Welcome to another edition of ‘Up Next’ here at Screen Times. This week, our very own Jonathan Reed sat down with Anna Symon, writer of ‘The Essex Serpent’ to discuss the complexities of adapting a much loved novel, working with Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston and much more. You can read and listen to the full conversation here and also find it in your podcast feeds.
Don't forget to keep up with all of the latest Apple TV and Apple TV+ news right here on Screen Times. It's been a busy week with plenty of first-looks, series renewal news and more.
With that, here’s our guide to your week ahead on Apple TV.
Apple TV+
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Premiere | 1hr 48 min
Fresh out of college and without a clear life path going forward, 22-year-old Andrew is stuck back at home with his family in New Jersey. But if there’s one thing that belongs on his nonexistent résumé, it’s how to get a party started, which lands him the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bat mitzvahs for his younger brother’s classmates. When Andrew befriends a local mom, Domino, and her daughter, Lola, he finally discovers a future he wants – even if it might not be his own. Cooper Raiff writes, directs and stars alongside Dakota Johnson, Brad Garrett, Leslie Mann and newcomers Vanessa Burghardt and Evan Assante in this tale of unconventional love that brims with emotional honesty.
For All Mankind
S3, E2 | 1hr 2 min | TV-MA
A commercial spaceflight company makes an announcement. The choice over who’ll command the Mars mission leads to a shift in personnel.
Physical
S2, E3 | 29 min | TV-MA
Pushing through haunting memories and physical pain, Sheila seeks relief in the class of a local fitness icon. Bunny visits someone from her past.
Tehran
S2, E8 | 37 min | TV-MA
Season finale. Tamar doesn’t know who to trust. A cat-and-mouse game leads to deadly consequences.
Now & Then
S1, E7 | 47 min | TV-MA
Election Day arrives. Pedro grapples with distrust. Sofía and Marcos form a plan. Belinda finds a clue.
Home
Season 2 | 10 episodes
Discover the groundbreaking ideas and inspiring stories behind the world’s most imaginative dwellings. In this globe-spanning docuseries, meet the visionaries who are challenging conventional concepts of “home” and rethinking how we live.
MLB Friday Night Baseball
White Sox @ Astros / Guardians @ Dodgers
The Chicago White Sox head to Minute Maid Park to face off against the Houston Astros and then we head to California as the Guardians and Dodgers do battle at Dodger Stadium in the second game of the night.
Apple Arcade
Cooking Mama: Cuisine!
Family | 4+
Choose ingredients and cooking tools, then find a dish! In Cooking Mama: Cuisine!, find recipes by choosing ingredients and cooking tools. Start cooking when you've found a combination that works! Try to find different combinations to see what dishes you can make.
Apple Fitness+
The Fitness+ team are celebrating Black Music Month with workout playlists featuring black artists to help you move and meditate with. Check out Bakari’s new 45 minute cycle featuring a brilliant hip-hop playlist and intervals that range from 25 seconds to one minute.
Apple Music
Logic - Vinyl Days
Logic has released six singles from Vinyl Days so far, but today, the full 30 track album is available in its entirety. A whole host of names join Logic on this release including The Game, RZA, DJ Premier, Royce Da 5’9, Action Bronson, Curren$y, Russ, Blu and Exile.
ScreenTimes Apple TV Recommendations
The Big Conn: The Official Podcast
Apple Podcasts | Six episodes available now | Explicit
Devon: “I really enjoyed The Big Conn when it aired on Apple TV+ last month, but experiencing the story in podcast form has been an even more emotional ride. The podcast is an independent telling of the story with some details that didn’t make into the TV series. Because the show was shot a couple of years ago, the podcast also includes more recent updates on some of the people show in the documentary. It’s got the same thrilling and entertaining feel of the series, just in podcast form. I highly recommend checking it out, whether you’ve seen the TV show or not.”
Bosch: Legacy
FreeVee/Amazon Prime outside of the US | 1 Season | TV-MA
Jonathan: “My pick is something that came out last month but due to the sheer amount of weekly new releases and Amazon/FreeVee seeming unwilling to promote this show I've only just discovered it. This is an odd choice since not only is it a great show but it’s a spin off of one of their most successful shows that lasted from the start of Amazon Prime Originals until only last year. Bosch: Legacy is very much the same as the original series (which you should also watch) in that it follows Detective Harry Bosch as he navigates the criminal and legal world of LA. The difference this time round is that he’s now a PI, having retired at the end of the previous series. Joining forces with previous adversary, lawyer ‘Honey’ Chandler, he takes even more risks to get results and find the guilt with LA’s criminals. The series also follows his daughter Maddie as she starts work as a beat cop. The TL:DR (which I’ve put at the end so isn’t really a TL:DR!) of the series is that if you loved the original or any sort of of good cop show or noir PI you will love this smartly acted, well plotted drama. A second season has already been commissioned.”
Patrick Tomasso
YouTube | Film Video Essays
Sigmund: “Welcome to the world of Patrick Tomasso. A filmmaker, director of photography and YouTube creative who’s bite-sized videos have fast become prescribed viewing and a personal highlight of 2022. Having stumbled across Patrick for his witty and well-thought takes on creative tools - including the iPhone’s cinematic mode and its shaky lens flare history - and what has become a mutual obsession with lamps, its his recent shift to entertaining and informative video essays on recent blockbusters that make this a well placed Up Next recommendation.
A lover of cinema and mutual admirer of the craft of practical filmmaking, it’s his dedication to digging into the filmmaking process and the technical details that has furthered my appreciation for two of my favourite theatrical experiences this year. When you realise that Top Gun: Maverick didn’t use CGI and instead, put its actors through flight-training whilst teaching them how to operate deconstructed Sony Venice cinema cameras 15,000 ft in the air, all for making a film the best it can be, you fall in love with the magic of cinema all over again. When you understand Matt Reeves and Greig Fraser’s interesting approach to digital cinema with 35mm for ‘The Batman’, you develop a further appreciation for how special a spectacle that film is - and how it shouldn’t be written off as just another superhero film. Patrick’s essay’s are fast becoming a digital equivalent to the Criterion Collection’s linear notes. Long may he continue.
Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes
TV App | 1hr 10 min | TV-MA
James: “A lovely, quirky little film about a cafe owner who discovers that his computer monitor shows what will happen exactly two minutes in the future. He also discovers that his iMac downstairs in the cafe shows the past of two minutes before. As his friends find out, they decide to see how far they can push things and as you can expect, chaos ensues. This is all shot in as one continuous take and absolutely melted my brain. I loved it. One of the most fantastically creative films I’ve seen in a long time, despite clearly being done on a shoestring budget. It’s certainly one that will mess with your mind as you try to work out the intricacies of what’s happening but also very funny and a film with a ton of heart and a positive overall message. In an age where blockbusters reign supreme, it’s great to see fantastically creative small films like this continue to be made.