Cruise controlled


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From his new film, Valkyrie, released by his own studio, to its peacemaking publicity tour, Tom Cruise has taken the reins when it comes to his public persona. Linda Barnard meets a man determined to show the world that he still has box-office pull - and that he's nice too.


There are two sides to the public Tom Cruise, and lately he has been immersed in a delicate dance of keeping them in balance. There is Cruise the megastar, with the piercing blue eyes and chiselled jaw, a Hollywood heavyweight who burst on screen in Risky Business 25 years ago and has powered movies like the Mission: Impossible franchise, Rain Man and Top Gun to box-office gold. He has been crowned among the world's most beautiful people and sexiest film stars, and beyond the trite accolades, he has been nominated three times for Academy Awards - for Born On The Fourth Of July, Magnolia and Jerry Maguire. And then there is the other Cruise, the side that has been in the spotlight for personal reasons rather than professional, especially since his whirlwind wooing of Katie Holmes and their 2006 marriage. His affiliation with Scientology raised eyebrows and led him to scold publicly those who support psychiatry while on the Today show, during which he berated the actress Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants. His manic couch-jumping, fist-pumping profession of love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show drew gasps. His over-the-top antics have not only cost him fans and had an impact on his box-office pull, they brought a 14-year relationship with Paramount studios to an end the same year. As far as the tabloids were concerned, he had a bull's eye on his back.

To Cruise, 46, there's nothing new in being gossiped about. "I've been dealing with that for 25 years," he says with a smile. "There are certain things that are out of your control. You have to look at the things you can affect and do the best you can with it. You have to live with yourself and your family and do the right thing by them." Cruise is clearly seeking to bring his two public sides into more favourable alignment, embarking on a huge publicity swing for his latest film, Valkyrie, which opens in the UAE next week. The tour, which brought him to Toronto last month, also had an element of peacemaking. The following week he apologised to the Today show host Matt Lauer and Shields during a recent appearance. As for his couch-jumping on Oprah, he admitted during this interview: "I could have handled things better."

Published reports have pegged the publicity tour's price tag at about $70 million (Dh257m), a considerable expense on top of the rumoured $90m (Dh330m) cost of Valkyrie. The movie, about a group of German officers who plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and end the Second World War, opened in the US and Canada on December 25 to cautiously favourable reviews. Much is riding on Valkyrie for Cruise. It is his second project as co-owner of United Artists and a film that industry watchers say is critical to his continued seat at the high-stakes player's table in Hollywood. It is also his chance to redeem himself and prove he's still got box-office pull after UA's first movie, the poorly received Robert Redford-directed Lions For Lambs (starring Cruise, Redford and Meryl Streep) barely got out of the gate last year.

As is usually the case with Cruise's films, Valkyrie is earning solid box-office numbers (some $60.7m - Dh223m - since opening, according to Variety). Critical acclaim, however, remains elusive. Most reviewers have tended to praise the supporting cast of UK heavyweights such as Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Terence Stamp, but have been less generous about Cruise's often wooden performance.

Oscar's golden statue appears to be beyond his reach again. The movie also failed to get any Golden Globes nominations last month; ironically, the performance he did get a Globe nod for was his small, yet very funny role, as the foul-mouthed studio boss Les Grossman in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder. All of this goes far beyond the scrutiny a movie star typically lives with. For the first time in his career Cruise is facing the need to shore up his popularity and reaffirm his status as Hollywood royalty. Does he still have it?

After we were ushered into his coolly elegant boutique hotel suite to find a confident Cruise standing alone at the end of the entry hall, smiling and holding out his hand in greeting, doubts about his ability to stay at the top of the Hollywood heap started to fade. If wanting it means getting it, the very focused Cruise is destined to stay on top. Very slim, tanned and wearing brilliant white tennis shoes, dark jeans and a black shirt, the sleeves rolled up to show a heavy stainless-steel watch, he is a gracious host. Where would you like to sit? Couch? Chair? He has outgrown the pretty-boy good looks and is guarded about how he answers a reporter's questions. However, he is still consciously out to soften the tone with frequent smiles, sometimes breaking into his hearty, now-familiar laugh.

Cruise insists he is used to being gossip fodder. It has been that way since he was a child who was constantly on the move with his family, hopscotching from school to school. "Being the new kid, you're constantly... I dealt with the rumours," he says, looking straight ahead, carefully choosing each word. He seems to accept there will be questions about his personal life, but Cruise really wants to talk about Valkyrie and clearly intends to keep the interview on that topic, giving long and detailed answers about the film to deflect more personal queries. The thriller, directed by Bryan Singer (who directed the classic bait-and-switch noir The Usual Suspects), stars Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who helped lead a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944.

