artists? In this programme we learn more about the festival from its director Jonathan Barnett.

Listen to the programme on http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1555_entertainment07/