Angelina Jolie was greeted in Whitehall by the Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday as she offered Hollywood backing to the Government's global campaign against sexual violence.

A little self-parody can go a long way in an acting career, says Gerard Gilbert. Just ask Matt LeBlanc...

A little self-parody can go a long way. Just ask Matt LeBlanc...

I admire and hugely like the singer Billy Bragg, that proud working-class hero. The last time we met, the Queen's Jubilee came up and also my fierce republicanism. Don't fret, said Billy, understand. Royalty is an integral part of British culture. Respect it, as you ask for your culture to be respected. I have never believed any tradition should be above criticism, just because it goes back a long way. But still, Billy, this time I tried, really tried. And then this week the excessive indulgence of spoilt royals, the oleaginousness and uninhibited ostentation got to me. Objections broke out, like hives. And quite honestly it is a relief after the suffocating restraint of the past months.

Israeli company Habima is dividing the arts world with its Merchant of Venice at the Globe. Boyd Tonkin hears their side of the story

US thriller Revenge starts tonight. It's a return to the Eighties, says Sarah Hughes

US thriller Revenge starts tonight. It's a return to the Eighties, says Sarah Hughes

A gritty drama about serial killer Fred West won three television Baftas last night.

Cannes 2012 was the dampest festival in recent memory and one of the more muted. The Croisette – the main sea-front thoroughfare – was as crammed as ever but the European film industry is clearly feeling the pinch. The yachts seemed smaller this year, the restaurants emptier. The sales agents presenting new films in the market grumbled privately that Italian and Spanish distributors simply weren't buying any more.

Michael Haneke today won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize for a second time with his film about love and death, “Amour.”

It's a cause for celebration that this year's big Oscar winner (five awards including Best Picture and Best Actor) was a French, black-and-white silent movie.

Once more unto the Beeb ... the Bard's back on the box

What we want from Smith and Jones is ray guns, bug-eyed monsters – and a lot more fun

Will Haneke's 'Love' scoop tonight's Palme d'Or? Perhaps. But at least Cannes is sure of its prize dud...