Etes-vous plutôt “Avengers” ou “Expendables” ?

Le film-événement de cette semaine, c’est “Expendables 2”. L’occasion de répondre à un petit sondage “Etes-vous plutôt “Avengers” ou “Expendables” ?” et de découvrir deux nouveaux extraits de ce second volet actuellement en salles.


Dans l’aéroport…

La confrontation Stallone / Van Damme



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Golden Globes: Jean Dujardin est « The Artist » pour les Américains

Aux Etats-Unis depuis une dizaine de jours, Jean Dujardin a séduit les Américains à chacune de ses apparitions publiques. Même s’il ne remporte pas le Golden Globe dimanche soir ou l’Oscar fin février, il a déjà gagné le prix du public. Un petit coup de pouce du destin lui ouvrirait en grand les portes d’Hollywood.

S’il est encore un peu tôt pour dire que Jean Dujardin a Hollywood à ses pieds, on peut dire en revanche que l’acteur est au pied d’Hollywood et qu’il ne lui manque plus grand chose pour commencer son ascension. Une petite poussée, un petit coup de main, en l’occurrence un Golden Globe du meilleur acteur ce soir, voire un Oscar dans un mois.

Jean Dujardin a déjà réalisé une bonne partie du chemin qui pourrait faire basculer sa carrière dans une autre dimension. Sa prestation dans The Artist, ce film muet en noir et blanc qui rend hommage au cinéma américain des années 20, est unanimement reconnue et son prix d’interprétation à Cannes a commencé à éclairer d’une lumière nouvelle cet artiste connu grâce à ses rôles de Loulou, de Brice de Nice ou d’OSS 117, mais dont la réputation ne dépassait pas nos frontières.

Maintenant, on sait que les qualités d’un film ne suffisent pas aux Etats-Unis pour remporter des prix. Décrocher un Oscar ou un Golden Globe est aussi une histoire de politique et de lobbying. Pour mettre toutes les chances de son côté, Jean Dujardin et l’équipe du film sont présents sur le sol américain depuis le 6 janvier. Dix jours au cours desquels ils ont assisté à des festivals, participé à des soirées et répondu aux sollicitations des médias. On a ainsi vu Jean Dujardin faire le show sur des plateaux télés, imiter Robert de Niro, en sa présence, lors du dîner de gala du Cercle des critiques de cinéma new-yorkais, fouler de nombreux tapis rouges et se prêter au jeu des photocalls. Le George Clooney français comme le surnomme le New York Times séduit par son talent, sa bonne humeur, son humour et sa modestie. Il explique «vouloir rester un gosse, être surpris par les réalisateurs avec lesquels il travaille» et «se sentir comme un enfant gâté, de concourir face à de si grands acteurs».

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Les grands acteurs en question sont dimanche, pour les Golden Globes, Brendan Gleeson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling et Owen Wilson. Autant dire que Jean Dujardin conserve toutes ses chances. Accompagné de son épouse Alexandra Lamy et de sa coéquipière dans The Artist, Bérénice Béjo, Jean Dujardin va savoir très vite si son entreprise de séduction a réussi et si Hollywood est prête à lui ouvrir ses portes et lui dérouler le tapis rouge, rien qu’à lui.

Pour le meilleur et pour le pire: Valérie Trierweiler

Dans Pour le meilleur et pour le pire (Flammarion), qui paraît mardi, Nicole Leibowitz et Elisabeth Schemla dressent le portrait de cinq femmes dont la vie a été bouleversée par l’entrée de la politique dans leur vie privée. Elles ont accepté de parler aux auteures du livre, à l’exception de Valérie Trierweiler et d’Anne Sinclair, qui a fait savoir qu’elle ne répondrait pas à leurs questions. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Marie-Laure de Villepin et Hélène de Yougoslavie témoignent et racontent leur expérience du pouvoir et de «femme de» dans ce monde particulier. En exclusivité, depuis cinq jours, Gala.fr vous propose de découvrir chacune de ces femmes. Aujourd’hui, suite et fin avec la partie consacrée à Valérie Trierweiler

Nicole Leibovitz et Elisabeth Schemla ne s’en cachent pas: dessiner le portrait de Valérie Trierweiler et mesurer l’impact de la politique sur sa vie privée fut la tâche la plus difficile de leur livre. Et pour cause: non seulement la compagne de François Hollande a refusé de répondre à leurs questions, tout comme Anne Sinclair qui, elle en revanche, a pris le temps de les rencontrer pour le leur signifier, mais surtout, Valérie Trierweiler a tout verrouillé autour d’elle interdisant à son entourage de témoigner.

