| Cult of Mac

Emancipation denied: Apple TV+ Oscar bait flops (but Mole gets a nom)

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'Emancipation' on Apple TV+ stars will Smith
"Emancipation" will not be the second Apple TV+ film to win a Best Picture Oscar.
Graphic: Apple TV+

The Apple TV+ Christmas special The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday in the Animated Short Film category. And Brian Tyree Henry picked up a best supporting actor nom for his role in Causeway, the indie film starring Jennifer Lawrence as a wounded Afghanistan vet returning to her hometown.

However, Apple’s streaming service will not be earning back-to-back Best Picture Oscars. It’s big Oscar bait release — Emancipation, the Civil War-era movie starring Will Smith as a slave fighting for his freedom — was completely shut out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

How to use Apple TV app’s new data-saving features

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The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
The Apple TV app just added new data saving features.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Binge-watching your favorite Apple TV shows on an iPhone is a great way to run through your data plan limits if you’re not careful, so Apple is introducing a way to wrangle in your data slurping habits.

iOS 13.4 beta 2 introduced some new settings to the Apple TV app for iPhone and iPad, giving users the option to control the size of downloads as well as lowering the amount of data used while streaming content. If Apple’s TV app is one of your major entertainment hubs, you’ll want to know how to take advantage of the new features.

Apple shows off its kids shows in latest batch of Apple TV+ trailers

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Snoopy
Snoopy in Space looks like Apple's best kids' show.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s full lineup of shows for the upcoming launch of Apple TV+ is starting to come into clearer focus ahead of the big November 1 launch. The iPhone-maker shared three new teaser trailers this morning showcasing what it has in store for kids and its educational shows might be some of Apple’s best content.

The new minute-length teaser trailers for Ghostwriter and Helpsters don’t divulge much details about the plot. However, the new Snoopy in Space trailer provides a solid peek at the Peanuts gang as they help Snoopy try to become a NASA astronaut.

Watch all three:

Apple celebrates Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary with new video

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for all mankind
This looks like one of Apple's best upcoming TV shows.
Photo: Apple

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on that big chunk of cheese in the sky. To celebrate, Apple has put out a new video that talks about the Apollo mission’s impact on the world while also offering some glimpses of its upcoming TV show about the space race.

For All Mankind‘s first trailer came out during the WWDC 2019 keynote and instantly shot up onto our must-watch list. This new video makes the hype even bigger.

We can’t wait to see this show:

Apple launches YouTube channel all about TV and movies

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Apple TV
Apple’s new YouTube channel is a bit odd.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is gearing up for the launch of its Apple TV+ streaming service this fall with the creation of a new YouTube channel dedicated to movie and TV shows.

The channel serves up teasers, clips, behind the scenes looks, interviews and more about upcoming shows. While Apple’s lineup of original TV shows are still in development, Apple is focusing on other shows, like Game of Thrones which is in the middle of its final season.

Chris Evans spotted on set of upcoming Apple TV show

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Chris Evans
Chris Evan and his beard on the set.
Photo: Patriot Pics/Backgrid

Captain America star Chris Evans is already hard at work on his next project now that Avengers: Endgame is nearly ready to hit theaters.

Evans was spotted on the set of his upcoming TV series, Defending Jacob, which is being made for Apple TV+. Evans shaved his beard for Endgame but it looks like it’s making a comeback in the Apple TV series.

Terry Gilliam still hasn’t signed contract to remake Time Bandits with Apple

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Time Bandits
The time-traveling dwarves of Time Bandits.
Photo: Handmade Films

Terry Gilliam’s 1981 movie Time Bandits is set to get the TV series treatment by Apple, but in a recent interview, Gilliam revealed he’s still not sure how involved he will be in the project.

Despite already getting an executive producer credit for the series, Gilliam says he still hasn’t signed his contract for the show. Even though he claims he’s delighted that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is taking the lead on the pilot episode, Gilliam is concerned about the overall tone of the show.

Finally! Apple might be planning to break up iTunes

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iTunes on Mac
iTunes has been a pain in the ass for way too long.
Photo: Apple

The death of iTunes might finally be on the horizon. Or, at least, the downsizing of iTunes certainly seems to be.

iOS developer Steve Troughton-Smith revealed today that he unearthed evidence about Apple’s plans to make separate apps for Music, Podcasts and Books. iTunes slowly morphed into a bloated beast over the last decade, so paring down the app would be welcomed by Mac users. But Troughton-Smith warns not to get your hopes up too high just yet.

Warren Buffett is skeptical of Apple’s entertainment play

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Buffett
Warren Buffet is Apple's biggest investor.
Photo: CNBC

Mega-investor Warren Buffett doesn’t sound too confident in Apple’s ability to dominate the entertainment industry.

The Oracle of Omaha said in a recent interview that there are so many big players trying to grab eyeballs in the streaming industry that he wouldn’t want to play that game himself. Even though he’s not gung ho on Apple’s TV service, he also doesn’t sound worried if Apple doesn’t knock it out of the park.

All the services Apple unveiled at its ‘show time’ event

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Apple services
Today's keynote didn't feature any new hardware.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s services business is about to kick things into overdrive in 2019. During the company’s “It’s show time” event at Apple Park this morning the company unveil a slew of new services that cover everything from news to credit cards.

There was something for everyone to get excited about at today’s event that packed more celebrity power than any Apple event ever. Tim Cook finally gave us a look at the original TV shows Apple has been brewing up for years, but there are still a lot of questions surrounding Apple’s new services.

Everyone from Netflix to big banks were put on notice today with Apple’s new services lineup. Only one of the new services are launching today, but there’s still a lot to look forward too.