A prosthetics-clad Anthony Hopkins stars as the title character in Sacha Gervasi's all-star Hitchcock. Suzanne Tenner
A prosthetics-clad Anthony Hopkins stars as the title character in Sacha Gervasi's all-star Hitchcock. Suzanne Tenner

Hollywood movies are seeing double



Last year, there was Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, two competing projects about the fairy tale character. The year before it was romantic comedies Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached, both dealing with the same relationship phenomenon, and Skyline and Battle: Los Angeles, both sending alien hordes to zap the City of Angels. And that's just scratching the surface of this bizarre Hollywood phenomenon: the twin movie.

More and more, it seems, one production company announces a project and, before you know it, another Hollywood outfit has launched a rival project. It can be any genre - from historical drama (1992's Christopher Columbus: The Discovery and 1492: Conquest of Paradise) to disaster movies (1997's Volcano and Dante's Peak), to science fiction (1998's Armageddon and Deep Impact; 2000's Mission to Mars and Red Planet). Even relatively obscure topics attract bedfellow films, as when Prefontaine (1997) and Without Limits (1998), two movies about the long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, emerged in the space of 12 months.

But what causes this oddity? Is it simply a lack of fresh ideas in Hollywood? Is it more abstract than that, with writers drawing from the collective consciousness? Or is it simply that topical events, such as the killing of Osama bin Laden, will inevitably prick the interest of producers? Doubtless, it's a mix of all these, alongside plain old industrial espionage as screenplays circulate in Hollywood and word gets around that there's a new hot-button movie in the pipeline. With no copyright on ideas, it must be tempting for studio executives to put their own take on a story into motion.

If the added publicity for both films can be a bonus, such increased competition in an already fiercely competitive marketplace often means it's essential that your movie gets to the starting gate first. Take the case of Infamous and Capote, two rival biopics of that most erudite of writers, Truman Capote. While Bennett Miller's Capote made it out first, it took US$49 million (Dh180m) and was heralded with an Oscar win for star the Philip Seymour Hoffman. Infamous, a more star-sprinkled tale starring Toby Jones as Capote, flopped, making just $2.6m.

Sometimes the rivalry doesn't even stop with the box office. In the case of Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror and Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman, both fared well with audiences (raking in US$166m and US$396m, respectively). But it didn't stop there, with both films nominated at this year's Oscars for Best Costume Design. It's a rarity in this rarefied world of twin movies, a trend that, judging by the upcoming crop of double features, isn't going to stop any time soon.

Here are four twin movies to watch for in 2013.

Hitchcock vs The Girl

Sacha Gervasi's all-star Hitchcock centres on the making of Psycho and stars a prosthetics-clad Anthony Hopkins as Hitch, leering over his leading ladies (Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel). Typified by Hopkins' take on the filmmaker - more impression than incarnation - it's cartoonish and caricatured. Arriving at the same time, the HBO/BBC telefilm The Girl is another "making of" movie dealing with the director's obsession with his latest blonde. This time, the story spans the productions of The Birds and Marnie, Hitch's two films that followed Psycho, and the girl in question is Tippi Hedren. Straying into much darker territory than Hitchcock, The Girl features Sienna Miller, who is adept as the actress, but Toby Jones dominates as Hitch, proving you don't need make-up to play the man.

Code Name: Geronimo vs Zero Dark Thirty

Given that the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed in May 2011, it's no surprise that two rival films swiftly emerged documenting his discovery. That said, it almost feels unfair to compare the featherweight Code Name: Geronimo with the heavy-hitting Zero Dark Thirty, the new film from the director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, the team behind the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker. While the latter is a gripping, authentic and painstaking procedural, Code Name: Geronimo is a mishandled, made-for-television mess, as the Navy SEALs (only glimpsed in the final segment of Bigelow's film) take centre stage. (Zero Dark Thirty opens in the UAE on Thursday)

Lovelace vs Inferno

Premiering at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Lovelace appears to have won the battle of the rival films about the adult star Linda Lovelace. Starring Amanda Seyfried in the title role, it deals with her rise as the celebrated star of Deep Throat and her later emergence as a women's rights activist. To date, Inferno, which is set to star Watchman's Malin Akerman as Lovelace and also promises to deal with her secret life as a battered woman at the hands of her husband, has yet to get under way, and may never see the light of day.

Olympus Has Fallen vs White House Down

This will be the year the US President's home comes under attack from terrorists. While neither has been released yet, White House Down has strong credentials, not least because it's directed by Roland Emmerich (who knows a thing or two about attacking this most iconic of American landmarks after blowing it up in Independence Day). The story is of a US Secret Service agent (Channing Tatum) who must rescue the President (Jamie Foxx) when a paramilitary group overruns the building.

Beating it to release in the US by three months, though, is Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen, in which Gerard Butler plays - guess what? - a US Secret Service agent. This time, the President (Aaron Eckhart) is under siege from a group of North Korean terrorists.

Specs

Engine: 2-litre

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 255hp

Torque: 273Nm

Price: Dh240,000

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

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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.
How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

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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Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
If you go

Flying

Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.

 

Touring

Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com 

Abu Dhabi card

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m

6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m

7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m

7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

The National selections:

5pm: Valcartier

5.30pm: AF Taraha

6pm: Dhafra

6.30pm: Maqam

7pm: AF Mekhbat

7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi  

Tips to avoid getting scammed

1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday

2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment

3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone

4) Try not to close the sale at night

5) Don't be rushed into a sale 

6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour

Breast cancer in men: the facts

1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.

2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash. 

3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible. 

4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key. 

5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor

 

Sunday's games

All times UAE:

Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace, 4pm

Manchester City v Arsenal, 6.15pm

Everton v Watford, 8.30pm

Chelsea v Manchester United, 8.30pm

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4

Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

Company%20profile
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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5