The action film Expend4bles leads this year’s Razzie Awards. The fourth entry in the action series franchise, which stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, has received seven nominations including for Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting Actor.
Tied for second place with five nominations are The Exorcist: Believer, a sequel to the horror series, and Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a slasher take on the honey-loving bear from the children's book series by A A Milne. Two superhero movies, DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, both received four nominations.
The Razzies are held annually and recognise the worst films and performances of the year. Usually held the night before the Oscars, the awards are meant to be good, clean fun and serve as a “reality check” for stars.
The full list of nominations are below.
Worst Picture
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Meg 2: The Trench
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Actor
Russell Crowe, The Pope’s Exorcist
Vin Diesel, Fast X
Chris Evans, Ghosted
Jason Statham, Meg 2: The Trench
Jon Voight, Mercy
Worst Actress
Ana de Armas, Ghosted
Megan Fox, Johnny & Clyde
Salma Hayek, Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Jennifer Lopez, The Mother
Dame Helen Mirren, Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Worst Supporting Actress
Kim Cattrall, About My Father
Megan Fox, Expend4bles
Bai Ling, Johnny & Clyde
Lucy Liu, Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Mary Stuart Masterson, Five Nights at Freddy’s
Worst Supporting Actor
Michael Douglas, Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Mel Gibson, Confidential Informant
Bill Murray, Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Franco Nero (as The Pope), The Pope’s Exorcist
Sylvester Stallone, Expend4ables
Worst Screen Couple
Any 2 "Merciless Mercenaries”, Expend4bles
Any 2 Money-Grubbing Investors Who Donated to the $400 Million for Remake Rights to The Exorcist
Ana de Armas and Chris Evans (who flunked Screen Chemistry), Ghosted
Salma Hayek and Channing Tatum, Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Pooh & Piglet as Blood-Thirsty Slasher/Killers(!) in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off of Sequel
Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and The Dial of…Still Beating a Dead Horse
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Director
Rhys Frake-Waterfield, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer
Peyton Reed, Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Scott Waugh, Expend4bles
Ben Wheatley, Meg 2: The Trench
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and the Dial of…Can I go home now?
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Crime%20Wave
%3Cp%3EHeavyweight%20boxer%20Fury%20revealed%20on%20Sunday%20his%20cousin%20had%20been%20%E2%80%9Cstabbed%20in%20the%20neck%E2%80%9D%20and%20called%20on%20the%20courts%20to%20address%20the%20wave%20of%20more%20sentencing%20of%20offenders.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERico%20Burton%2C%2031%2C%20was%20found%20with%20stab%20wounds%20at%20around%203am%20on%20Sunday%20in%20Goose%20Green%2C%20Altrincham%20and%20subsequently%20died%20of%20his%20injuries.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%26nbsp%3B%E2%80%9CMy%20cousin%20was%20murdered%20last%20night%2C%20stabbed%20in%20the%20neck%20this%20is%20becoming%20ridiculous%20%E2%80%A6%20idiots%20carry%20knives.%20This%20needs%20to%20stop%2C%E2%80%9D%0D%20Fury%20said.%20%E2%80%9CAsap%2C%20UK%20government%20needs%20to%20bring%20higher%20sentencing%20for%20knife%20crime%2C%20it%E2%80%99s%20a%20pandemic%20%26amp%3B%20you%20don%E2%80%99t%20know%20how%20bad%20it%20is%20until%20%5Bit%E2%80%99s%5D%201%20of%20your%20own!%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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CREW
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Normal People
Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
Naga
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'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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