Entertainment
‘Secret in Their Eyes’- Powerful story overpowers ambiguity
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Secret in Their Eyes”; Director: Billy Ray; Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Dean Norris, Michael Kelly and Zoe Graham; Rating: ***
“Secret In Their Eyes” is a suspense-mystery drama that wraps up a murder case and unrequited emotions. It interweaves the personal lives of a team of state prosecutors with a manhunt spanning 13 years.
The narration starts off on an off-beat note with FBI investigator Ray Kasten (Chiwetel Ejiofor) returning to the District Attorney’s office, after a hiatus of 13 years. He reconnects with his ex-colleagues which includes investigator Jess Cobb (Julia Roberts) and their supervisor Claire (Nicole Kidman).
With his re-appearance, Ray opens old wounds as well as the unsolved murder case of Jess’s daughter Carolyn Cobb (Zoe Graham). While the tale persistently nudges the audience towards a predictable finale, it is the unusual and bizarre disclosure at the very end, that elevates this film from a simple realistic one to an exciting thriller that makes way for debates.
The script, written and directed by Billy Ray, is based on a Spanish novel “La Pregunta De Sus Ojos”, which means, The Question In Their Eyes, written by Argentinian author Eduardo Sacheri. The novel was previously adapted into a Spanish film and it won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.
In Ray’s version, the details of the central murder are somewhat changed from the original film, but it still is as engrossing as the original, mainly due to the powerful story and performances of the ace star cast.
Ejifor as Ray Kasten, explores every psychological shade of a moral man who is hot- headed and a devoted friend, torn between the women in his life and the unsolved case. He is an outstanding performer with an unusual range. He is ably supported by Kidman, who plays the unsure yet confident, Claire, competently. Roberts in a deglamourised role, with her fringed and unkempt hair-cut as a distraught mother and an unassuming colleague is hauntingly intense.
While the performances keep you hooked, it is the snappy edits along with the screenplay criss-crossing between the past to the present that makes the viewing confusing at times. The real chemistry and the essence of the relationship between the characters along with their mood and time, is lost in the pacing of the story. Also, it is never clear whether Ray is pointing out the dangers of an unchecked terror or affirming the need for closure at any cost.
Visually, cinematographer Danny Moder’s frames are straightforward. He captures the drama and the action with equal fervour. The computer generated shots during the man-hunt which includes those at the racecourse and a baseball stadium, seamlessly merge with the flow to give a holistic picture. These images are paired well with Emilio Kauderer’s haunting background score.
Taken at face value, “Secret in Their Eyes” is an absorbing film albeit a bit ambiguous. This film is worth watching on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
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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