Entertainment
‘Big Eyes’ a fascinating tale told simply
Film: “Big Eyes”; Cast: Christoph Waltz, Amy Adams, Madeleine Arthur, Delaney Raye, Terence Stamp, Danny Huston, Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter and Jon Polito; Director: Tim Burton; Rating: ***1/2
Based on a true story that made headlines in the early 1970 in the US, “Big Eyes” is the tale of deceit and exploitation in the matrimonial sphere of an expressionist artist, where the husband takes credit for his wife’s work.
Narrated through the point of view of Dick Nolan, a senior columnist of a leading daily, director Tim Burton unveils the turbulent ten-year period in the life of the stifled artist and housewife, Margaret Ulbrickm, who painted portraits of sad, saucer-eyed waifs.
After a failed marriage in 1958, Margaret travels along with her young daughter from North Carolina to North Beach in San Franciso where she meets a smooth talker and fellow struggling artist Walter Keane, who woos her.
With an unhappy marriage behind her and a grim future before her, Margaret happily accepts Walter’s proposal for marriage. After a short honeymoon in Hawaii, high on romance Margaret simply signs off her latest work with her newly acquired surname ‘Keane’.
In the meanwhile, Walter manages to display her work along with his in an upmarket nightclub owned by Enrico Banducci. Disgruntled with the location of the display area, a fight with Enrico leads to headlines and interest in the paintings. And soon Walter sells Margaret’s work as his own.
He cajoles her with “People do not buy lady art. There is no market for it.” He also assures her that now that they are one, the sale benefits “the family”.
Margaret, though hurt, gives in. Walter steadily builds an empire marketing her paintings and posters as his creations. And then when things go out of control, he blackmails her with, “We have committed a fraud”.
Now guilt-ridden and subjected to Walter’s tyranny, she flees San Francisco to Hawaii, where she joins a cult that call themselves Jehovah’s Witness and one fine day on a radio programme, she reveals to the world that she is the only artist in the family.
The script subtly brings the underdog story to the forefront with issues of subjugation of women, intellectual property theft and the role of the media in manipulating public opinion.
Burton handles the compelling subject deftly and delicately. And his two lead actors do full justice to their role.
Christoph Waltz, as the talentless Walter Keane is energetic and far-reaching. He goes to absurd lengths with his performance that reveals the sleaze and sliminess of the character. It is a treat to watch him defend himself at the trial.
Similarly, Amy Adams shines as Margaret. Her transformation from a shy person to a guilt ridden slave working on canvas after canvas and then gradually shifting gears to an obstinate and forthright person, is subtle and evoking. She touches an emotional chord and is a brilliant contrast to Waltz’s Walter.
The two are efficiently supported by Krysten Ritter as Margaret’s friend Dianne, Jon Polito as Enrico Banducci, Danny Huston as the tabloid reporter Dick Nolan, Jason Schwartzman as the art gallery snob and Terence Stamp as John Canaday, the snooty New York Times art critic.
The production is of fine quality and the tone of the visuals are earthy and atmospheric. They capture the era with minute perfection.
Overall, “Big Eyes” is a fascinating tale simply told with good performances and without much complications.
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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