In Richard Kelly's excellent recent book Ten Bad Dates With De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists, one of the standout contributions was from the celebrated filmmakers the Coen brothers. It detailed the five films these leading lights of contemporary cinema would like to see remade. One, perhaps obviously, was The Godfather. But they had a caveat: Christopher Walken had to play every single role. It wasn't such a bad idea. Walken is, right now, probably America's greatest living screen villain: you have to surmise it would probably be the most terrifyingly believable gangster film ever.
Walken is that remarkable and rare beast, an actor who makes anything he stars in watchable. This is why he was top of the web-traffic charts last month for simply reading the lyrics to Lady Gaga's Poker Face, deadpan, on a chat show. Two months before that, he was top again, this time for a video which saw him cooking chicken with pears. There was something delightfully menacing in the subtext to the simple line: "What I do is I take some of this - fat. And I cut that off." And now, he is the talk of Broadway after signing up to the Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's new black comedy, A Behanding in Spokane.
"Behanding", one imagines, is a related - if less terminal - torture to beheading. What is interesting here is that Walken, who has played characters driving into oncoming traffic and shooting good guys, isn't performing the act himself. McDonagh's play, which opens in February, involves Walken's character searching for his own missing hand and encountering two con artists and a hotel clerk (played by Sam Rockwell) along the way.
Whether McDonagh will make Walken's character scary, funny, weird, or a combination of all three will be interesting. And, in the best possible way, totally irrelevant. As his incredibly varied career has proved, Walken really can do it all.
His reputation for embodying sadistic characters is, though, well founded. Walken first came to global attention in 1978 as an unhinged Vietnam veteran in The Deer Hunter. It won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but this role has been overshadowed by his performance in True Romance. It is tempting to suggest, watching him politely and then violently threaten Dennis Hopper's character, that there has never been a more threatening scene in a Quentin Tarantino film. He was, memorably, in "a vendetta kinda mood". He has also bleached his hair as a Bond baddie in A View to a Kill, been a remorseless drug dealer in King of New York and a barbaric gangster in Last Man Standing.
But typecasting Walken as the go-to guy for menace seems to rather amuse him. The 1981 film Pennies From Heaven saw him confound those expectations in one easy step:he performed a tap-dancing striptease. He would go on to use those dance moves in one of the most memorable music videos ever. The humour in the award-winning Spike Jonze treatment of Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice came from the knowledge that we were watching a man famous for his villainous roles happily dancing around a hotel. That was precisely the point.
It was also not actually that much of a stretch for Walken - this is a man, after all, who trained as a dancer in musical theatre. He has appeared in countless Broadway shows already, taking on everything from Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice) to Tennessee Williams (The Rose Tattoo) and winning the celebrated Tony Award for his performance in the musical James Joyce's The Dead in 2000.
Then there's the comedy. He is dryly hilarious in both Biloxi Blues and Wayne's World 2. These are the roles that give perhaps the greatest clues to Walken's off-screen persona. Certainly, interviews usually begin with the journalist expecting the kind of intimidating encounters that characterise some of Walken's best films and end with the writer glowingly reporting what a lovely, accommodating and humane man he is.
It is true that a memorable lead role has escaped Walken, but in a sense he has used this to his advantage. It is difficult to think of another actor who is so consummately able to make use of every second of his limited screen time. He is the classic character actor: someone who can, as he once said himself, make the line "pass the salt" have six different subtexts.
Most of those subtexts are, in his characters, deeply unsettling. And for all his comic turns and dance steps, it was an interview in 2004 which really summed up Walken's career. "I think people respect me, but they're always wondering if there's something innately mean inside me," he said. "But I take it as a compliment that audiences get caught up with the characters I play. When I play a villain, I want people to be scared and gripped by the character. That's the art, that's the desired effect."
In Walken's hands - or should that be hand? - A Behanding in Spokane will surely be gripping. It should also be an utter treat to see this versatile actor live on stage.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
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.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
The%20specs
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
VERSTAPPEN'S FIRSTS
Youngest F1 driver (17 years 3 days Japan 2014)
Youngest driver to start an F1 race (17 years 166 days – Australia 2015)
Youngest F1 driver to score points (17 years 180 days - Malaysia 2015)
Youngest driver to lead an F1 race (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest driver to set an F1 fastest lap (19 years 44 days – Brazil 2016)
Youngest on F1 podium finish (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest F1 winner (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest multiple F1 race winner (Mexico 2017/18)
Youngest F1 driver to win the same race (Mexico 2017/18)
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners