As we get older, it's easy to reminisce on days gone by and declare everything was better years ago - the sun was brighter, people were friendlier, music was more innovative and politicians were more honest.
Of course, we're viewing the past through rose-tinted specs, but when you look at this summer's crop of lacklustre movie releases (with the odd exception, such as the reportedly superb The Dark Knight Rises, although how would people living in the UAE know, it's not like the movie is opening here this weekend, sob; see page 11), it isn't hard to believe that summer movies really were better years ago.
Don't believe me?
Well, 30 years back, lucky cinemagoers were treated to not one, not two, but seven science fiction and horror movies that have deservedly become classics. And the fun didn't stop there - the summer of 1982 also gave us the memorable kitsch movies Conan the Barbarian and Rocky III, and the teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which helped launch the career of the writer (and later director) Cameron Crowe and featured a cast that included Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Forest Whitaker when they were just starting out. So, if you've had your fill of Marvel comic reboots, action movies loaded with CGI effects and kids' movie sequels, dust off the DVD player and take the time to revisit the adorable, scary, gripping, exciting, jaw-dropping summer of 1982.
ET: The Extra Terrestrial
A sci-fi adventure for the whole family, ET was the director Steven Spielberg's homage to childhood and, in particular, the warm heart of one little boy. Henry Thomas's Elliott finds a pot-bellied alien stranded on Earth and introduces him to such essential Earth delights as eating candy and dressing up in his little sister's (Drew Barrymore) clothes. Achingly sweet and unashamedly sentimental, this did get a polish a decade ago (Spielberg added a CGI spaceship and digitally removed guns from the hands of government agents pursuing ET, replacing them with walkie talkies) and will have a 30th anniversary re-release later this year.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
The Australian director George Miller made the 1979 movie Mad Max for just US$400,000 (Dh1.5 million) and it went on to make more than $100m worldwide, so a sequel was inevitable. Unusually, the sequel is actually better than the raw original as Mel Gibson's Max - an ex-cop who saw his wife and child butchered - roams a post-apocalyptic wasteland until he comes across a group of people desperate to protect themselves and their supplies from warriors around them. Packed with stunning car chases, brutal action, sparse dialogue and a superb central performance from Gibson, this was followed by Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, while Tom Hardy will take on the iconic role of Max in 2013's Mad Max: Fury Road.
Poltergeist
Steven Spielberg produced and co-wrote the script for this hugely successful horror, but it was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper at the helm for the story of a suburban family who find themselves threatened in their home by some malevolent force that first communicates with their angelic young daughter through the TV. Innocuous items suddenly become incredibly scary - the tree that attacks the son, the swimming pool that fills with decomposing bodies - and things get even stranger when the understandably distraught parents (JoBeth Williams, Craig T Nelson) call in paranormal "experts".
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
Considered the best of all the Star Trek movies by many Trekkies, this features the characters from the original TV series (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc) and moves at a much faster pace than the first movie, while also being less silly than some of the films that followed. Now creaking around the Starship Enterprise, Kirk and his crew have to tighten up their middle-aged spreads and go into battle when an old nemesis, warlord Khan (Ricardo Montalban), whom Kirk sent to a prison planet years before, turns up seeking revenge. Witty, exciting and even sad (it's the one with that ending), it remains true to the original series while freshening it up for new generations.
The Thing
Forget last year's missable prequel. For true shocks and rising tension, you need to see John Carpenter's superb The Thing (based on the sci-fi story Who Goes There? that had already been adapted into the 1951 movie The Thing From Another World). Kurt Russell (who made two of his best films with Carpenter, the other being Escape From New York) is one of a group of workers at a remote outpost in Antarctica who find themselves under attack from an alien that can absorb and mimic any living thing (and, in one stomach-churning scene, it's caught assimilating the outpost's dogs). The transformations are both grotesque and stunning to watch, and the "who's human and who's not" plot is truly suspenseful.
Tron
The effects may look a little hokey now, but back in July of 1982 when Disney's Tron was released, they were truly state of the art. Jeff Bridges is the software engineer who finds himself imprisoned in a game by his former boss, forcing him to team up with the security programme Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) in an attempt to battle his way out. The Light Cycle race still thrills, and there are some stunning visuals even if the plot itself doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. Bridges and Boxleitner returned to their roles for the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy, featuring a soundtrack from lifelong Tron fans Daft Punk.