Cette partie de Pour le meilleur et pour le pire suit donc la longue quête des auteures pour obtenir des informations et convaincre la journaliste de Paris Match et de Direct 8 d’accepter de leur parler. Le chapitre consacré à Valérie Trierweiler montre également le travail de Nicole Leibovitz et Elisabeth Schemla pour comprendre les raisons d’un tel mutisme, d’une telle méfiance de la part d’une femme qui a trop longtemps suivi la politique pour ignorer comment fonctionne le milieu et les attentes des journalistes envers quelqu’un qui peut devenir le 6 mai prochain la Première Dame de France.

Au cours de leur enquête, les deux rédactrices du livre se sont heurtées au refus le plus souvent poli des proches de Valérie Trierweiler, mais ont aussi subi quelques tentatives d’intimidation avec la menace d’éventuelles poursuites judiciaires si jamais elles franchissaient la ligne jaune. «Le mari (Denis Trierweiler, son premier époux), l’avocate, la chargée de communication. Trois promesses de procès, ou tout à le moins d’auscultation juridique de chacune de nos phrases, nous ont donc été faites dont assurément deux ont été pilotées par l’intéressée» s’étonnent les auteures. «C’est extravagant, surréaliste d’une certaine façon».

Il est vraiment dommage que Valérie Trierweiler n’ait pas voulu témoigner car «elle est celle qui se trouve dans la position la plus singulière, à la croisée des chemins, dans un basculement très contemporain de vie, de métier et d’image». La politique s’est immiscée progressivement dans sa vie privée. Journaliste à Paris Match, elle a longtemps suivi la politique en particulier François Hollande. Et au fur et à mesure de son travail, s’approchant un peu plus à chaque rencontre, à chaque reportage, à chaque interview de l’homme politique, Valérie Trierweiler a fini par tomber amoureuse de l’homme tout court. Une situation bien évidemment compliquée à gérer: elle était mariée, lui vivait avec Ségolène Royal, et le couple politique/journaliste n’a jamais été bien vu en France, Anne Sinclair, Christine Ockrent, Béatrice Schönberg, Audrey Pulvar sont bien placées pour le savoir.

Une discussion avec elle aurait permis de mieux cerner sa personnalité. De découvrir une femme pleine de charme, qui déjà très tôt faisait son petit effet. Avant d’épouser Denis Trierweiler, rencontré à la rédaction de Match, le livre nous apprend qu’elle a été courtisée par Jean Cau, journaliste et écrivain, mais qu’elle a aussi tapé dans l’œil de Dominique Strauss-Kahn, pourtant en couple avec Anne Sinclair. Il lui aurait ainsi dit «être en présence de la plus jolie journaliste de Paris», ce à quoi elle aurait répondu: «Je pensais que c’était votre femme!». Du charme et de l’humour donc. Mais de l’autorité et du caractère aussi. Au point que François Hollande aurait reçu un SMS incendiaire de sa part après avoir parlé de Ségolène Royale dans Semaine critique, l’émission de Franz-Olivier Giesbert, et confié à ceux qui essayait de le rassurer: «Vous ne vous rendez pas compte, après c’est moi qui rentre à la maison, et vous ne savez pas ce qui va se passer».

En 2005, Alain Genestar, son patron à Paris Match, vient d’apprendre sa relation avec François Hollande et lui demande de ne plus «couvrir l’actualité du PS». Elle refuse lui répondant que «c’est (sa) vie privée», ne voulant «pas s’avouer que sa liaison la place au cœur d’un conflit d’intérêts». En 2011, au lendemain de la victoire de François Hollande à la primaire socialiste, Valérie Trierweiler se confie dans les colonnes dans le Nouvel Observateur sur leur amour et explique que pour la présidentielle, «elle sera dans un rôle d’accompagnement».

