After months of expectation, the first full-length trailer for next year's Terminator movie has appeared online.
The fourth film in the series, which stars The Dark Knight's Christian Bale as a grown up John Connor, is set in 2018 during the much-mooted war of man against machine.
Although questions have been raised about the suitability of the director McG, who is best known for the Charlie's Angels movies, the trailer looks dark and dangerous enough to keep fans on board.
Prior to the clip's release, there was widespread speculation that the California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may reprise his original role as the T800. Reports claimed that special effects wizards would paste his face over another actor's body, allowing him to appear in the film remotely. However, the trailer shows no signs of the governator's alleged involvement.
The film's supporting cast is also on show in the trailer, including Anton Yelchin (Alpha Dog) and the rapper Common, who play some of Bale's rebel cohorts.
See the trailer at: @email:www.apple.com/trailers/wb/terminatorsalvation
The Tropic Thunder star Ben Stiller is in talks to replace Mark Ruffalo in Greenburg, the latest comedy drama from The Squid and the Whale writer-director Noah Baumbach, Empire has reported.
Although not confirmed, it has been reported that Ruffalo left the project following the death of his brother Scott last week.
If Stiller signs on to the indie flick, the plot of which is being kept under wraps, it will be his most serious acting role in some time.
With the vampire romance film Twilight topping the US box office, Summit Entertainment is already lining up a sequel, New Moon, based on the second instalment of the book series by Stephenie Meyer.
Not long after the first film's release, the film studio announced that its director, Catherine Hardwicke, would not return to helm the sequel. Entertainment Weekly is now reporting that Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) has been drafted to take over the project.
The director James Gray has signed on for The Lost City Of Z, a South American epic adventure to star Brad Pitt. Based on a non-fiction book by David Grann, the story follows the fortunes of Percy Fawcett (Pitt), a Victorian-era British spy and soldier who became obsessed with exploring the Amazon in search of Z, an advanced civilisation.
The announcement has come as a surprise to many, because the director made his name with intimate dramas like The Yards, We Own the Night and Two Lovers.
The filmmaker Oliver Stone has announced that he is working on a documentary about the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
The announcement will come as a surprise to few, due to the Nixon and W. director's penchant for controversial presidents. Stone, who has already spent six months in Chavez's company, plans to focus on his leftist South American revolution.
Last week we announced that the Platoon director also plans to produce a biopic of the Columbian crime lord Pablo Escobar.
The acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright looks set to be the latest person to get the biopic treatment. According to Variety, the independent film studio Lionsgate has purchased the rights to Loving Frank, Nancy Horan's 2007 novel about the relationship between Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney.
John Burnham Schwartz, who previously adapted his own novel Reservation Road into a movie that starred Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, is set to write the script.
Hugh Jackman, currently starring in Baz Luhrmann's epic, Australia, is to host the 2009 Oscar ceremony, it has been announced. Jackman has form as a host: in 2005, he won an Emmy Award for his work as host of the 2004 Tony Awards ceremony. He will follow the likes of John Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and Chris Rock in recent years. Organisers are thought to be hoping for an increase in ratings for the show, which last year drew its lowest TV audience ever.
ogood@thenational.ae
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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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
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
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.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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