who is the genie in aladdin
One of my top shows of 2024 actually premiered in 2021. That’s because it took a couple of years for the Australian series “The Newsreader” to make its way Stateside. Alas, it was only legal to stream in the U.S. for a handful of weeks in September and then — pffft! — it was gone before most people had even heard of it. Well, I have great news. The show will be available once again, this time via Sundance Now (accessible through the AMC+ streaming platform), which has licensed the first season. Premiering Dec. 19, it stars Anna Torv (“Fringe”) and Sam Reid (“Interview with the Vampire”) as TV reporters in Melbourne, circa 1986. At the outset, Reid’s character exudes big loser energy, which is such an amusing contrast to his work as Lestat. The show is unexpectedly funny and terrifically Machiavellian in its portrayal of small-time office politics, and I’m thrilled audiences in the U.S. will get another shot at watching it. Overall, 2024 offered a modestly better lineup than usual, but I’m not sure it felt that way. Too often the good stuff got drowned out by Hollywood’s pointless and endless pursuit of rebooting intellectual property (no thank you, Apple’s “Presumed Innocent” ) and tendency to stretch a perfectly fine two-hour movie premise into a saggy multi-part series (“Presumed Innocent” again!). There were plenty of shows I liked that didn’t make this year’s list, including ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’ “Ghosts” (it’s heartening to see the network sitcom format still thriving in the streaming era), as well as Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside” (Ted Danson’s charisma selling an unlikely premise) and Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown” (a high-concept parody of racial stereotypes and cop show tropes, even if it couldn’t sustain the idea over 10 episodes). Maybe it just felt like we were having more fun this year, with Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” (Nicole Kidman leading a traditional manor house mystery reinterpreted with an American sensibility) and Hulu’s “Rivals” (the horniest show of 2024, delivered with a wink in the English countryside). I liked what I saw of Showtime’s espionage thriller “The Agency” (although the bulk of episodes were unavailable as of this writing). The deluge of remakes tends to make me cringe, but this year also saw a redo of Patricia Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” on Netflix that was far classier than most of what’s available on the streamer. Starring Andrew Scott, I found it cool to the touch, but the imagery stayed with me. Shot in black and white, it has an indelible visual language courtesy of director of photography Robert Elswit, whether capturing a crisp white business card against the worn grain wood of a bar top, or winding stairways that alternately suggest a yawning void or a trap. As always, if you missed any of these shows when they originally premiered — the aforementioned titles or the Top 10 listed below — they are all available to stream. Top 10 streaming and TV shows of 2024, in alphabetical order: The least cynical reality show on television remains as absorbing as ever in Season 4, thanks to the probing questions and insights from the show’s resident therapist, Dr. Orna Guralnik. Everything is so charged. And yet the show has a soothing effect, predicated on the idea that human behavior (and misery) isn’t mysterious or unchangeable. There’s something so optimistic in that outlook. Whether or not you relate to the people featured on “Couples Therapy” — or even like them as individuals — doesn’t matter as much as Guralnik’s reassuring presence. Created by and starring Diarra Kilpatrick, the eight-episode series defies categorization in all the right ways. Part missing-person mystery, part comedy about a school teacher coming to grips with her impending divorce, and part drama about long-buried secrets, it has tremendous style right from the start — sardonic, knowing and self-deprecating. The answers to the central mystery may not pack a satisfying punch by the end, but the road there is as entertaining and absorbing as they come. We need more shows like this. A comedy created by and starring Brian Jordan Alvarez (of the antic YouTube series “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo”), the show has a sensibility all its own, despite a handful of misinformed people on social media calling it a ripoff of “Abbott Elementary.” There’s room enough in the TV landscape for more than one sitcom with a school setting and “English Teacher” has a wonderfully gimlet-eyed point of view of modern high school life. I’m amused that so much of its musical score is Gen-X coded, because that neither applies to Alvarez (a millennial) nor the fictional students he teaches. So why does the show feature everything from Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” to Exposé’s “Point of No Return”? The ’80s were awash in teen stories and maybe the show is using music from that era to invoke all those tropes in order to better subvert them. It’s a compelling idea! It’s streaming on Hulu and worth checking out if you haven’t already. A one-time tennis phenom accuses her former coach of coercing her into a sexual relationship in this British thriller. The intimacy between a coach and athlete often goes unexplored, in real-life or fictional contexts and that’s what the show interrogates: When does it go over the line? It’s smart, endlessly watchable and the kind of series that would likely find a larger audience were it available on a more popular streamer. There’s real tenderness in this show. Real cruelty, too. It’s a potent combination and the show’s third and strongest season won it an Emmy for best comedy. Jean Smart’s aging comic still looking for industry validation and Hannah Einbinder’s needy Gen-Z writer are trapped in an endless cycle of building trust that inevitably gives way to betrayal. Hollywood in a nutshell! “Hacks” is doing variations on this theme every season, but doing it in interesting ways. Nobody self-sabotages their way to success like these two. I was skeptical about the show when it premiered in 2022 . Vampire stories don’t interest me. And the 1994 movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt wasn’t a persuasive argument to the contrary. But great television is great television and nothing at the moment is better than this show. It was ignored by Emmy voters in its initial outing but let’s hope Season 2 gets the recognition it deserves. Under showrunner Rolin Jones, the adaptation of Anne Rice’s novels is richly written, thrillingly inhabited by its cast and so effortlessly funny with a framing device — the interview of the title — that is thick with intrigue and sly comedy. I wouldn’t categorize the series as horror. It’s not scary. But it is tonally self-assured and richly made, rarely focused on the hunt for dinner but on something far more interesting: The melodrama of vampire existence, with its combination of boredom and lust and tragedy and zingers. Already renewed for Season 3, it has an incredible cast (a thrilling late-career boost for Eric Bogosian) and is well worth catching up with if you haven’t already. It’s been too long since the pleasures of banter fueled a romantic comedy in the spirit of “When Harry Met Sally.” But it’s all over the place in “Nobody Wants This,” one of the best shows on Netflix in recent memory. Renewed for a second season, it stars Kristen Bell as a humorously caustic podcaster and Adam Brody as the cute and emotionally intelligent rabbi she falls for. On the downside, the show has some terrible notions about Jewish women that play into controlling and emasculating stereotypes. You hate to see it in such an otherwise sparkling comedy, because overall Bell and Brody have an easy touch that gives the comedy real buoyancy. I suspect few people saw this three-part series on PBS Masterpiece, but it features a terrific performance by Helena Bonham Carter playing the real-life, longtime British soap star Noele “Nolly” Gordon, who was unceremoniously sacked in 1981. She’s the kind of larger-than-life showbiz figure who is a bit ridiculous, a bit imperious, but also so much fun. The final stretch of her career is brought to life by Carter and this homage — to both the soap she starred in and the way she carried it on her back — is from Russell T. Davies (best known for the “Doctor Who” revival). For U.S. viewers unfamiliar with the show or Gordon, Carter’s performance has the benefit of not competing with a memory as it reanimates a slice of British pop culture history from the analog era. The year is 1600 and a stubborn British seaman piloting a Dutch ship washes ashore in Japan. That’s our entry point to this gorgeously shot story of power games and political maneuvering among feudal enemies. Adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 novel by the married team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, it is filled with Emmy-winning performances (for Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada; the series itself also won best drama) and unlike something like HBO’s far clunkier “House of the Dragon,” which tackles similar themes, this feels like the rare show created by, and for, adults. The misfits and losers of Britain’s MI5 counterintelligence agency — collectively known as the slow horses, a sneering nickname that speaks to their perceived uselessness — remain as restless as ever in this adaptation of Mick Herron’s Slough House spy novels. As a series, “Slow Horses” doesn’t offer tightly plotted clockwork spy stories; think too deeply about any of the details and the whole thing threatens to fall apart. But on a scene-by-scene basis, the writing is a winning combination of wry and tension-filled, and the cumulative effect is wonderfully entertaining. Spies have to deal with petty office politics like everyone else! It’s also one of the few shows that has avoided the dreaded one- or two-year delay between seasons, which has become standard on streaming. Instead, it provides the kind of reliability — of its characters but also its storytelling intent — that has become increasingly rare. Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.
