Apple TV+’s alternate-history space race extravaganza For All Mankind is back for a second season (with a third already paid for). Things are different on the moon but they’re very much the same in the drama department.
Emily becomes invisible in this week’s Dickinson [Apple TV+ review]
Emily Dickinson is finally a published author, but will that stitch the tear in her heart or repair the fraying nerves of everyone in her orbit? Anyone who knows the story of the 19th-century poet knows the answer to that, but we’re not watching Apple TV+’s revisionist history for its accuracy, are we?
Losing Alice crawls toward a predictable conclusion [Apple TV+ review]
On this week’s episode of Losing Alice, the Apple TV+ limited series about a director matching wits with a hot young screenwriter, the titular filmmaker has a potential murderer on her hands. With her movie due to shoot any second, can Alice do the right thing and keep her job?
The bodies are piling up, and Alice is losing control of her star, her marriage, her movie and her life, just as the title implies. If only it were more exciting to watch.
Emily searches for the cure for wellness in a spirited Dickinson [Apple TV+ review]
In this week’s episode of Dickinson, Emily and company disembark to a health spa so everyone can unwind, though that’s not really what happens. Apple TV+’s millennial melodrama enjoys a mostly off week of batty jokes and ignoring the characters’ problems.
That big film shoot grows perilously near in Losing Alice [Apple TV+ review]
On this week’s episode of Apple TV+’s behind-the-scenes filmmaking drama Losing Alice, rehearsals have begun, locations are found, and parts are cast. Now all that remains is for the relationship between writer, director and star not to devolve into shrieking sexual hysterics.
Easier said than done.
The Snoopy Show will charm children and de-stress adults [Apple TV+ review]
Everyone’s favorite beagle flies back into action for a new series of misadventures on Apple TV+. Charles Schulz’s beloved gang of misfits are here to provide support on The Snoopy Show, based on the Peanuts comics.
The new animated series premieres Friday, bringing some stress-busting, family-friendly entertainment to Apple’s streaming service.
For Dickinson, a night at the opera elicits a ‘bravissimi’ [Apple TV+ review]
In this week’s episode of Dickinson, Emily veers nearer to romantic destruction as the whole cast decamps to the Boston opera house to see a show. The episode makes time for everyone in the cast to take a solo. And the show finds its strengths renewed in simply detailing Emily’s emotional inner life.
Losing Alice takes a delightfully mean-spirited turn [Apple TV+ review]
In this week’s episode of Losing Alice, the new Apple TV+ limited series about a disastrous relationship between a cunning young screenwriter and a desperate director, the show moves into the psychodramatic territory it’s been threatening to enter.
In “The Obsession,” an audition goes haywire, Sophie the screenwriter bares her teeth and Alice the director doesn’t notice anything — which will cost her dearly.
Palmer is here for your tears. Better just hand them over. [Apple TV+ review]
Apple TV+ makes an awards bid with the well-meaning Palmer, a drama of recovery, change and tolerance. It might not set the world on fire, but the film proves uniquely difficult to resist.
Justin Timberlake is in fine form as a hardened convict who grows soft and open to love thanks to the charms of a little boy. His accent might not last the whole movie, but his commitment to the part is nevertheless most endearing.
Dickinson weighs the real world and fantasy in enervating party episode [Apple TV+ review]
Dickinson rocks the party this week on Apple TV+ as Sue hosts a salon and Emily tries to boost her confidence long enough to be proud of herself in public.
The show’s tightrope walk of purposeful frivolity keeps butting up against its desire to say and do things of real substance. It’s the rare show that can pull off such a feat. And so far, Dickinson seems too interested in strained wordplay to quite get there.
Losing Alice starts with a bang, then goes quiet [Apple TV+ review]
New Apple TV+ miniseries Losing Alice takes a deep dive into the psychology of two sexually charged rivals. There’s a lot to sink your teeth into with this eight-episode psychological thriller, which premieres Friday on the streaming service.
Losing Alice offers a cautionary tale about the perils of collaboration — and about riding the wave of TV production to series length.
Everybody’s stuck, blocked and frustrated in Dickinson’s latest episode [Apple TV+ review]
Dickinson ambles closer to the edge of its hero’s fame and madness in this season’s fourth episode, which serves as a meditation on creative blockage.
Though oft charming and frequently beautiful, the postmodern Apple TV+ show about the 19th-century poet still suffers from an irreconcilable identity crisis. This week’s episode, released Friday, takes no steps to resolve the situation.
Servant serves up second helping of high-key lunacy [Apple TV+ review]
Servant, the brainchild of producer/director M. Night Shyamalan and writer Tony Basgallop, is back for more perversity, more cultish derangement, and more exquisitely photographed food.
The sleeper Apple TV+ hit comes roaring back for a well-deserved victory lap this Friday. And in this second season, everyone from the characters to the directors seems to know it’s time to take off the gloves.
Dickinson returns for more modern debauchery [Apple TV+ review]
Dickinson is back against all odds (odds don’t include viewer numbers), bringing another season of anachronistic anarchy to Apple TV+. Can showrunner Alena Smith keep this bauble from shattering long enough to get to the third season?
