Lucy
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Scarlett Johannson, Morgan Freeman
Two stars
So let's start with the enticing premise of Luc Besson's Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson: human beings only use 10 per cent of their brain capacity. Imagine what it would be like if we could access all of it?
Well, wow. It would be sort of like ... nothing new. Because, it turns out, in real life humans pretty much do use their whole brains.
Now, we could choose to be annoyed that Besson starts with a total myth. Or we could give him a pass – because the movie is fiction after all.
The more relevant question, though, is how much of your own brain you should use when watching Lucy, a truly bizarre if often entertaining romp through neuroscience, biochemistry, anthropology and basically the entire human experience, in 90 minutes. Plus a really cool car chase.
Here’s another question: just how much of his brain did Besson access when writing the dialogue?
The director knows his way around a camera and you can argue about the merits of the storyline, but the dialogue often sounds like it was produced by a primitive computer. It’s hammy and clunky.
As for the name Lucy, it refers to the famous fossilised skeleton of a female estimated to have lived some three million years ago. Thank goodness that primitive woman has now evolved – into a bleached-blonde, airheaded student of some sort, living in Taiwan.
That’s where we meet Johansson’s Lucy, whose boyfriend forces her to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a shady gang boss. Turns out, it’s a drug delivery – a shiny blue crystal called cph4. Lucy and a few other unfortunates are the chosen mules, doomed to fly to Europe with packages implanted in their stomachs. But there’s a hitch. Roughed up by thugs, Lucy takes a few punches to the stomach and the drug starts leaking into her system.
Suddenly, she’s writhing uncontrollably – on the ceiling, no less. And then things get really strange.
The drug’s effect is to enhance Lucy’s brain capacity. As it starts to climb – 20 per cent, 30 per cent and so on – Lucy can suddenly speak Chinese. She can shoot six guys at a time. She can hear, see and feel everything. She remembers being an infant. She calls her mother back home: “I remember the taste of your milk in my mouth,” she says, tearfully.
Because she’s becoming so smart – Lucy uses two laptops at a time, furiously unlocking the secrets of science – she realises that her condition means that she has only 24 hours to live. Here’s where you shouldn’t get bogged down in any attempt at logical analysis. As in, if Lucy can control movement and space and time, why can’t she expand her 24- hour lifespan? And really, why does she need to fly to Paris on a commercial airline?
Oh yes, Paris. Lucy heads there to meet Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman, in that gravelly voiced, level-headed role you’ve seen him play so many times), an expert on cerebral capacity.
Simultaneously, she’s trying to recover all the drug packets, with the help of a police detective (Amr Waked) who really doesn’t know what’s hit him but they do have an awesome car chase together.
Professor Norman advises Lucy that as she approaches 100 per cent brain capacity – and death – she should do something useful with all the precious knowledge she’s acquiring.
Then, it gets even stranger.
We won’t give away the frantic ending – honestly, we’re not sure we could, even if we tried. At a certain point, the best strategy may be to just sit back, listen to the pounding music, admire those bright colours and just shut that brain of yours down entirely.
Lucy is out in cinemas tomorrow
Sweet%20Tooth
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJim%20Mickle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristian%20Convery%2C%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The biog
Name: Sari Al Zubaidi
Occupation: co-founder of Cafe di Rosati
Age: 42
Marital status: single
Favourite drink: drip coffee V60
Favourite destination: Bali, Indonesia
Favourite book: 100 Years of Solitude
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Racecard
2pm Handicap Dh 90,000 1,800m
2.30pm Handicap Dh120,000 1,950m
3pm Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
3.30pm Jebel Ali Classic Conditions Dh300,000 1,400m
4pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
4.30pm Conditions Dh250,000 1,400m
5pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
5.30pm Handicap Dh85,000 1,000m
The National selections:
2pm Arch Gold
2.30pm Conclusion
3pm Al Battar
3.30pm Golden Jaguar
4pm Al Motayar
4.30pm Tapi Sioux
5pm Leadership
5.30pm Dahawi
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
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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
Calls
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillian, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
4/5
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.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
The biog
Born November 11, 1948
Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University
Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren
Hobbies: Reading and traveling
