Entertainment
‘Mark Felt…’: Compelling performance lifts this saga (IANS Review, Rating: ***1/2)
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House”; Director: Peter Landesman; Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Lane, Marton Csokas, Ike Barinholtz, Tony Goldwyn, Bruce Greenwood, Michael C. Hall, Brian d’Arcy James, Josh Lucas, Eddie Marsan, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maika Monroe, Tom Sizemore, Kate Walsh, Noah Wyle, Julian Morris; Rating: ***1/2
“Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House” is a remarkable true story of the greatest whistle-blower in American history. It is written and directed by Peter Landesman, and is based on the 2006 biography authored by John O’Connor.
As the title suggests, it is the story of the Deputy Associate Director of FBI, the man who was the confidential informant, the “Deep Throat”, who helped Washington Post Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein unravel the Watergate Scandal which forced Nixon to resign as the President of the US.
It’s Felt’s story. Though not very interesting, it is character driven. It appears to be going nowhere and you know how the tale would end, yet the stress of its protagonist is what keeps you glued to the screen.
The film inspires confidence not only in its leading man, but also in honest, hardworking people where corruption prevails. It reveals layers of conscience that, in turn, lay bare that life’s moral centre.
There are minute insights into Felt’s character which are revealed through generic scenes like those between him and his wife and with his daughter. But most of his strengths are revealed through the friction that Felt generates from his personal struggles working against his own government.
The tension in the plot ebbs and flows as the story shifts among moments in time. Tightly focused, the film centres on Felt and hence, the other characters come in and out, leaving little impact except to remind you that they are famous.
The film is Liam Neeson’s canvas and, as a man of integrity, he paints it extremely judiciously with a calm and unfazed composure. He displays his inner strength in the office scene when he tells his colleagues, “We know we are facing obstruction from multiple fronts… It is our job to follow the breadcrumbs…”
He is aptly supported by Diane Lane in a thankless role as his alcoholic wife who is distraught over him being passed over as the new FBI director.
Overall, with moderate production values, the film is generally low-key, economical and astutely presented.
–IANS
troy/nn/sac
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
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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