Un rôle dont elle n’a pas encore pris la pleine mesure selon Nicole Leibovitz et Elisabeth Schemla qui pointent dans leur livre la difficulté de Valérie Trierweiler à assumer son nouveau statut. En guise de conclusion, elles tentent même un conseil pour celle qui «est devenue la voie royale» du candidat socialiste: «il lui faut établir un lien plus chaleureux entre elle et les électeurs de François Hollande». Une décision qui pourrait s’avérer payante en terme de voix…

Tibor Navracsics’s confirmation hearing – as it happened

Tibor Navracsics’s confirmation hearing – as it happened

The former Hungarian foreign minister has been nominated to be the next European commissioner for education, culture, youth and citizenship.

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Updated

Tibor Navracsics

Country: Hungary
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Portfolio: Education, culture, youth and citizenship
Previous: Foreign minister
Party: Fidesz (EPP)
Age: 48

2011 profile: Methodical minister

 

 

Authors:
Andrew Gardner 

Watch Verstappen venture out on new Zandvoort track !

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took an old-spec RB8 for a spin around Zandvoort’s new and improved track as the future Dutch GP venue was formally re-opened on Wednesday.

Verstappen ran a few screaming laps of Zandvoort in the presence of two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, who has given his name to the new banked right-hand sweep that leads on to the track’s main straight and which is one of the landmark features of the new circuit.

Max was then waved-in by Dutch Grand Prix sporting director and former F1 driver Jan Lammers.

“It was a great opportunity to be the first person to drive an F1 car at the new Zandvoort circuit, and the track is really cool,” enthused Max after his run.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back here for the Grand Prix.”

The Dutch round of the F1 world championship is scheduled on May 3 and will see Formula 1 return to the Zandvoort’s legendary dunes for the first time since 1985.

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Check out footage of Verstappen rushing through the revised banked Arie Luyendijkbocht. Don’t forget to turn up the volume!

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Commission charges more banks over rate-rigging

Commission charges more banks over rate-rigging

Joaquín Almunia has sent a statement of objections to Crédit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan accusing them of colluding to fix the EURIBOR, a key global benchmark. Seven banks that pleaded guilty to similar charges have already been fined €1.7bn.

By

5/20/14, 2:14 PM CET

Updated 5/21/14, 3:58 PM CET

The European Commission today (20 May) charged three major global banks with breaching European Union competition rules by manipulating a benchmark used as a basis for mortgages, derivatives and other transactions worth trillions of euros.

Crédit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan are accused of making false and self-serving submissions to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, or EURIBOR.

Seven banks have already pleaded guilty in the same investigation, which is examining submissions to the EURIBOR and the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR. Joaquín Almunia, the European commissioner for competition, hit them with fines totaling €1.7 billion in December, the largest cartel fine to be handed down by the Commission, which included a discount for settling the case. Deutsche Bank received a fine of €725.4 million.

Banks including Barclays and Rabobank have already paid fines worth more than €2bn in the UK and the United States, admitting that their traders made fake submissions to LIBOR in order to improve their bank’s return from other investments which were indexed on the LIBOR.

The Commission’s competition department is examining instances where traders from different banks co-ordinated their conduct.

The Commission has also put forward a proposal to regulate benchmarks and indexes to prevent such conduct from re-occurring. The proposal is currently being debated by MEPs and member states.

Authors:
Nicholas Hirst 

After conflict, what?

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After conflict, what?

South Sudan and the Central African Republic need “very, very long investment,” European commissioner says.

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5/15/14, 3:55 AM CET

Updated 5/23/14, 7:12 PM CET

The crises in South Sudan and the Central African Republic should be seen as examples of “the impact of neglect over decades”, Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid, told European Voice. In both countries, she said, the true test of the European Union’s commitment would come in two or three years’ time.

The emergencies demonstrated that “the world has to be prepared for a very, very long-term investment in building up these countries,” she said.

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Georgieva described the Central African Republic as “the definition of an aid orphan”, a country that for a range of reasons had failed to gain international support. She traced South Sudan’s problems back to its decades-long battle for independence from Sudan, the impact of which she had seen in her first visit to the region in 2010. Georgieva recalled landing in Khartoum, Sudan’s relatively developed capital, and wondering why Europe was devoting €100 million in aid to Sudan. She then travelled to the long-troubled Sudanese region of Darfur and understood why. The last leg of her journey took her to Juba, now the capital of South Sudan – and found it “many times worse” than Darfur. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. “A new state was born with a terrible development status at birth, so it will take a long time to build up a functional state,” she said.

