Manolete
Director: Menno Meyjes
Starring: Adrien Brody, Penélope Cruz
**
Brody has never really managed to capitalise on becoming the youngest actor to win the Best Actor Oscar nod for The Pianist. The list of strange choices he has made since that win include The Brothers Bloom, Giallo, Predators and Wrecked.
Manolete is yet another stain on his CV. Brody plays the world-famous matador Manuel Rodrígues Sánchez, better known as Manolete, who rose to prominence after the Spanish Civil War and is considered by many to be the greatest bullfighter in history. The similarity in looks between Brody and Manolete is highlighted by some archival footage.
The use of archive and other similar devices demonstrates how the debut director Meyjes, best known for his scripts for The Color Purple, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and, most recently, Black Gold, is clearly not afraid to work in clichés.
Told in a series of flashbacks, the romance details the bullfighter's love affair with the singer and actress Lupe Sino. Cruz is also perfectly cast. It's easy to see why the matador would fall head over heels for this divorcee but little is made of her political background and her character lacks fire.
Despite some good work from the costume designers, cinematographer and production design team, the film is undone by turgid dialogue, a supporting cast full of stereotypes and languid pacing. Surprisingly, for a story about bullfighting and love, there is a distinct lack of passion and drama.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