Cruise, who bears an uncanny resemblance to von Stauffenberg, brought his typical dedication to his preparation for the part of the German intellectual and aristocrat who was willing to risk his life to eradicate Hitler. Not only did he read copiously and study history for months, he also learned to speak German so that a brief opening sequence in the film would be credible. "I started studying German when we were [in Berlin], and I worked very hard on that accent because it was always the idea to bring the audience in," he explains.

He worked with a coach to master the physical limitations of von Stauffenberg, who lost his left eye, right hand and fingers on his left hand while serving in Tunisia. "I couldn't pick up the phone with one hand. Stauffenberg had to learn to write with his left hand. The detail we have in the movie - that only a small fraction of people will appreciate - is that even von Stauffenberg's signature is accurate to the day because his signatures changed."

He even insisted that the cast immerse itself in the world of 1944 Germany when rehearsing - no television or mobile phones. The Valkyrie shoot seemed beset by problems. There were reports (since denied by both Cruise and Singer) that German officials were reluctant to let him shoot crucial scenes in Berlin because of his affiliation with the Church of Scientology. Then 11 extras were injured on the set and they subsequently sued. The film's opening date has been shunted around from last June to February 2009 - the producers say it was in order to allow reshoots - with openings in key cities in North America on Christmas Day, hardly an obvious time to release a film about Nazis. But the timing was crucial to garner some word-of-mouth publicity and also to qualify for Oscar nominations. That last strategy may not have been worth the effort.

However, Cruise is so dedicated to filmmaking and so intense as he speaks about his craft that he makes it hard to doubt his potential for continued success. He is also an unabashed movie nerd who met the Canadian director David Cronenberg for a quiet dinner while he was in Toronto, not to discuss future projects but because he is so fond of the filmmaker's style. "Are you kidding? I love movies!" Cruise says with a grin, explaining it was a full-on meeting of the geeks when he teamed-up with the writer Christopher McQuarrie (who won an Oscar for The Usual Suspects) and Singer on Valkyrie.

"Part of making a film is being able to hang out and talk about the films and share scenes from our favourite movies with each other and watch films together and hear people's different takes on how it was done. That's the pleasure of creating something together." As for what Valkyrie means to his professional life, Cruise says, "I'm very proud of this movie. I think it's important that I make movies that I'm proud of and I want to make. I've been doing this a long time - 25 years since Risky Business."

In that time, Cruise has had three marriages (to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and his current wife, Katie Holmes) and three children - two-and-a-half-year-old Suri with Holmes and two adopted children, Isabella, 16, and Connor, 13, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman. Connor seems to be following in his father's footsteps, appearing in his first role in a major movie, Seven Pounds, with the family friend Will Smith. Connor plays Smith as a child and he had to go through an audition process to get the role.

As for Cruise, his shoring up of any erosion caused by public opinion may well be twinned with a new direction in his professional life. Always up for a new challenge, he says he wants to be a song-and-dance man. "I'm glad musicals are coming back, so I can really embarrass myself," he says. But we've never heard him sing on screen, he is reminded. "Exactly!" he says with a grin, slapping his knees with his palms. "I will sing, if I can find the right one. I will sing and you will tell me if I did it or not. It's an interesting challenge."

That seems to sum up Cruise's attitude to both of his sides - whether it's the heavy drama of Vanilla Sky and Collateral or the CGI-heavy, action-adventure movies like War Of The Worlds, or the balance of his public versus professional personas. He patiently answers yet another question about whether Katie is pregnant again ("no, she's not") but clearly would rather talk more about Valkyrie. So we do.

"Every movie I make I want to entertain an audience, and I felt that the story is not only very entertaining and thrilling, but it's a movie about courage, real-life heroes and I found it very inspiring. I think that it's a movie that people are going to like." And if he has achieved what he set out to do with promoting Valkyrie - and himself - people will find they like Tom Cruise, too.

'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

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Arctic Monkeys

Tranquillity Base Hotel Casino (Domino) 

 

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

'Operation Mincemeat' 

Director: John Madden 

 

Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton

 

Rating: 4/5

 
How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device

MATCH INFO

World Cup qualifier

Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')

UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')

THE DETAILS

Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Defending champions

World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack

The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

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)
What is Reform?

Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.

It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.

Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.

After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.

The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.

Zidane's managerial achievements

La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

Tips on buying property during a pandemic

Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.

While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.

While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar. 

Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.

Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities. 

Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong. 

Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.