Wolfwalkers is the best animated film of the year [Apple TV+ review]
Wolfwalkers, the animated movie that arrives on Apple TV+ today, is the best animated film of 2020. A fiery mix of folklore and feminism, it’s one of the most astonishing works of visual art you’re likely to see this year.
It comes from the makers of gorgeous animated features The Secret of Kells and The Breadwinner — and it marks their strongest work to date.
Feast your eyes on Earth at Night in Color [Apple TV+ review]
Apple TV+ steps up its nature doc game again with Earth at Night in Color. Exciting, beautiful and cute, the show is as easy to watch as it is cumbersome to say.
Narrated by Tom Hiddleston, the series looks at parts of the natural world previously only revealed in grainy and intense night vision. It’s as exciting and revealing as anyone could hope for.
Stillwater will teach kids how to avoid meltdowns [Apple TV+ review]
Apple TV+ continues its inspired streak of children’s fare with an adaptation of Jon J Muth’s Zen storytelling book series. Stillwater takes the central character from those books, a stoic and wise panda, and pits him against the foibles of three young kids.
Stillwater, which lands on Apple TV+ today, feels like a kind of classic PBS kids cartoon. It’s all about trying to prepare pipsqueaks for life’s disappointments by teaching them how to shift their perspective — and understand that some of life is beyond our control. There’s an awful lot to enjoy in this one.
Becoming You will make you marvel at human development [Apple TV+ review]
New Apple TV+ documentary series Becoming You is the kind of admirably human show that seems designed to rack up grateful viewers.
Tackling the earliest development of the human brain in more than a hundred children the world over, the docuseries makes a calculated plea for empathy and togetherness — and a convincing one at that.
Despite some quizzical positions, Doug Unplugs is a charming kids’ show [Apple TV+ review]
Powered by the formidable DreamWorks Animation, Apple TV+’s newest children’s show is frequently disarming and deeply cute. Doug Unplugs, which arrives on the streaming service this Friday, is likely to be perfect for young kids, and not too much for tired parents who’ll watch it over their shoulders.
Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds will fill you with wonder [Apple TV+ review]
Werner Herzog’s latest documentary is truly an all-timer for the Bavarian buddha. Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds, a doc about meteors that debuts on Apple TV+ on November 13, looks at no less than the way the heavens speak to us insignificant earthlings.
In traditional Herzog style it’s discursive, loopy and unspeakably beautiful. However much Apple TV+ spent on this film, it was a bargain. Because this is the kind of documentary you’ll want to watch over and over again.
On the Rocks is a warmhearted comedy about all kinds of infidelity [Apple TV+ review]
On the Rocks, the first Apple TV+ arthouse film, is an extremely winning combination of midlife crisis, comedy of remarriage, and road-trip movie.
Writer/director Sofia Coppola’s charmingly cynical, shaggy-dog anti-romance — which stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones, and debuts today on Apple TV+ after a brief theatrical release — is a smart step toward filling out the streaming service’s growing library of original movies.
You’ll want to open Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You again and again [Apple TV+ review]
Just in time for election day, America’s real president makes a stump speech that’s part biography and part self-mythologizing letter to an equally mythic version of the state he calls home. Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, like a lot of the Boss’ later albums, isn’t exactly groundbreaking or inventive. However, there’s a good reason his homespun coastal Americana never goes out of fashion. Nobody gets America like Springsteen.
Upcoming Apple TV+ documentary Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You showcases the songs on his 20th album. While it won’t tell you anything you didn’t already suspect, you will find an incalculable kind of value in the songwriter’s company.
Helpsters returns for more of the adorable same [Apple TV+ review]
“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” has long been the Sesame Workshop’s modus operandi, and the second season of Apple TV+ kids show Helpsters is living proof that the strategy works.
The educational show, created by Odd Squad and Adventure Time writer Timothy McKeon, with music by longtime collaborator Paul Buckley, is long on charm and star power and short on filler.
Season two of Helpsters, which arrived on Apple TV+ Friday, is likely exactly what your kids need while you finally get around to doing the laundry. And you’ll laugh, too, at the litany of guest stars and the occasional elegant joke.
Ghostwriter stays totally chill in sleepy second season [Apple TV+ review]
One of the first Apple TV+ shows for a younger audience, Ghostwriter was both a reboot of a ’90s cult hit and a shoo-in to get renewed. With precious little to choose from, the streaming service’s execs had little choice but to put their muscle behind a show with cheap production costs and limitless potential for story ideas.
Like Apple TV+’s initial batch of Ghostwriter episodes, the second season is in no hurry to go anywhere or say much. However, it’s agreeable company — and its heart is in the right place.
Tiny World amazes with an Ant-Man view of nature [Apple TV+ review]
Apple TV+ invites you to take a look at the things beneath your feet in its new documentary series Tiny World. Narrated by Paul Rudd, this show is charming, if maybe too cute for its own good.
Tiny World, which premieres on October 2, is the first of three new docuseries coming to the streaming service this fall. It’s a shrewd and promising start, as Apple TV+ positions itself as a provider of episodic nonfiction content to match its high-profile dramas and films.