As the obituaries mount up for Corey Haim, the star of the cult film The Lost Boys who died on Wednesday aged 38, there's something rather puzzling about how he is being cast. Almost every newspaper and website has him down as a teen heartthrob of the late 1980s. True, as Sam Emerson, he was a fresh faced, good-looking kid. But he was just a kid. Being 13 myself at that time, I can confidently report that the older brother Michael (Jason Patric) was the pin-up teenage girls really wanted on their walls.
Haim's character was a hero for the male section of The Lost Boys' sizeable audience. The film plays like a grown-up Scooby Doo: the gang of vampiric bikers who terrorise the troubled Californian seaside town of Santa Carla would have probably got away with their murderous schemes if it wasn't for those meddling kids. By gathering up seemingly every clove of garlic and drop of holy water in the town, Sam and his friends Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) help save Michael from himself and the bloodthirsty vampire leader David (a terrifyingly young-looking Keifer Sutherland).
It's all great fun and has aged pretty well. The Lost Boys was a cult hit because it didn't take itself too seriously, which means that 23 years on, it's still an enjoyable story rather than a generic, throwaway vampire movie simply intent on scaring its audience. In that sense, it was the precursor to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight: the plot and subtext - of teenagers trying to fit in and find out who they are - is more important than scenes of fake blood spurting frantically out of jugular veins. Indeed, Buffy wears its influences on its sleeve: Spike, with his shock of peroxide hair, was essentially Kiefer Sutherland's character given a 1990s update.
The constant cultural references also gave The Lost Boys a cool cachet. In fact, Joel Schumacher's film defined the period rather more, in hindsight, than it probably intended. Michael and Sam talk knowingly about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Twice. In this world, comic books are crucial and MTV is something no self-respecting boy can be without. Michael has a poster of the 1980s indie-rock heroes Echo And The Bunnymen on his wall and they contribute a song to the soundtrack. Schumacher would go on to make his name as the blockbusting director of the 1990s Batman films, but here, he spends the first third of the film building the strange world of Santa Carla so intricately that Michael being enticed into drinking David's vampire blood seems somehow believable.
But, as so often with teenage actors, these breakthrough performances were, on the whole, the high-water mark of careers rather than a precursor of greater things to come. Haim's career nosedived into straight-to-video movies. He had weight and drug problems. So low did he go that the Irish indie band The Thrills wrote a hit single in 2004 entitled Whatever Happened To Corey Haim? Corey Feldman knew the answer: he had continued to work with his Lost Boys co-star - the nadir of this collaboration coming when the pair hit upon an idea for a reality television show called The Two Coreys.
Jason Patric's career, too, has been characterised by bit-part roles and gossip-mag infamy: he was the man Julia Roberts ran away with to Europe three days before she was due to marry Kiefer Sutherland. And talking of Sutherland, he is perhaps the only actor here to have made good on his early promise, his role as Jack Bauer in 24 making him a huge star. Even so, his reputation for Hollywood carousing has at times threatened to derail his career.
If most of its stars' careers have stalled, The Lost Boys legend has at least lived on. So it wasn't much of a surprise when a sequel surfaced in 2008. The problem was, Lost Boys: The Tribe was terrible, a straight-to-DVD affair that dismally mimicked the original's storyline but cheapened the legacy through puerile titillation. The producers couldn't attract Kiefer Sutherland, so they somewhat desperately cast Angus Sutherland - Kiefer's brother - as head vampire instead. Corey Feldman and Corey Haim did make appearances (the latter in the credits, strangely) but it was desperate stuff.
Incredibly, though, it made Warner Premiere so much money, a follow-up - Lost Boys: the Thirst - is now in production. Again, it won't be coming to any cinema near you, and again it appears to combine the continuing cult status of the original (Feldman and Newlander star) with tacky sensationalism (a South African supermodel plays the love interest).
It would be pointless to hold out much hope for it. So perhaps it is best to remember The Lost Boys - and Corey Haim - for the original. And if, somehow, the glories of The Lost Boys have passed you by, find a copy and enjoy this classic teen film. As Kiefer Sutherland says to Jason Patric: "Initiation's over, Michael. Time to join the club."
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Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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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.”
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
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UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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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
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THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5