The men who flew harrowing bombing missions had a lot to do with defeating Germany in WWII. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ dropped a devastating payload of aerial warfare in its new trailer Wednesday for the upcoming World War II drama series Masters of the Air.
Piloted by the team behind WWII series Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the new series dramatizes the U.S. Army Air Force’s role in helping defeat Germany through bombing. It premieres on Apple TV+ January 26.
"Foundation" will return for season 3 on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Epic sci-fi series Foundation, a wildly successful adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s award-winning stories of a galactic empire in decline, will return for a third season, Apple TV+ said Tuesday.
And that’s causing much rejoicing on our own humble planet.
Being highly praised by critics wasn't enough to save "Central Park" from the chopping block. Photo: Apple TV+
Two of the best shows on Apple TV+ have been canceled. Animated musical comedy Central Park and basketball drama Swagger have not been renewed for new seasons.
The creators of the shows confirmed the cancellations on social media over the weekend.
Itching to watch Martin Scorsese's 3.5-hour Oscar magnet, Killers of the Flower Moon? Photo: Apple TV+
Martin Scorsese’s epic film Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, will become available for purchase or rental on video-on-demand services including Apple TV in more than 100 countries Tuesday.
So as of Tuesday, you can buy or rent it on Apple TV and other VOD services, but Apple TV+ subscribers can’t watch it for free yet (date pending).
The fourth episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is out, and anyone who’s been dissatisfied about the amount of screen time kaijus got before will have nothing to complain about.
Read on if you’re ready for Godzilla-size spoilers about the latest episode, plus some speculation about the show’s future.
★★★☆☆
Ed got what might be a first and only kiss from Svetlana, headed for trial in India. Photo: Apple TV+
Not much happens Friday on alt-history space soap opera For All Mankind season 4’s fourth episode, “House Divided.” Let’s see. Two Russians have a shoving match on Mars, almost killing one and nearly causing the return of the Cold War. The former head of NASA goes to work for the Soviets and immediately impresses her frighteningly KGB-connected boss. And longtime space heroes Danielle Poole and Ed Baldwin suffer a major falling out that could threaten peace in Happy Valley, Mars.
And by the way, geriatric Ed — the show wants us to believe Joel Kinnaman’s characters is now in his 70s — finally does get the tender smooch from a young cosmonaut threatened in episode 3. Alas, poor Miles Dale, despite sparks flying on Mars, doesn’t quite get to make out with his burgeoning love interest.
Apple TV+ and Paramount+ might partner up to fight churn. Image: Apple/Paramount+
There’s good news for those who subscribe to both Apple TV+ and Paramount+. Friday brought word of a potential bundle of these streaming video services that would save subscribers money.
If the unconfirmed report pans out, it’ll be the first such deal for Apple TV+.
Jackson Lamb is no James Bond, but Slow Horses is an excellent spy thriller nonetheless. Image: Apple TV+
Slow Horses, the Apple TV+ spy thriller based on the Slough House novels by British novelist Mick Herron, spices up its twisty-turny plots with witty dialogue and convincing performances.
Lead character Jackson Lamb, a rumpled British spook played by Gary Oldman, runs the misfit spy shop known as Slough House. Everyone on his team (known as the “Slow Horses”) screwed up in a major way professionally, earning them their one-way ticket to Lamb’s dusty, low-rent M15 leper colony. Lamb torments them at nearly every turn with a mordant mix of skepticism and ridicule.
Here are three reasons you should watch Slow Horses the Apple TV+, which fires up its third season today.
Lots of information from various sources plus exclusive interviews shed light on the music icon's murder. Photo: Apple TV+
Exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses to John Lennon’s murder, unseen crime-scene photos and discussions with experts — including the psychiatrist who first assessed confessed murderer Mark David Chapman — shed light on the music icon’s killing, according to a new trailer Apple TV+ dropped Tuesday for the documentary series John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial.
The three-part series, narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland, debuts on Apple TV+ December 6.
Godzilla fans pushed "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" to near the top of the popularity chart. Photo: Apple TV+
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters stomped onto the list of most popular shows on any streaming service this week. Even better, the Apple TV+ series with Godzilla and other kaiju debuted near the top of the list, according to a market analysis.
At the same time, Brie Larson’s Lessons in Chemistry continued to draw a big audience, week after week.
★★★★☆
Napoleon (played by Joaquin Phoenix) leads the charge on a grim battlefield. But Ridley Scott's Napoleon isn't all about war. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ took its biggest gambles this year as a distributor of theatrical features with gargantuan budgets and run times to match, hoping that America will want to return to the epics of yesteryear in time for the holidays.
With Martin Scorsese’s heartbreaking Killers of the Flower Moon garnering headlines and climbing toward recouping its budget, here comes Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. The Apple Original biopic about the diminutive French emperor — in theaters now, and coming to Apple’s streaming service at some point in the future — proves Apple TV+ is a safe bet for good movies.
Coupling unfliniching violence with a keen sense of the absurd, it’s one of Scott’s finest films.
"To the cineplex!" -- Napoleon, probably. Photo: Apple TV+
Napoleon, a historical epic from director Ridley Scott, is now in theaters around the world. It’s a creation of Apple Original Films, and there are hopes it will clean up at the Oscar awards.
The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who conquered much of Europe. It details the tyrant’s ruthless rise to power and his obsessive love for his wife, Empress Josephine.
