THIS SLICK COMEDY never takes its revenge fantasies too seriously, as it finds a glint of lighthearted inspiration from the crimes of New York tycoon Bernie Madoff, whose fraudulent dealings cost his hapless investors $18 billion.

Alan Alda plays Madoff proxy Arthur Shaw, a genial business fatcat who lives in a luxury New York tower managed by Josh Kovacs (Stiller). When Shaw is arrested for a Ponzi scheme fraud, Josh discovers that his pension and those of all his staff have vanished into thin air, as he handed him the funds to invest in good faith.

The distraught employees, who also lose their jobs in a fit of rage, hatch a scheme to break back into the building and reclaim their money from a safe hidden somewhere in Shaw’s empty penthouse apartment.

Helping the clueless first-time criminals is veteran petty thief Slide – Eddie Murphy seamlessly transitioning back to the quick-talking comedy great of ages past after years in the doldrums.

Love Connection

Lady Gaga & Siva Kaneswaran

BACK ON THE market following her split from Vampire Diaries star Taylor Kinney, Lady Gaga is no doubt on the hunt for a man.

We’ve paired the pop phenomenon, 26, with the Zoolander-esque Siva Kaneswaran from British boy band The Wanted. Riding high in the US charts with their track Glad You Came, the five-piece are battling their younger counterparts One Direction for pop dominance.

And while we’re not sure whether 23-year-old Siva, who grew up in Dublin with his Sri Lankan father and Irish mother, is quite the oddest pick we could have chosen for Gaga, we think he might balance out her more off-the-wall moments. Mole of the Emirates

Overheard from conversations around Dubai this week…

>“It might serve as a brief distraction to the egg sandwiches”

>“You can have the mandolin, you can have the ukulele”

>“That was a half sneeze”

>“Is it inflatable and does it float?”

Just for Laughs

“DOCTOR, DOCTOR, I keep seeing into the future!”

“And when did this start?”

“Next Tuesday afternoon.” 

Celeb Trivia

UK POP ACT D:Ream had a fleeting bout of fame in the mid-1990s with the number one single Things Can Only Get Better and number three follow-up U R the Best Thing.

The former track gained greater notoriety when it was selected as the Labour Party’s theme tune in the run-up to the 1997 General Election, which eventually saw Tony Blair replace the Conservative Party’s John Major as Prime Minister.

Though the band itself quickly faded into obscurity, its keyboardist Brian Cox went on to a career far removed from your usual has-been pop star.

Already holding a first class degree and a masters degree in physics, he completed his PhD in the subject with a thesis titled ‘Double Diffraction Dissociation at Large Momentum Transfer’.

Brian, 44, has since rediscovered fame as a BBC radio and television presenter on a wealth of science shows. He is also a professor at the University of Manchester, a research fellow for the Royal Society and was honoured with an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010.

You Tube Giggles

Fresh ice

WITH THE RE-RELEASE of James Cameron’s blockbuster epic Titanic, it’s no surprise that the parodies have been coming thick and fast.

‘Titanic in Super 3D’ has racked up 16 million hits on YouTube to date. The clip shows how the film has grown even more realistic for cinema audiences – as unsuspecting members get pelted with ice from the iceberg collision and witness the introduction of sea monsters, Storm Troopers and trance music for the liner’s doomed maiden journey.

To see the clip, visit www.youtube.com and type ‘Titanic in Super 3D’ into the search box.