Apple TV+ released a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone from Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and people are saying that the Oscar winner is unrecognizable. I don’t know why because I can totally tell it is him. What about you?
So what is this film all about? It is set in “1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.”
If it sounds like something you want to see, then it will be coming to the streaming service soon.
Sometimes the past repeats itself. Today, Calls, which is now streaming on Apple TV+, is doing just that. They are taking us back to the days when shows aired on the radio, and we had to imagine what the story we were listening to looked like. By picturing what was going, it made the story even more chilling because your mind can and will play tricks on you.
For example, Orson Wells made people believe on Halloween in 1938, that New Jersey was being attacked by Martians. When you can’t see what is going on, it makes things even scarier and more believable. They say seeing is believing, but what happens when you can’t see anything? Calls is working with that concept, and giving us a television series with no images.
All we can do is listen to the strange phone calls that are going on between two people. Have you ever been talking to someone, and then you hear something odd in the background, and the person you are talking to has suddenly stops talking. In your mind, you are imagining the most horrific thing is happening until they speak to you again.
Instead of this being a one-sided conversation, you are listening to conversations of several people in nine different episodes. The voices behind the phone calls are Nicholas Braun, Clancy Brown, Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Nick Jonas, Riley Keough, Joey King, Stephen Lang, Jaeden Martell, Paola Nuñez, Pedro Pascal, Edi Patterson, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jennifer Tilly.
Imagine you are an old school phone operator listening in the conversations of strangers, and something strange is going on. That is exactly what you are doing the second you press play on this intense and thrilling drama.
In episode 1 – A man calls his girlfriend in NYC, and then his mistress in Los Angeles, where he lives now. While on the phone with his mistress, she calls him on the same line. And it just gets weirder from that point on.
In episode 2 – A man runs out on his wife after she tells him she was pregnant. Every time he calls someone, days and then years have passed by. However, for him, it is the same day, and only minutes have passed since his last phone to them.
In episode 3 – A man gets a call from his neighbor to check on his house because he had already left for the airport. When the man gets there, he notices that the door is wide open. The neighbor asks him to look inside the house, including his bedroom closet. When the man opens up the closet door, he sees a box inside and takes that box back to his house with him. What happens next changes the man’s life forever. And it has nothing to do with the contents of the box.
In episode 4 – A woman’s marriage is on the rocks because her sister is a hypochondriac. While the woman is on the phone with her husband trying to save her marriage, her sister calls her and says that this is the sickest she has ever felt. Is her sister really sick this time?
In episode 5- A man accidentally shoots and kills his fiancee, so he calls 911 to report the murder. Then while he is on the phone with the 911 operator, his dead fiancee calls him. How is that possible?
In episode 6 – A man is in jail for killing someone he didn’t, or at least he does not have any memory of killing her. His friend says that he left a message confessing to the murder, but he doesn’t remember making the call. Did he black out the murder?
In episode 7 – A 21-year-old girl calls her mom from the future due to a glitch that allows her to do it. When she gets in touch with her mom, she then has to convince her that she is the future version of the 8-year-old girl who is calling her from 13 years in the future. Why is the call so important? She has to tell her not to do something on a future date. What happens when her mom from the past gets to that date. Another glitch allows her to find out.
In episode 8 – A pilot calls his young daughter from the plane, and she tells him that her mom, his wife, is crying because she told her that he just died. Then the stewardess tells the pilot that the passengers on the flight just saw on the news that the plane they are on crashed. How could that be if we are listening to their conversation?
All of this leads to episode 9 that wraps up this season brilliantly.
After these episodes end, you are going to want to listen to it all over again to hear what you missed.
I honestly cannot remember the last time a series blew me away like this one. It could be because I had to use my imagination, and I have one that is warped and very visual. I think I made the scenarios scarier and more intense because of that. Not that I am complaining because I loved every minute of this first season.
The season is roughly four hours long. After you hit stop for the last time, it will like no time has passed since you hit play for the first one.
Since we all have time on our hands, this is the perfect way to waste it. It is something different, original, and exciting. Something we all need these days.
Calls is based on the French show created by Timothée Hochet that aired on Canal+.
Just one final thought, you might want to put your phones on mute or shut them off when you are watching the drama. There is nothing scarier than hearing your phone ring while you are watching Calls.
Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang have been on our television since 1965. Ever since then, people who walk on two legs have been watching and enjoying him. But what about those who walk on four legs as he does?
Since Apple TV+ just beautifully revived the series, they asked that very question. Several masters sent in videos of their best friends watching the black and white animated dog. Did the puppies enjoy it? They all think the show is wooferful.
I tried to get my cat to watch, but all she wanted to do was eat Woodstock, the bird. Maybe I should not have bought her stuffed animal that looks him to destroy?
Before there was television, there was radio. People listened to the show and had to imagine what it looked like. That is why Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds was able to convince his listeners that New Jersey was actually being attacked by aliens in 1938. Imagine if a network could do today? That is what Apple TV+ is asking us to do with their show Calls that starts streaming on March 17th.
In each of the 9 episodes, a darkly dramatic mystery will unfold through a series of seemingly boring, unconnected phone conversations that quickly become chaotic as the characters’ lives are thrown into disarray.
Characters who are voiced by Nicholas Braun, Clancy Brown, Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Nick Jonas, Riley Keough, Joey King, Stephen Lang, Jaeden Martell, Paola Nuñez, Pedro Pascal, Edi Patterson, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jennifer Tilly.
We are used to watching television with two of our senses. What happens if we can only use one to solve a haunting mystery? Will it make the viewing experience more satisfying, or will it keep us up all night? We will find out soon enough…
Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang have been around for 70 years. However, they are not too old for a new take. Therefore, Apple TV+ has brought the popular comic strip back for six new beautiful episodes. Each episode of The Snoopy Show includes three different stories.
Within one minute of the first episode, I was in love again with Snoopy and his friends Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Franklin, Schroeder, Peppermint Patty, and Woodstock. That is because it is so pretty. I am not a fan of modern computerized animation like that stuff that is done for Disney these days because I think it looks so cheap. The Snoopy Show makes the old hand-drawn animation look smooth and flawless. It is a cleaner version of what we have known. Like I said, pretty.
The stories are new, but it has that old Snoopy feel that we have loved for seven decades and counting. There is a reason why they have stood the test of time and are so beloved.
The Snoopy Show is a perfect tribute to their long-honored tradition. It has something for fans of all generations. The only thing missing was the teacher speak. As much as I miss that, I love and adored everything else about it. It makes me feel like a kid all over again. I am sure it will do the same for you too.
Whether you have been a fan of the Peanuts since you were a kid, or this will be the first time you are watching them, I promise you are going to enjoy all 18 stories that are out now on Apple TV+