She warned that the EU could expect more crises of the scale seen in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Syria, the three current crises categorised by the United Nations as ‘level three’ humanitarian disasters, ie, the most serious. “What we face today – three extraordinary humanitarian emergencies at the same time – is not going to be an exception. Why? Because of the double hammer of climate change and extremism, [especially] when you have those two forces hitting in the same place.”

She said that the effects of climate change meant the development agenda needed to be shaped to create resilience “to withstand the forces of nature”.“What we see,” she said, “is a very dramatic shortening of the time lag between severe droughts”, with the effect that “people get hit and cannot recover”.

The EU’s own ‘resilience strategy’ is currently focused on the Sahel region, along the Sahara, and on the Horn of Africa. The EU has allocated €1.5 billion for resilience-related policies and programmes in its development budget to 2020. The early signs, she said, were that take-up will be greater than that.

Authors:
Andrew Gardner 

Rent the Runway unveils new membership option

Fashion rental pioneer Rent the Runway has added a new tier to its
subscription options. Called 2 Swap, the membership allows subscribers
to receive two shipments of four pieces each month.

The 2 Swap subscription builds upon Rent the Runway’s Update
service, which allowed renters a single shipment of four pieces each
month. The Update plan has now been renamed to 1 Swap. The company
notified existing Update members of the name change to their plan via
email on March 3, though did not offer these members an option to
change their subscription to try out the 2 Swap service. Rent the
Runway had previously surveyed existing customers to determine whether
there would be interest in a subscription like 2 Swap.

Rent the Runway co-founder Jennifer Hyman

The 1 Swap membership remains priced at 89 dollars per month, as it
was when it was called Update. 2 Swap costs 135 dollars per month, and
Rent the Runway’s Unlimited membership, which allows customers
unlimited swaps, remains at 159 dollars per month. Each membership
plan allows customers the option to increase the base rental of four
items per time for an additional amount per month.

Rent the Runway is currently advertising 2 Swap on its website,
with the option to try out the new membership option for 99 dollars
for the first month.

Photos: Rent the Runway Facebook, courtesy of Rent the Runway

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FA Cup or bust! Arsenal can't afford to wallow in Olympiacos heartbreak

The Gunners travel to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday in a crucial match for the club’s fortunes next season

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shot flew the wrong side of the post in the dying seconds of Arsenal’s defeat to Olympiacos on Thursday night, Mikel Arteta spun around in disbelief with his hands clutching his face.

It is impossible to know exactly what he was thinking when time seemed to stand still at the Emirates, but there must be a strong possibility that his plans for the summer will have popped into his head.

Arteta knew that winning the Europa League was Arsenal’s best chance of qualifying for the Champions League, a situation that would transform what the Spaniard would have been able to do in the summer in terms of reshaping his squad.

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But when Aubameyang’s hurried effort sliced agonisingly wide of the post, the chances of Arsenal landing the financial windfall that the Champions League would bring all but vanished for another year.

There is still a slight possibility via the Premier League, but even with fifth place potentially being enough for a route back into Europe’s premier competition next season, the odds of Arteta’s side going on a run good enough to challenge the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Wolves look pretty slim.

And so while those inside the Emirates were focused on Aubameyang in those final few seconds on Thursday evening, you would not have blamed Arteta for letting his mind focus on matters a few months down the line.

The job he has on his hands in north London is huge and without Champions League football, Arteta is going to have to work with one hand tied behind his back.

The problems he will face were laid bare when Arsenal announced the club’s financial results for 2018-19 less than 24 hours after the full-time whistle had been blown against Olympiacos.

A loss after tax of £27.1 million ($34.8m) was revealed, the club’s first overall loss since 2002.

“Our player trading profit for this financial year was limited and this combined with a second consecutive season of Europa League football has meant the club recorded its first overall loss since 2002,” commented chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

“For 2019-20 we will see increased commercial revenues from Adidas and our renewed deal with Emirates but another season outside the Champions League will continue to apply pressure to our financial results.”

Those figures show exactly where Arsenal are right now and how much the club is suffering without Champions League football.

Money is going to be extremely limited for Arteta this summer and that is hardly ideal given the clear plans he has in his head when it comes to reshaping his squad.

It is looking more and more likely that players will have to be sold to fund any major deals and the Spaniard accepts that difficult decisions will have to be made.

“The damage caused by the club not being in the Champions League for the third season is really big,” said Arsenal’s head coach.

