Entertainment
‘Wonder’: Heart-warming and wondrous (IANS Review, Rating: ****)
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Wonder”; Director: Stephen Chbosky; Cast: Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Izabela Vidovic, Mandy Patinkin, Daveed Diggs, Sonia Braga, Danielle Rose Russell, Nadji Jeter, Noah Jupe, Bryce Gheisar, Millie Davis, Elle McKinnon, Ali Liebert, Ty Consiglio and Kyle Breitkopf, James Hughes; Rating: ****
The film “Wonder” begins with a boy wearing an astronaut’s outfit and jumping on his bed. Initially it appears to be an outer space science fiction, but instead it leads to an emotional journey about love and acceptance, which is truly touching.
The boy says, “My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it is probably worse.”
True enough, August Pullman, who is fondly called “Auggie”, is a ten-year-old boy who suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, which is an extremely rare medical facial deformity.
Home-schooled and brilliant in studies, August loves doing normal things that other children his age do. He likes ice cream and playing but despite 27 operations, he will never look normal. Things are tough for August and his family too. His protective older sister Olivia feels angry when people stare at him and find their parents’ attention centering around August especially when they decide to send August to a regular school.
“It’s like leading a lamb to the slaughter house,” he says. He is nervous. Not only is he nervous for the same reasons as every other child in his new class but because he cannot walk down the corridor without being the subject of harsh stares and cruelty.
Based on the book of the same name written by R.J. Palacio, “Wonder” is a sunshine film and an emotional journey of August. Filled with sad truths and brutal life lessons that are told in a simple, heartfelt manner, it has all the trappings of a melodramatic dramedy, yet the writing smoothly circumvents it all, giving the film a euphoric, feel-good flavour.
The screenplay by Stephen Chbosky, Steven Conrad and Jack Thorne strikes a fine balance of the tale. It segregates the scenes into chapters that focus on a few key characters that forms sub-plots which tie back the primary storyline. Some of these subplots are unnecessary and distracting, but the poignant voice-over narration helps the narrative.
You would love the film not out of sympathy but out of love for the characters. Every character is well-etched and the film creates a nice world for the unfortunate protagonist but something even more deeply rooted than the sadness in the film definitely prevails. It leaves you filled with gratitude for being fortunate to have all the good things you are bestowed with.
The young actor Jacob Tremblay who was earlier seen in the award-winning, psychological thriller “Room”, delivers a wonderful and equally heart-rending performance. With prosthetics and a dash of computer generated images, he essays the role of the plucky August with sincerity.
Julia Roberts as his concerned and supportive mother offers a credible glimpse of a woman whose bond and love for her son overrides everything.
Owen Wilson as Nate — Auggie’s dad, Izabela Vidovic as Olivia – Auggie’s sister, Mandy Patinkin as Mr. Tushman – Auggie’s school principal and the other actors in supporting role play their parts with panache.
Overall, this family-friendly film has a universal appeal.
–IANS
troy/rb/bg
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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