A favourite pastime of friends and family members when visiting my house is checking out my streaming recommendations – the feature in which platforms I subscribe to suggest films I might like based on my previous viewing habits.
So what do my platforms recommend for me – someone my loved ones think of as relatively well cultured? Does the acclaimed David Fincher film Mank make the cut? Or perhaps the lauded legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7? Maybe even Bridgerton, for bit of fun?
"Death Wish?" my friend said, incredulously, as he flicked through other choices.
His laughs got harder as his attention turned from the recommended section to the "watch again" list. Both lists reveal a litany of titles which, at best, can only be described as of dubious quality.
I am talking about vintage action films starring Charles Bronson (the aforementioned Death Wish and Murphy's Law) and Van Damn (Kickboxer), as well cheesy comedies featuring Tom Selleck (Mr Baseball).
“This is not even B grade,” the friend said. “I learned to just call these ‘Saeed stuff.’
The ‘dodgy’ section
He is right.
My attachment to such films is more sentimental than escapism.
These forgotten action heroes, such as Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren and Don “The Dragon Lee” Wilson, even helped me score my first-ever job in a video store.
It was 1994 and I was living in a small suburb in Melbourne, Australia.
Newly arrived on the continent with a single mother, our family finances were understandably tight.
However, each week, my mum would manage to give me five dollars to rent my choice of film from the local Video Busters.
As a child with a short attention span, I needed something with as much content as possible to keep me occupied over the next seven days.
This meant forgoing the new releases ($6 overnight), mid-tier titles from the early nineties ($3 for three days) and heading right to the dusty shelves in the back of the store.
This was my playground: the $1-weekly videos were full of strange and colourful titles, only matched by their gaudy sleeves.
I still remember the cover for the1978 horror comedy film Piranha, in which a smiling woman floats blissfully in the sea while below, the menacing fish is poised to nip at her heels.
I can recall being spooked by the vicious hairy tarantula commanding the sleeve of Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), as well as the jovial group shots of Police Academy one to four (I couldn't yet afford the remaining fifth and sixth instalments).
With my long-term happiness at stake (a week feels eternal as a 13-year-old), I spent hours in what I later learned was dubbed the “dodgy section,” trying to make the perfect selection.
I picked that piece of knowledge up from staff members, eventually, when I landed a job at the store myself a few months later.
It was initially more community service than actual employment.
Let me explain: after weeks of hounding, my mum eventually relented and handed over six gleaming bucks so that I could rent my first ever new release.
I still remember that Saturday, swaggering into the video store and straight past Michael Dudikoff's American Ninja in the dodgy section and towards Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.
That early teen arrogance, mixed with a goldfish attention span, resulted in me forgetting to return the video before a rare family getaway to the coast.
We returned home to an answering machine full of increasingly angry missives from the video store manager, Paul, and an eventual $84 fine.
With my mother refusing to pay the fee, she negotiated that I could work it off by washing the near 2,000 videos in the store every weekend for a month.
So there I was, back in the dodgy section again, humbled and wiping the flecks of dust from Chuck Norris's beard while he brandished two machine guns on the cover of Invasion USA.
Owning your stuff
As it turned out, I did my job a little too well.
From cleaning the videos each week, I managed to retain a good memory of the store’s layout and I relished in finding customers' queried titles within seconds.
The more obscure the video, the more I enjoyed the challenge.
"The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension? Well, right this way sir".
"Marked for Death with Steven Seagal? No problem, my friend. And while you like your action, have you seen Missing in Action III with Chuck Norris yet?"
Impressed at my enthusiasm, and perhaps even relieved that he had found someone knowledgeable enough to promote titles from the dodgy section, Paul gave me my first job as a clerk.
It was a position I held for six years and is partly responsible for my interest in pop culture, and in turn, entertainment journalism.
I occasionally relive those cherished and simpler times when I stream the nail-faced character Pinhead frightening couples in Hell Raiser (1987), or when Seagal threatens his nemesis in 1990's Hard to Kill by stating: "I am going to take you to the bank Senator Trent.... The blood bank".
This is, indeed, “Saeed stuff” and it's bad-tastic.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The years Ramadan fell in May
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
TALE OF THE TAPE
Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm
Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
SRI LANKS ODI SQUAD
Perera (capt), Mendis, Gunathilaka, de Silva, Nissanka, Shanaka, Bandara, Hasaranga, Udana, Dananjaya, Dickwella, Chameera, Mendis, Fernando, Sandakan, Karunaratne, Fernando, Fernando.
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets