AD200910707319988AR
AD200910707319988AR

Black humour



He may be approaching 40, but Jack Black shows no sign of abandoning the shamelessly immature sense of fun that's made him one of cinema's most popular comedy actors. Ahead of the release of his new film, Year One, the father of two and part-time rock star talks to John Hiscock about his favourite type of fan and the key to getting a laugh. Very little about Jack Black is straightforward; what you see is not always what you get. He can be childish, complex, exuberant, morose and outlandish, sometimes all within the space of minutes.

But Harold Ramis, who has worked with comic actors for the best part of 35 years and who directed him in his latest comedy, Year One, thinks he has him figured out. "Jack," he says, "is immature but he's not infantile; he just knows how to be silly." Told of the remark later, Jack Black thought about it for a long moment and then smiles beatifically. "That's a really sweet, sweet compliment."

Silliness is something on which the chubby, puckish actor has built a successful film career; his frenetic screen presence and lowbrow form of humour have won him hordes of fans among younger filmgoers and still astonishes his peers. "He's spent more time on screen in his underwear than any other actor in history," says Ramis. "He's totally shameless. He'll do anything," marvels Michael Cera, who co-stars with Black in Year One, which opens here on August 13.

Black himself is reluctant to indulge in any in-depth self-analysis. "I have flaws, but I've learnt that if you talk too much about your insecurities and your weak points, it comes right back to haunt you. All the things that you shouldn't have said just never go away. "I don't have anything to say about how great I am," he beams broadly. It is difficult to know when the rubbery-faced actor is joking. He will say something that sounds serious, allow it to sink in, and then he will giggle or laugh and it is difficult not to laugh with him. During our interview in a suite at New York's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, he talks seriously about his rock band Tenacious D, sings a couple of verses of the Beatles' song Dig A Pony, veers into a long, detailed and nauseatingly gross description of a stomach flu he recently suffered in London and tells of losing a python he was looking after for a friend.

At one point he unbuttons his jeans to show off the red and black striped underpants his wife had bought for him. "I'm not totally comfortable with my body but my acting is good," he says with a straight face. "I'm willing to go places to get a laugh and if it means being embarrassed, that's OK. "Unpredictability is the key to comedy. I strive to achieve it because I think laughter comes from being surprised, and the best comedy is when a comedian surprises himself, and it's not easy to surprise yourself. You have to be really relaxed and just let things flow from the subconscious and something will come out of your mouth that even you didn't expect."

The 39-year-old actor has flown into New York from London, where he is producing and starring in an updated version of Gulliver's Travels and enjoying the perks accorded to a big-time Hollywood filmmaker and star. "When you first start working in movies you think, 'What's going on and why are they spoiling me? I'm so pampered. I don't need this big trailer or these plasma TVs and all the things they're giving me.' Then very quickly you get used to it and then you get spoiled and start to think you deserve all these things and then you expect them. I don't know how it happens, but this industry has a way of changing people very fast. You start thinking things are difficult when really you're blessed with a very exciting, fun life.

"I can live without almost any of the pampering things and I still go back and do little internet short films with my friends so I like to think that I'm unaffected by Hollywood's ways." He sounds sincere, but then he grins as if to say, "I don't really mean that." Although it's easy to think of Jack Black as a relative newcomer to movie comedy, he has been working professionally for 27 years. The son of two satellite engineers, or "rocket scientists", as he prefers to call them, who separated when he was 10, Black grew up near the beach in Santa Monica, California and attended the private Crossroads School, a hothouse for blossoming LA intelligentsia and show-business children (past pupils also include Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow).

"When I was a kid I wanted to be an actor," he recalls. "I was the class clown at school and wanted to make everyone laugh. I would humiliate myself shamelessly to get a laugh. Laughs were like a fantastic drug to me and put me in a stage of euphoria. I loved performing, but I didn't fit the mould of the classic actor type." His stepfather encouraged him by taking him to auditions, pulling whatever strings he could and urging him to reach for his goals.

