How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Starring: Mel Gibson, Peter Stormare
***
With Hollywood turning its back on their former favourite son, Mel Gibson has written, produced and financed his latest venture. He plays a nameless driver arrested on the Mexican border with a dead partner and a lot of cash in his car.
Thrown into a hellish local prison and wanted on both sides of the border, he must fight to survive, enlisting the help of a young boy (Kevin Hernandez) and his mother.
A sequel of sorts to his 1999 thriller Payback (although his character's identity is never fully revealed), the story is an often muddled mix of prison drama and action-comedy as punches and punchlines are delivered in equal measure.
The director Grunberg points an unflinching and grainy lens on the bloodshed, which punctuates the film's lighter moments with startling regularity.
For many parts of this gritty, bloody film, Gibson gives flashes of his former self. A lot of the exuberance of his past performances may have faded, and it is difficult to separate the actor from the headlines, however the charm and humour that made him a worldwide superstar still remain, particularly in his scenes with Hernandez (himself quite charismatic).
One disappointment in the cast is Stormare, somewhat cartoonish as the irate Frank. Echoes of the directors Sam Peckinpah and John Huston are met with a lead actor who clearly still has something to offer his craft, but How I Spent My Summer Vacation is in essence an entertaining but trashy crime drama that chooses shock and awe over something more meaningful.
artslife@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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