Reviews - page 29

Based on a true story about a slave’s quest for freedom during the Civil War, Apple TV+’s oddly positioned Oscar contender Emancipation pairs action with an unflinching look at slavery’s brutality.

It stars Will Smith, whose bizarre post-Slap apology tour makes for strange bedfellows with Emancipation’s stark subject matter and the film’s action-oriented director, Antoine Fuqua. But this cautiously made movie is probably the best possible film this team could have produced. And indeed, it’s quite a bit better than an Oscar-ready slavery drama made in today’s Hollywood has any right to be.

New episodes of Carpool Karaoke: The Series just popped up on Apple TV+, with zero fanfare or build-up or warning, because, well, who’s going to stop them? You? I didn’t think so.

Still, the showrunners did the one thing possible to entice me to review this new batch: They snagged some interesting guest stars. And you know what? A few actually charming moments emerge, despite the cringe-inducing artifice and sheer laziness of Carpool Karaoke’s premise and production.

Your iMac, MacBook and iPad can easily share the Zagg Pro Mouse. With the press of a button, the rugged Bluetooth mouse switches between multiple computers. As a bonus, the accessory supports wireless charging.

I tested it in my multicomputer office for a couple of weeks. Here’s what it’s like to use every day.

Victrola probably isn’t the first name that leaps to mind when you’re shopping for speakers – it’s a company that built its reputation on the phonograph. But great-grandpa would be amazed because the company is keeping up with the times and recently launched the Victrola Music Edition 2, a great-looking Bluetooth speaker suited for small parties or outdoor gatherings. Plus it has some nice extras, like a wireless charger.

I tested the speaker with my iPhone 13 Plus – here’s why I’m quite pleased with it.

If you ever work on the road, you know relying on your laptop for sound can be as disappointing as relying on it instead of an external display for visuals. Not every laptop has great — or even good — speakers.

Enter Edifier and its MF200 Portable Bluetooth Speaker. The company sent me one for review. The elegant little wedge-shaped soundbar can add plenty of power and clarity to “meh” laptop speakers.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the MF200 blows away all laptop speakers, as I’ll explain below.

Allie Fox finds himself in a tight corner this week on The Mosquito Coast, the absorbing Apple TV+ series about a family on the run from the U.S. government. His son Charlie’s been compromised, so Allie must do a local criminal kingpin a favor. And that puts him in a car with William Lee, the man who tried to kill him.

Also, daughter Dina learns something about her mom Margot that changes everything about their relationship. It’s a magnificently tense and very strong episode all around.

Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco heads as far into crowded crossroads as possible this week as people learn to be human again. The show about the hopeful staff of an exclusive Mexican resort finds Maximo faced with an important guest who will teach him there’s more to life than success.

Meanwhile, Nora misses Sara and has to stop fighting her heart. Diane has meddled with Chad for the last time. Memo tries to help Hector live for a day, and Julia needs to do some serious reconsidering. The episode, entitled “Money Changes Everything,” finds everyone in transition — and it’s better than we’ve gotten lately from this show.

Everyone’s confidence is shaken on this week’s episode of Mythic Quest, the Apple TV+ office comedy about a popular computer game.

Poppy realizes she has no idea what fun is, and that revelation is unraveling her world. Ian feels left out of the development of the Mythic Quest movie, and David is his only way in. To top it off, Carol thinks she’s getting fired for mismanagement of company funds, energy, and time.

It’s a strong episode of the funniest show Apple TV+ has to offer.

New Apple TV+ military thriller Echo 3 finds its heroes in desperate times this week, anxious and ready to take desperate measures. The kidnapped Amber has been put in a hellish South American prison camp, her brother Bambi is abandoned by his cohorts, her husband Prince is back in America recovering from multiple gunshot wounds — and nobody has a clue how to make this situation any better. But the writers sure know how to make it weirder.

The show, about what happens when an American with clandestine government ties stumbles into a private war, gets good mileage out of mechanics over message in this week’s episode, entitled “Upriver.” The bizarro sexual subtext of intervention gets quite the workout in this show.

This week on Shantaram, Lin is ready to flee except for one big thing: He wants revenge. The Apple TV+ limited series about a benevolent fugitive on the run from his past is coming to a bloody head as Lin tries to square accounts, Karla runs around town preparing the double-cross of a lifetime, the grim specter of death arrives in Bombay, and everyone else is caught in the middle.

Though this episode is well-played, it focuses on Shantaram’s least-interesting characters.

Apple TV+ spy thriller Slow Horses returns this week for a slick second season of low-brow high tension.

Grotesque super spy Jackson Lamb (played by Gary Oldman) is on a personal crusade in the wake of a friend’s death. And the rest of his “slow horses” are desperately looking for work — even the ones who are still behind their desks at Slough House, the London HQ for MI5’s misfit spies.

Season two of Slow Horses starts at a good clip and just keeps galloping. The show, based on the Slough House series by British crime novelist Mick Herron, remains one of the most consistent secret pleasures of the Apple TV+ lineup.

Which AirPods should you buy as gifts for family and friends this holiday season (or just for your greedy self)? It all comes down to which features you want and how much you want to spend.

Earbuds are a tough gift item because how they sound and how they fit is super-subjective. Everybody’s different.