"It wasn't like he was a stage parent pushing me to go and make some money; he was just helping me to achieve my dreams." He admits he was lucky to have help in starting his career. "It's like a family business and if you have family or friends in the business, you're going to have some opportunities. I was lucky to make some good, creative friends who were able to help me early on. Like Tim Robbins, who got me my first job and who introduced me to John Cusack, who gave me a big movie break in High Fidelity. So it's just as much about the relationships I've made over the years as it is my growth as an actor."

His first idol was the Six Million Dollar Man, as portrayed in the 1970s TV series by Lee Majors. "I wanted to be bionic," he says. "Then, later the actor I looked up to was Jack Nicholson, who was probably my favourite of all time because of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I loved that performance. Then later on in college I was really into John Malkovich because I was a theatre guy, and his performance in Death Of A Salesman with Dustin Hoffman [in 1984] was just mind-blowing. I couldn't believe how real he was and how funny and strange? yeah, I always liked the crazy performers? the Christopher Walkens and who's that dude who played Dracula? Gary Oldman. I like a little danger in my soup."

His first paid acting jobs gave him little chance to display his offbeat talents: when he was 13, he was cast in a video game commercial and then an advertisement for Smurf-Berry Crunch cereal. The same year, he appeared in a play staged by an experimental theatre group at UCLA, run by a then unknown Tim Robbins. Black later made his feature film debut playing a crazed fan in Robbins's 1992 political satire Bob Roberts, followed by performances in Robbins's dramas Dead Man Walking and Cradle Will Rock.

His big breakthrough came when John Cusack cast him to co-star in his adaptation of Nick Hornsby's novel High Fidelity, in which he turned in a high-energy performance as the obnoxious record store salesman and proved his musical talent with a surprisingly adept performance of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On. He turned his brand of adolescent humour into a string of one-dimensional broad comedies that failed to enhance his reputation or find an audience, but with 2003's School Of Rock, his role as a failing musician who took a substitute teaching job earned him a Golden Globe nomination and demonstrated he was capable of more than just outrageous, face-pulling humour.

More recently he had a pivotal role in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, appeared with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in the romantic comedy Holiday, and last year co-starred in the comedy hit Tropic Thunder. Married to musician Tanya Haden, who attended the same school as him, the couple have two sons, aged three and one, who join Black when he's filming on location. Not surprisingly, the majority of Black's fan base is preadolescent and he, in turn, reciprocates their attentions.

"I appreciate the children more than the parents, usually, because when a kid comes up and wants your autograph or is excited to see you, it just feels very? very pure and genuine. They never really want anything from me and they never want to give me a script or get them into a party or something. It's always just pure joy and I appreciate them." In Year One, which is produced by Ramis and the current king of raunchy comedy, Judd Apatow, Black plays Zed, a lazy, accident-prone hunter who, with his buddy, the nerdy gatherer Oh (Cera), is banished from his primitive village after eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. The two embark on a meandering journey through the ancient world, meeting historical characters along the way and ending in the city of Sodom. Because it is a Black vehicle, it contains some gross jokes involving bodily functions, but for the most part it is too amiable and laid back to elicit more than the occasional smile.

"I liked the script because it doesn't take anything seriously," says Black, "and Harold [Ramis] loves actors and encourages us to play." When Black is not acting, his personal passion is his band, Tenacious D, which is a serious rock band that he fronts with crazed energy, despite its offbeat and lewd material and its not-too-accurate label as "The Greatest Band On Earth". The band's self-titled album was a decent commercial success and led to opening slots on tours with the Foo Fighters, Beck and Pearl Jam, although a movie featuring the band, Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny, flopped.

Last summer, Black and the band played at British music festivals in Leeds and Reading, supporting Metallica. "Leeds was not so good because we'd never done a show that big before, and I was worried that the people at the back couldn't hear me or see me so it turned into an incredibly broad kabuki performance," Black recalls, miming exaggerated facial contortions and air guitar-playing. "Then I realised there was a huge television screen behind me and they could see every little subtlety. I learnt that lesson at Reading, and we had one of our best shows ever. I remember there was a train going by very slowly, and they were looking at who was on stage so we improvised songs to the train: we rocked the train.