★★★☆☆
After enduring torture during a coup attempt, a battered and dazed Margo Madison is offered work at the Russian space agency. Photo: Apple TV+
Sure enough, last week’s hints of looming unrest blossom this week in a full-scale coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in alt-history drama series For All Mankind, season 4, episode 3, “The Bear Hug.” And who’s in the middle of it all? Why, the former head of NASA, of course — Margo Madison.
In the span of one episode — released Wednesday instead of Friday for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend — she gets horribly tortured and finds herself in a big new space-agency job. But it ain’t NASA this time. I’d say you can’t make this stuff up, but someone did. Meanwhile, another coup unfolds at private space-exploration company Helios Aerospace.
Apple TV+ slipped out the third episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters a few days early so Godzilla could arrive in time for Thanksgiving. Here’s a quick recap that puts it in context not only with the earlier episodes and MonsterVerse movies but also events of the 20th century.
Read on if you’re ready for massive spoilers about the latest episode, plus some speculation about the show’s future.
For once, we won't have to wait until Friday for Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
The Apple TV+ episodes that would ordinarily appear later this week are all instead going to debut on Wednesday, November 22. That includes Lessons in Chemistry, For All Mankind andMonarch: Legacy of Monsters.
The reason shouldn’t be hard to guess. In the United States, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, and many people will either be traveling to visit family or hosting visiting family members.
A smile on Bill Belichick's face is a rarity, but he can almost manage it immediately after a Super Bowl victory. Photo: Apple TV+
Everybody loves a winner — except when they don’t. The NFL’s New England Patriots saw so much success over two decades, with six Super Bowl wins, they gained a lot of fans as well as haters.
But even if you despise the Pats, who are having another post-dynasty bad year, you might want to consider watching the upcoming 10-part documentary series The Dynasty: New England Patriots. The teaser trailer Apple TV+ dropped last week takes a decidedly defeated tone after the opening scenes wallow in the thrill of victory.
The series, which promises “unprecedented access” to the team, debuts February 16 on Apple TV+. If it sparks riots in Boston, we’ll know it touched a nerve.
TL;DR: 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' is awesome. Photo: Apple TV+
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters stomped onto Apple TV+ on Friday, bringing the biggest star yet to the streaming service: Godzilla.
As a lifetime fan of kaiju films, I’m here to review the first two episodes, and also to remind viewers of MonsterVerse lore brought up in the new series. I even throw in some speculation on what’s coming in later episodes.
★★★☆☆
Miles Dale and his new Helios colleagues are psyched to work on Mars. But that doesn't last long. Photo: Apple TV+
Last week’s season four opener of Apple TV+ alt-history drama series For All Mankind went necessarily big to catch everyone up and start off with a bang. So it’s not surprising episode two establishes a more practical stride, focusing on the realities of life in a working Mars colony.
Turns out life sucks for the working man up there in more ways than just an alarming chance of fatality. Life in Happy Valley, Mars, also tells a deeply unfair tale of haves and have-nots, just like on Earth.
Did Apple's working relationship with China cause the cancellation of "The Problem with Jon Stewart"? Photo: Apple TV+
Following last month’s abrupt cancellation of Apple TV+ commentary series The Problem With Jon Stewart, members of Congress sent a letter to Apple asking whether the show’s potential coverage of China played a role in the series getting the ax.
The lawmakers want to know if “the coercive tactics of a foreign power” were a factor in Apple’s decision.
Ben Mendelsohn stars as Christian Dior in "The New Look" on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Legends Christian Dior and Coco Chanel launched modern fashion design amid the horrors of Nazi occupation in Paris, according to the first look Apple TV+ provided Wednesday for The New Look.
Boasting a star-studded cast, the 10-episode historical drama series premieres February 14.
Apple TV+ might be the savior for Coyote vs. Acme. Screenshot: Warner Bros.
Apple is reportedly on the list of streaming services with the option to acquire Coyote vs. Acme, a film Warner Bros. made but recently decided to not release.
It’s a story of Wile E. Coyote attempting to catch the Road Runner from the classic cartoons. John Cena stars in the film.
★★★☆☆
Graying XO Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) pilots a craft with a Soviet colleague in "For All Mankind" season 4. Photo: Apple TV+
Alternative-history space-race drama series For All Mankind returned to Apple TV+ Friday with a season 4 opener that handled two tough jobs pretty well — painfully looking back at past tragedies and peering ahead with trepidation to probable new ones. After all, space is dangerous and so are people.
In an episode called “Glasnost,” set 8 years after the end of season 3, For All Mankind sets its sites on asteroid wealth and a joint mission led by the United States and Russia to get it. And it doesn’t take long for people to start dying up there.
Masters of the Air won't be a romanticized view of war. Screenshot: Apple TV+
Those eager to watch Masters of the Air should be thrilled by the first teaser trailer for the upcoming WWII drama series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
It’ll hit Apple TV+ in January and will be a gritty look at the perilous air war in the skies over Germany — as the trailer makes clear.
It really looks like a song-and-dance extravaganza, if that's your thing. Photo: Apple TV+
Any fan of old-school song-and-dance numbers has a lot to look forward to this Yuletide season, judging by the trailer Apple TV+ dropped Wednesday for its upcoming special, Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas.
The big, star-studded show debuts November 22, along with a companion album on all music streaming platforms, Apple said.