But our guide will help you decide among the four Apple AirPods models on sale in December 2022: AirPods (2nd gen), AirPods (3rd gen), AirPods Pro (2nd gen) and AirPods Max.

This week on Shantaram, the Apple TV+ limited series about a fugitive trying and failing to lie low in ’80s Bombay, our hero sees that his days in his new home are numbered. The only question is, will he leave before a trap is sprung on him or meet his destiny head-on?

Lin and Karla aren’t sure they want to say goodbye, Modena makes a risky move (and Lisa’s caught up in his wake), and Pandey must put his money where his mouth is or risk everything.

Everybody’s escape plans are falling apart in a reasonably gripping outing of this reasonably gripping show.

The Mosquito Coast hits a dead end this week, and the only one happy about it is Allie Fox. His wife Margot and daughter Dina get desperate looking for a way out of their situation, even as their hosts start to have major second thoughts about their new guests.

Charlie puts himself at risk, Dina goes on a fateful date, Margot throws a Hail Mary — and Allie’s one step ahead of everybody. As we’ve come to expect from Mosquito Coast, this is one tense hour of television.

If you are overstraining your brain trying to come up with the right gift for an iPhone fan, consider a clip-on game controller. Mobile gamers can appreciate that physical buttons, sticks and triggers make play a lot more fun for many types of games.

I’ve reviewed all the top iPhone game controllers. Here are my recommendations.

It’s dueling dinner parties on this week’s episode of Apple TV+ culture clash comedy Acapulco. Memo is under investigation, Chad is under suspicion, Julia’s jealous, Esteban’s nervous, Sara’s drunk, Hector’s in lust, and — as usual — Maximo’s in the middle.

It’s an agreeably hectic week on the show, which doesn’t seem sure how to proceed with its more- serious ideas. As a result, Acapulco relies on an old-hat sitcom formula instead.

Mythic Quest goes Hollywood this week as Jo sits down with actor Joe Manganiello to discuss a role in the upcoming Mythic Quest movie.

Also, Dana and Ian go on an accidentally soul-searching trip, while Poppy looks for support around the office. And when Carol takes a personal day, that leaves Brad free to do as he pleases (and once more potentially ruin the game).

It’s a decent episode of Apple TV+’s gamer comedy — with one showstopper of a scene.

New Apple TV+ series Echo 3 follows two very different military men who venture to South America to rescue a mutual loved one during a clandestine war.

Written and produced by Mark Boal, the mind behind Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker, the series is deeply strange, if certainly memorable. And it shows Apple TV+ heading in a new, possibly suspect, direction.

The Chinese company Edifier has been putting out affordable high-quality audio equipment for more than 25 years. I often find it hits the “high-value” button with many of its products, offering great sound and solid features at relatively low prices. The company seems to stake out that same territory with its W820NB ANC Bluetooth Stereo Headphones.

Edifier sent me a pair of the cans to try out. While they’re not likely to blow anybody away, they get the job done well, with quality sound, strong active noise cancellation and long battery life.

If you want good sound at a good price, they could be for you. But if you’re an exacting audiophile or on the hunt for luxury appointments, look elsewhere.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there’s a good chance you’ll have some down time on the way. Whether you’re planning a trip to see family, doing some shopping, or just want to flex your Apple knowledge, this week we have some Awesome Apps to infuse some tech into your holiday week.

Apple TV+’s Mosquito Coast finds sanctuary at long last this week, but is it everything it appears to be? The Foxes are still learning hard lessons the hard way, surrounded at once by people who are like them and not —  and who know their place, unlike the Foxes.

Dina, Margot and Charlie have their doubts about their new home but Allie is all in, and he’s going to make sure they know how he feels. A hefty new complication rears its head in a tense episode of the thriller series about a family on the lam.

In this week’s edition of Apple TV+ limited series Shantaram, Lin recovers from cholera with Karla’s help, and she’s discovering she isn’t the moral person she’d been hoping she was deep down. Shah and Khan go to war over water, Prabhu gets a win, Ravi makes a chilling discovery, and Lisa and Modena have an ultimatum or two in front of them.

As the show enters its back half, Shantaram’s becoming a very agreeable place to hang — even with all the bad people hanging around.

It’s girlboss brunch time on this week’s Mythic Quest, the Apple TV+ show about the overworked, undervalued and confused team of executives and developers who keep a gaming company afloat. Jo, Poppy and Rachel go to brunch together and make some discoveries about themselves and each other.

Meanwhile, Ian and Dana search for inspiration in the desert. David gets excited because a Mythic Quest movie might be in the works, even though everyone and everything is screaming at him that it’s a bad idea. Also, Brad might not be the changed man he appears to be.

Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco, about an old millionaire reminiscing about his early life as a wage slave at a popular resort in the ’80s, takes two trips down memory lane this week. Diane relives her glory days before Las Colinas, while Maximo remembers a moral dilemma that cost him and rewarded him in equal measure.

There’s a party at the resort, and all the ghosts of Diane’s past are invited in an unfortunately middling episode.

Interrupting Chicken, the new Apple TV+ children’s show about a family of chickens who get lost in the power of books and storytelling, is a winning combination of beautiful animation, good voice acting, and charming and warm-hearted stories.

Based on the Caldecott Medal-winning book series of the same name, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein, it’s another solid entry in Apple’s growing catalog of kids shows.