"We'll do another album - don't worry, we're not going to do another movie - and I'd love to play Reading again some day." After Year One's New York premiere, the actor is due to fly back to London to resume work on Gulliver's Travels, which he is also producing. The film is very loosely based on Jonathan Swift's classic 1726 novel ("it's not so much a send-up as an update") and Black's character is a modern-day Gulliver, working in the post room of a New York newspaper, with dreams of being a big-time travel writer.

"He gets his chance when he is sent to Bermuda to write about the Bermuda Triangle, and of course he gets sucked into this inner-dimensional porthole and wakes up on the beach in Lilliput," Black explains. "That was our way into that world because when the book was written it was still conceivable there was an island somewhere on earth that had this race of tiny people, but we didn't think we could get audiences to take that leap with us so we needed a new way in.

"Before there was a script, we were thinking that maybe he's a space traveller and gets to another planet in a spaceship where the Lilliputians are but we decided to go with the Bermuda Triangle." Black had hoped to celebrate his 40th birthday later this month by performing with Tenacious D in front of 50,000 people at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco as the supporting act to Pearl Jam, but work commitments interfered.

"I thought that's a good way to turn 40: in front of a huge rock and roll audience. It would have been fantastic. But the moviemakers wouldn't let me because they said I might still be filming. I said, 'Come on, please, I'm a star, let me off for one day.' But they said, 'No, we paid you and now you have to work on your birthday.' I'm going to be bad in the movie on purpose that day. That'll teach them."

He is, however, forming other plans for his post-40 future. "My plan is to raise the babies, have some fun, make some more movies and maybe do something with my wife. Like puppet shows or something." Serious or joking? Only Jack Black knows for sure.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 

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.”

How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Profile

Company: Libra Project

Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware

Launch year: 2017

Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time

Sector: Renewable energy

Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

Results

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Aahid Al Khalediah II, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)

5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Whistle, Harry Bentley, Abdallah Al Hammadi

6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup - Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alsaied, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

6.30pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mumayaza, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel

7pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi

7.30pm: President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle

8pm: President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Medahim, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.
At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Barbie
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MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
 

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20M3%2C%208-core%20CPU%2C%20up%20to%2010-core%20CPU%2C%2016-core%20Neural%20Engine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2013.6-inch%20Liquid%20Retina%2C%202560%20x%201664%2C%20224ppi%2C%20500%20nits%2C%20True%20Tone%2C%20wide%20colour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%2F16%2F24GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStorage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20256%2F512GB%20%2F%201%2F2TB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Thunderbolt%203%2FUSB-4%20(2)%2C%203.5mm%20audio%2C%20Touch%20ID%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%206E%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2052.6Wh%20lithium-polymer%2C%20up%20to%2018%20hours%2C%20MagSafe%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECamera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201080p%20FaceTime%20HD%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVideo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Support%20for%20Apple%20ProRes%2C%20HDR%20with%20Dolby%20Vision%2C%20HDR10%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAudio%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204-speaker%20system%2C%20wide%20stereo%2C%20support%20for%20Dolby%20Atmos%2C%20Spatial%20Audio%20and%20dynamic%20head%20tracking%20(with%20AirPods)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColours%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Midnight%2C%20silver%2C%20space%20grey%2C%20starlight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20MacBook%20Air%2C%2030W%2F35W%20dual-port%2F70w%20power%20adapter%2C%20USB-C-to-MagSafe%20cable%2C%202%20Apple%20stickers%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh4%2C599%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books

Tips to keep your car cool
  • Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
  • Park in shaded or covered areas
  • Add tint to windows
  • Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
  • Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
  • Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

Ultra processed foods

- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns 

- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;

- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces

- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,

- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.

Tips for avoiding trouble online
  • Do not post incorrect information and beware of fake news
  • Do not publish or repost racist or hate speech, yours or anyone else’s
  • Do not incite violence and be careful how to phrase what you want to say
  • Do not defame anyone. Have a difference of opinion with someone? Don’t attack them on social media
  • Do not forget your children and monitor their online activities
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)
You may remember …

Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.

Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.

Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.

Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.

Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5