Blade Runner
Ridley Scott's visually stunning cinematic version of Philip K Dick's short story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has been much imitated over the past 30 years, but never bettered. While it wasn't well received on its initial release, it has since been embraced by audiences and critics alike, spellbound by the story set in 2019 Los Angeles of a detective (Harrison Ford) charged with tracking down replicants - mutinous androids masquerading as humans. Books have been written about the astonishing set design, debates have raged about the movie's true meaning (is it about religion, with the replicant creator Tyrell some sort of god?), rumours have abounded of the friction on set (Ford has said little except that it was the toughest movie he ever had to work on), and various alternative versions have been released (the Director's Cut, for example, loses Ford's narration and adds extra scenes) to keep us in thrall three decades on.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Managing the separation process
- Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
- Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
- Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
- If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
- The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
- Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
- Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.
Small Things Like These
Director: Tim Mielants
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Eileen Walsh
Rating: 4/5
ILT20 UAE stars
LEADING RUN SCORERS
1 Nicholas Pooran, 261
2 Muhammad Waseem (UAE), 248
3 Chris Lynn, 244
4 Johnson Charles, 232
5 Kusal Perera, 230
BEST BOWLING AVERAGE
(minimum 10 overs bowled)
1 Zuhaib Zubair (UAE), 9 wickets at 12.44
2 Mohammed Rohid (UAE), 7 at 13.00
3 Fazalhaq Farooqi, 17 at 13.05
4 Waqar Salamkheil, 10 at 14.08
5 Aayan Khan (UAE), 4 at 15.50
6 Wanindu Hasaranga, 12 at 16.25
7 Mohammed Jawadullah (UAE), 10 at 17.00
The five pillars of Islam
PLAY-OFF DRAW
Barcelona v Manchester United
Juventus v Nantes
Sporting Lisbon v Midtjylland
Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes
Ajax v Union Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco
Sevilla v PSV Eindhoven
Salzburg v Roma
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
The Iron Claw
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS
Engine: six-litre W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed dual clutch auto
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh940,160 (plus VAT)
On sale: Q1 2020
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
Rafael Nadal's record at the MWTC
2009 Finalist
2010 Champion
Jan 2011 Champion
Dec 2011 Semi-finalist
Dec 2012 Did not play
Dec 2013 Semi-finalist
2015 Semi-finalist
Jan 2016 Champion
Dec 2016 Champion
2017 Did not play
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Have you been targeted?
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
J Street Polling Results
97% of Jewish-Americans are concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism
76% of US Jewish voters believe Donald Trump and his allies in the Republican Party are responsible for a rise in anti-Semitism
74% of American Jews agreed that “Trump and the Maga movement are a threat to Jews in America"
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
Structural weaknesses facing Israel economy
1. Labour productivity is lower than the average of the developed economies, particularly in the non-tradable industries.
2. The low level of basic skills among workers and the high level of inequality between those with various skills.
3. Low employment rates, particularly among Arab women and Ultra-Othodox Jewish men.
4. A lack of basic knowledge required for integration into the labour force, due to the lack of core curriculum studies in schools for Ultra-Othodox Jews.
5. A need to upgrade and expand physical infrastructure, particularly mass transit infrastructure.
6. The poverty rate at more than double the OECD average.
7. Population growth of about 2 per cent per year, compared to 0.6 per cent OECD average posing challenge for fiscal policy and underpinning pressure on education, health care, welfare housing and physical infrastructure, which will increase in the coming years.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Dooda Solutions
Based: Lebanon
Founder: Nada Ghanem
Sector: AgriTech
Total funding: $300,000 in equity-free funding
Number of employees: 11
ASIAN RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
Results
Hong Kong 52-5 UAE
South Korea 55-5 Malaysia
Malaysia 6-70 Hong Kong
UAE 36-32 South Korea
Fixtures
Friday, June 21, 7.30pm kick-off: UAE v Malaysia
At The Sevens, Dubai (admission is free).
Saturday: Hong Kong v South Korea
DUNE: PART TWO
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothee Chamalet, Zendaya, Austin Butler
Rating: 5/5
Ferrari
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey
Rating: 3/5
All We Imagine as Light
Director: Payal Kapadia
Starring: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
SPECS: Polestar 3
Engine: Long-range dual motor with 400V battery
Power: 360kW / 483bhp
Torque: 840Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 628km
0-100km/h: 4.7sec
Top speed: 210kph
Price: From Dh360,000
On sale: September