ATTIKI, GREECE / ACCESSWIRE / December 23, 2024 / Elvictor Group, Inc. (the "Company" or "Elvictor") (OTCPK:ELVG), reported today that it has entered into an engagement agreement with CIM Securities, LLC, a FINRA member broker-dealer as the Managing Placement Agent to raise up to $7,000,000 in a Regulation D, Rule 506(c) offering open only to verified accredited investors and subject to securing a Lead Investor. The securities sold in this Offering will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in reliance upon an exemption from securities registration afforded by the provisions of Regulation D, and Rule 506(c), as promulgated by the Commission under the Securities Act. Regulation D Rule 506(c) is for accredited investors only. THE PRELIMINARY OFFERING MATERIALS BEING USED BY CIM SECURITIES CAN BE ACCESSED AT OUR WEBSITE, AS FOLLOWS: Link to Investor Deck https://www.elvictorgroup.com/downloads/ElvictorDeck-FINAL.pdf Link to Introductory Email https://www.elvictorgroup.com/downloads/ELVICTOR_CIM_SECURITIES_SHORT_EMAIL_DEC2024.pdf About Elvictor Group, Inc.: Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in 2017, Elvictor operated as a private Greece corporation since 1977. The Company's common stock is publicly traded (OTCPK: ELVG). The Company operates a global marine crew management/staffing company that provides innovative maritime solutions. Since 2001, under the direction of CEO Konstantinos Galanakis, the Company has adopted a cloud-based system to enhance crew management and streamline recruitment. Elvictor provides various marine services, including crew management, training, consulting, and ship management. The Company emphasizes crew welfare through ongoing training and boosting employee satisfaction and productivity. Based in Vari, Greece, Elvictor believes it has a strong Europe & Asia Pacific presence, serving a diverse clientele in key locations, including Ukraine, Georgia, the Philippines, Russia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Safe Harbor Statement The press release may include certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts but are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may include the description of our plans and objectives for future operations, assumptions underlying such plans and objectives, and other forward-looking terminology such as "may," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of such terms. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein. Such information is based upon various assumptions made by, and expectations of, our management that were reasonable when made but may prove to be incorrect. All of such assumptions are inherently subject to significant economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies beyond our control and upon assumptions with respect to the future business decisions which are subject to change. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that actual results will meet expectations and actual results may vary (perhaps materially) from certain of the results anticipated herein. No information in this press release should be construed in any way whatsoever as an indication of the Company's future revenues, results of operations, or revenues. Contact Information: Elvictor Group, Inc. Konstantinos Galanakis - CEO management@elvictorgroup.com +3021 0422 4220 SOURCE: Elvictor Group Inc. View the original on accesswire.com
Best TV of 2024: A modestly better lineup than usual, but why didn’t it feel that way?India has been in one of the longest bull markets, with this phase starting in March 2020, and nearing five years now, said Prashant Khemka, founder of WhiteOak Capital Management. He thinks that we have been somewhat spoiled by the returns over the past five years. In the recent months, the stock market has come off its highs, but that’s nothing unusual or abnormal. “We’ve come to expect equity-market returns with fixed-income-like consistency, which isn’t a reasonable expectation," he said, adding, “We should temper both our return expectations—aiming for low double digits rather than mid-teens—and our expectations for consistency". Looking ahead to 2025, Khemka expects pre-tax market returns of 10-11%. To begin with, if you were to get 10 lakh, where would you invest? Assuming all living expenses are covered, my approach is always the same. Essentially, all available money is entirely invested in . These days, my wife handles these investments based on standing instructions. If there happens to be any excess money, we invest it in mutual funds or other investment vehicles of WhiteOak. Occasionally, I even say jokingly that the only times my wife and I argue are when she might slip up and leave money idle in the bank for a few days instead of deploying it into the market. We are always fully invested in equities and have never prioritized fixed deposit as investment. So, that continues to be the case. Considering what you said, how would you look at diversification, given that many have pointed out that diversification is key in a volatile market. So, how would you look at that? Diversifying across asset classes comes at a cost. Equity has been the best-performing asset class over extended periods of time. Since I entered the markets in 1985, both personal experience and historical data show that equity markets deliver the highest long-term returns for passive investors. While running a business may yield higher returns, I firmly believe equity markets will continue to lead as investments. Our team also strives to generate returns above the market average, creating a total return that is hard to match in other asset classes. From my perspective, the additional returns from equity investments more than compensate for the lost diversification benefits. I understand that you believe equity offers long-term superior returns and are quite optimistic about the asset class. However, given the past rally and current uncertainty, should investors consider tempering their return expectations? It depends on what the return expectations are. However, at any point in time, if you ask me about expected returns over the next 12 months or any