“Financially the impact is enormous because the structure of this club is built to be in the Champions League and you can sustain that for one year or two, but then after you have to start making decisions.

“It will be difficult but this is the situation we are in now. We’re in that situation because we haven’t performed as well as the other top four clubs have been doing.”

The reality for Arsenal now is that if the Champions League is off the table for another season, it is vital that the club at least manages to secure Europa League football once again.

It may not bring in the riches the Champions League does, but it still provides a much-needed revenue stream which could strengthen a squad that is in desperate need of a rebuild.

Failure to even qualify for the Europa League in the 2020-21 campaign would not only have a big impact on the transfer budget for the summer, but it would also see the financial gap grow wider between Arsenal and the teams finishing in the Champions League spots.

The Gunners pocketed around €21.7m (£19m/$24.4m) for this season’s failed Europa League campaign and whilst that is a minimal return for a club whose business model and wage structure is based on Champions League revenues, they are in no position to turn their noses up at it.

Arsenal currently sit 10th in the Premier League, however, and although only five points separates them from fifth, it is far from guaranteed they will put a run of results together that are good enough to finish in one of the Europa League spots on offer.

And that is why the FA Cup – with the winners guaranteed a Europa League spot – takes on such significance. Arteta’s side head to Portsmouth on Monday night for a fifth round clash that is now hugely important.

Win and they will be just one game from a Wembley semi-final, but lose – and the fall-out so swiftly on the heels of the Olympiacos result does not bear thinking about.

This is a must-win game for Arsenal at Fratton Park so the players cannot afford to go into it still feeling sorry for themselves.

“It’s a trophy that we very much link with our history,” Arteta – who won the competition twice with Arsenal as a player – said ahead of the game.

“We want to continue to be attached to that knowing that in Portsmouth, it will be tough.”

And tough it will be. Portsmouth are unbeaten in 18 games at home and have won their last seven in a row, keeping eight clean sheets in their last 14 games on the south coast.

They may be a League One side, but Arsenal will have to be at their best to get past Kenny Jackett’s in-form outfit.

So a post-Olympiacos hangover is not an option. It is not just the Gunners’ season which rests on a good result at Fratton Park, the outcome could also ultimately have a major impact on the type of business that can be done in the summer.

Court reduces Commission cartel fines

Court reduces Commission cartel fines

Fines for Sason and Exxon Mobil have been slashed by in the second-largest-ever court defeat for the Commission.

By

Updated

The European Commission suffered its second-largest-ever court defeat over cartel fines on Friday (11 July), when a European Union court more than halved a €318 million fine imposed on South African energy and chemical giant Sasol for fixing the price of paraffin wax.

Click here for more about cartel fines before the EU courts 

The EU’s General Court ruled that the Commission had incorrectly rules Sasol liable for the conduct of an entity that, for part of the cartel, was only a subsidiary, without establishing to the necessary degree Sasol’s actual influence over the subsidiary. The Commission also treated Sasol differently from the subsidiaries’ other shareholders, namely the wealthy Hamburg businessman and avid sailor Hans-Otto Schümann, who escaped any fine. The court reduced the fine to €149m.

It also reduced the fine imposed on Esso, an Exxon Mobil brand, in relation to the same cartel, from €84m to €63m.

The Commission’s 2008 paraffin-wax decision fined nine companies a total of €676m for participating in the so-called ‘paraffin mafia’ – one of the largest cartel fines ever handed down by the Commission at that time. Paraffin wax is used in a range of everyday items, including paper cups and plates, rubber tyres, cheese coatings and candles.

The Commission said that it welcomed the court’s judgment because it confirmed “all the substantial findings” in the paraffin wax decision and only disagreed with how the Commission had calculated the fine.

European Voice research suggests that the Sasol case represents the second-largest reduction in cartel fines handed down by an EU court. The largest was a reduction of €203m given to engineering firm Wabro, which had initially been fined €326m for its part in a bathroom-fittings cartel. The Commission itself in 2011 unilaterally reduced a “disproportionate” fine imposed on ArcelorMittal by some €230m, to €45.7m.

According to 2013 research by Yohan Ysewyn and Peter Camesasca, lawyers at Covington & Burling, 510 companies filed appeals against cartel fines between 1998 and 2012, while the EU courts annulled the fines in 31 cases and modified it in 69 cases. They qualified the overall success rate of appeals against cartel decisions as “low”.

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Authors:
Nicholas Hirst