specific period, I would estimate low double digits on an annualized basis. That hasn’t changed, and it remains my base case expectation at this time, too. It’s like flipping a coin ten times—my expectation would always be five heads and five tails. In reality, the outcome could be six-four, eight-two, or even ten-zero, but with enough flips, it averages out to 50-50. Similarly, Indian have consistently averaged in the low double digits if you look at the historical performance. Looking ahead, I expect similar returns of low double digit, roughly 10-11%, pre-tax. Many are worried about slowing earnings growth and the possibility of earnings downgrades. Do you share this concern? Concerns are always present in the market; there's never a time without them. People naturally look for risks, and there will always be something to focus on. These concerns aren’t new. It’s possible that, in the near term, with slightly slower economic growth last quarter, we could see this trend spill over into corporate earnings this quarter as well. However, that’s just part of the business cycle. Over the years, there have been periods of slower economic and earnings growth, followed by times of faster growth. If we experience slower growth in the coming months, it is entirely possible, but it does not necessarily mean the markets will perform poorly. Do you think these factors are already priced in? Geopolitical concerns and elections were major worries—have we moved past them? What other concerns do you see, and has the possibility of earnings downgrades or slowing growth been factored in? Yes, in my view, macro concerns are always factored in on a probabilistic basis—weighted by the likelihood of various outcomes. However, reality can sometimes turn out far worse or better than what the market has anticipated at a point in time. Also, what we think is priced in may differ significantly from what the market has actually accounted for. For example, if we look back five years to the end of 2019 and if we were told everything that would unfold during covid-19, we might have expected markets to perform very poorly. Most people, including myself, could have been tempted to stay in cash or shift to safer asset classes. Yet, March 23, 2020, marked the market's bottom, even when the total reported Covid-19 cases in India were only around 500, with approximately only 100 cases reported for that day. Despite the subsequent surge in cases, millions of deaths, and extended lockdowns, the market began rallying from March 24th onwards. Why? Because it had already factored in these outcomes and more. The market assessed the long-term impact of these developments on corporate cash flows and determined that the present value of those cash flows was not materially affected as one might have feared just a few days prior. Since you brought up holding cash, some fund managers are currently maintaining cash levels as high as 50-80%. What’s your perspective on this? Our team is always able to find opportunities. Forget about holding 50-80% cash - our team generally does not even have 50 to 80 basis points of cash in the portfolio, meaning we don’t even have 0.5% to 0.8% in cash on many of the days because we are fully invested. We don’t make market timing calls; we are typically fully invested, with cash levels of less than 1%. Our approach is that the market is fairly valued overall, but within that, some stocks will be overvalued and others undervalued. In a relative performance approach, it’s about identifying those undervalued names. To outperform the market and our peers, that's what we focus on. Has there ever been a time when you regretted being fully invested and not holding any cash? I wouldn't say regret, because I understand that market timing is not possible—this is my firm belief. Personally, or in portfolios, I was always fully invested at the peaks of 2000, during the Harshad Mehta bubble, at the 2008 peak, and just before Covid. Thankfully, I was also that followed those peaks. I've never felt I should have made a cash call, because I have resigned myself to the fact and the belief that markets cannot be timed, just like coin flips cannot be predicted. Which sectors look appealing to you in 2025? We firmly believe in the fair value of the market and maintain that it's not possible to predict which sector will outperform another at aggregate level. Our base case assumption is that all sectors will perform in line with the market over the next 12 months. While we understand that the various sectors will not give the same returns in any given year, it is still the most logical ex-ante assumption to make. That said, we may allocate more weight or less to certain sectors, either absolute or relative to the benchmark, based on where we see the most compelling bottom-up investment opportunities. For example, if most companies within a sector appear fairly valued in our assessment, we may choose to invest less in that sector, as the expected upside or downside is limited. On the other hand, if we see significant disparities in valuations within a sector—where some companies are highly overvalued and others highly undervalued—we may allocate more to that sector as we seek to capture the upside from the undervalued opportunities. Currently, we are finding more of such opportunities in healthcare, information technology services, financials, consumption, and industrials. We have higher allocations in our portfolios in these areas, both collectively and individually. So, the market is currently in a state of limbo, waiting for a clear direction. What are the key triggers that could provide that clarity and drive the market forward? It depends on how you define "limbo." If you look at it, we’re in one of s, with this bull market starting in March 2020, around March 23rd, and nearing five years now. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a limbo; I think we've been somewhat spoiled by the returns over the past five years. (like the BSE 500) has had mid-teens returns, with small and mid-caps up by mid-20s. In the past couple of months, there’s been a slight dip, but that's nothing abnormal. We’ve come to expect equity market returns with fixed-income-like consistency, which isn’t a reasonable expectation. We should temper both our return expectations—aiming for low double digits rather than mid-teens—and our expectations for consistency. We’ve mostly seen upward volatility over the past five years, otherwise occasional pullbacks of 10-20% are within the realm of usual market movements. Lastly, what are the common mistakes investors make throughout their investing journey, and how can they avoid them? The biggest mistake retail investors make is not allocating enough to equities, followed by trying to time the market. For instance, during the Covid crisis, many pulled out of the market due to fear, only to re-enter much later at substantially higher levels. based on macro developments often harms long-term returns. The key is to seek advice from financial advisers to decide on a comfortable equity allocation and stick with it over time. Avoid speculative trading or constantly changing your strategy based on short-term market movements or media headlines.During the Town of Amherst’s final town council meeting of the year on Dec. 16, a motion was passed approving funding for two initiatives. The Community Support Grants Policy, Social Equity Fund allowed for a $5,000 contribution to be made to the Amherst Community Christmas Dinner. The free dinner is open to anyone in the town and beyond providing an inclusive environment for anyone experiencing food insecurity. The welcome holiday meal is free and open to anyone. Another contribution was made on behalf of the Social Equity Fund in the amount of $3,100 being made to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Amherst. The library provides books to more than 220 children in the area to inspire their quest for learning. Council appointed Rae Burke as a citizen member of the Town of Amherst Audit Committee for a term ending on October 31, 2025. The seat was vacant following the election of Rob Small as mayor. An expression of interest was advertised in local media and on the Town of Amherst social media pages. Amherst Town Council believes involving youth in the community adds value to youth development. They also want to empower young people to be active participants in their community and democracy. Council believes the youth perspective is an important one in the decisions they make everyday and welcome their opinions. That’s why in June 2024 an expression of interest was highlighted for young people to join the Amherst Youth Town Council. The seats are capped at 15 members and there were seven interested applicants over the summer. Last week, two new students were recruited, bringing the total number of members to nine. Town Council appointed Isla Crocker and Hanna Brunt to the Amherst Youth Town Council last week. Town Council approved the purchase of 10 body-worn cameras for Town Police in the 2024/25 Capital Budget. The amount to purchase the devices was estimated at $50,000 but the prices have changed considerably since the approval. Staff are now recommending the equipment be leased now instead of purchasing it. Council passed a new motion to remove the purchase of 10 police body worn cameras from the 2024/25 Capital Budget and authorize the lease. The new lease will be for 12 police body-worn cameras at a cost of approximately $20,000 annually. This new approval will be funded from the Police Department Operating Budget. In leasing the equipment, the provider will make sure the existing technology, data storage in the cloud, repairs and equipment replacement will be up to date.
New pro-European coalition approved in Romania amid period of political turmoilNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising near records Monday and adding to last week’s gains. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time, and sitting a bit below its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 286 points, or 0.7%, to its own record set on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.LISBON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was looking for a statement win from his side on Tuesday and got it as they brushed aside in-form Sporting Lisbon with a superb display in a 5-1 away Champions League victory . Arteta praised his team’s intelligent use of the ball and their tenacity against a Sporting team that beat Manchester City 4-1 in their previous Champions League outing and had won 17 of their previous 18 games in all competitions. "I’m very happy, it is a big result against a big opponent," Arteta said. "We wanted to make a statement. I felt a really good energy before the match, but you have to put it into practice. "The first half was exceptional and gave us the platform to win the game. We were really clever and efficient in the way we attacked them. It is an important win for us." Arsenal looked untouchable in the first half as they went into the break 3-0 up, but a goal early in the second period for Sporting changed the mood in the stadium until Bukayo Saka scored a fourth to swing the momentum their way once more. "The atmosphere was changing (when Sporting scored), they had belief, but after that we showed our personality to get on the ball again, to defend deeper if we needed to and the fourth goal changed it again," Arteta said. "We have to enjoy it, playing in this competition against these sorts of team. I was pleased with how the performance flowed." Arsenal had been in a mini-slump of three games without a win before a 3-0 win over high-flying Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this past weekend. Backing up a victory with another dominant display is something they will have to do all season long if they are to be successful, according to Arteta. "We need the consistency, if you want to be going for championships then you have to win and win again. Today was a different type of game but we handled it well and let's move on now," he said. Arsenal are next in action on Saturday when they travel to West Ham United in the Premier League. Sign up here. Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
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