Thursday, 27 January 2022

9 new streaming movies and TV shows you can watch in Australia this weekend

With so many shows and movies to choose from on Australia's major streaming services, it can often be difficult to find the best new stuff to entertain yourself with each end of week. 

In an effort to make things easier, we've hand-picked the best new shows and movies to watch on Aussie streaming platforms this weekend, covering the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Binge, Foxtel Now, Stan, Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video. 

Below, you'll find a list of new highlights, with binge-worthy TV shows sitting alongside some great big-budget movie arrivals – and a couple of oddball left-of-field entries, just for some variety. 

The big new shows and movies in this entry include new episodes of The Book of Boba Fett and Peacemaker, along with the fourth season of Netflix's The Sinner, Stan's Zac Efron-starring Original film Gold and Marvel's animated series Hit Monkey. Here are our streaming picks for the weekend of January 28-30, 2022.

The Sinner: Season 4

(TV series – season 4 available now)

Better late than never, the fourth season of The Sinner has landed on Netflix this week in Australia, and just in time for the weekend. Bill Pullman returns once again as investigator Ambrose, who must now get to the bottom of a new tragedy involving the daughter of a prominent figure within a sleepy island town.

Stream The Sinner on Netflix

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

(Reality TV series – available 28/1/2022)

Queer Eye's most extra member Jonathan Van Ness' gets a Netflix spin-off based on his popular podcast series. Similar to Disney's The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness sees the Fab Five-member do a deep dive on a variety of interesting topics, speaking to experts and special guests along the way.

Stream Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness on Netflix

Snowpiercer: Season 3

(TV series – season 3 available now)

Following their escape from the compost car after their attempted plot to take back Snowpiercer, Leyton (Daveed Diggs) and Ruth (Alison Wright) are now in control of a small ten-car pirate train with the goal of finding Melanie (Jennifer Connolly) and finding a warm place to restart civilisation.

Stream Snowpiercer on Netflix

Peacemaker: Season 1

(TV series – episodes 5 available now)

In the fifth episode of James Gunn's hilarious and violent series Peacemaker, the team gets a lead on a factory that's producing food exclusively for the butterflies. Things expectedly turn violent within moments of their 'covert' mission to check it out. Maybe they should bring a chainsaw...

Stream Peacemaker on Binge

The Fallout

(Movie – available now)

A story that's sadly become all too common for Gen Z students in the US, the new HBO Max Original movie The Fallout deals with the emotional aftermath of a school shooting, focusing on two girls (Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler) who become inexorably linked after their ordeal, leaning on each other in times of distress.

Stream The Fallout on Binge

The Book of Boba Fett

(TV series – episode 5 available now)

If you were on the fence about The Book of Boba Fett after its first four episodes, we expect that episode 5 will turn things around significantly thanks to The Mandalorian making his debut on the show.

Stream The Book of Boba Fett on Disney Plus

Marvel's Hit Monkey

(TV series – season 1 available now)

A slightly more adult series than we're used to seeing from Marvel, the Archer-esque animated series Hit Monkey sees a Japanese snow monkey team up with the ghost of an obnoxious hitman (Jason Sudeikis) to cut the Japanese criminal underworld to pieces.

Stream The Book of Boba Fett on Disney Plus

The Afterparty

(TV series – season 1 available now)

From Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) comes The Afterparty, a comedic murder mystery series that sees one killer night told from eight different perspectives. Celebrity Xavier (Dave Franco) is found dead at the bottom of a cliff during his high school reunion afterparty, and now it's up to Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) to determine which guest was responsible.

Stream The Afterparty on Apple TV Plus

Gold

(Movie – available now)

Stan has brought out the big guns for its latest original film, with none other than Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman) starring as one of two men who discover the largest gold nugget ever seen in the Australian Outback. Now, Efron must stay back to protect it while his partner sets off to find excavation equipment. Unfortunately for him, he's not quite prepared for how harsh and strange the Outback can be...

Stream Gold on Stan

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This Microsoft Edge update is a dream for all you clumsy typists

Spelling errors may soon be a thing of the past for Microsoft Edge users thanks to a new update coming to the software.

The company has revealed it is working on bringing a new "text predictions" feature to its browser that uses Microsoft's own in-house AI and ML technology to offer word suggestions to users.

This feature will initially be available to Windows 10 and Windows 11 users in the Edge Canary Channel, but should be coming to a wider audience soon.

Microsoft Edge text predictions

The change will see Microsoft Edge utilizing a similar process seen in the company's Outlook platform and Microsoft Editor service.

Predictions or suggestions will be displayed in a greyed-out suggestion box shown when the user is typing in Microsoft Edge. Users can accept a text prediction suggestion by clicking Tab or pressing the right arrow key - and to ignore a suggestion, just continue typing and the preview will disappear.

Users can try out the new addition now, but will need to be members of the Edge Canary Channel to do so. There's no news on a wider release date just yet, but given Microsoft's past track record, the tool should come to the market soon.

Read more

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> Google Chrome browser could be getting nifty Windows 11-style scrollbars

It's the latest in a series of recent upgrades for Microsoft Edge as the company looks to keep users engaged and away from competitors such as Google Chrome.

This includes the launch of a new "Games" panel in the browser, along with a new twist on the RSS-style Followable Web feature that lets users follow their favorite YouTube creators with the press of a button.

Although Chrome only offers text suggestions in the URL search bar, several other Google tools provide predictive text tools for users.

Autocorrect came to Google Docs back in February 2020, with the company's Smart Compose tool looking to help users stamp out spelling or grammar mistakes following its launch on Gmail all the way back in 2018.

Smart Compose automatically suggests the next few words of a sentence based on what you've already typed, learning from your writing habits to become more accurate over time.

Via WindowsLatest

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Squarespace users are getting some super useful new video tools

Top website hosting service Squarespace has announced a range of new video tools that it thinks will greatly please creators. 

Although embedding video, such as from YouTube, has always been possible on Squarespace, the new additions are focused on hosting and monetizing that video content, such as its relatively new Member Areas service. 

Broadly, the new tools let website owners sell access to video content, host video content directly, and upload up to 30 minutes of high-res content. There are also new tagging and merchandising tools. 

READ MORE

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Squarespace video hosting

The company has also rebuilt its video player from scratch to accommodate the new features, which includes playback, speed, and resolution controls alongside deep integration with the Squarespace platform. 

"We launched Member Areas in 2020 to provide creators with a new way to sell content through memberships," said Squarespace. "Since then, we’ve seen an increase in video content being utilised, and to help customers better leverage this medium, our latest releases offer a seamless way to monetise video content such as classes."

Hosting video, and offering extensive tools to manage it, puts Squarespace more directly in competition with the likes of Patreon and YouTube, both of which offer options to monetise content. OnlyFans is also now a direct rival, although it remains unclear what Squarespace's content moderation policy says about adult content. 

In recent days, Substack, the newsletter platform, has also added the ability to host video for creators in beta, a feature that will be well-received by those with many subscribers already paying for their services. 

Via Engadget

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Spider-Man: No Way Home’s best meme references were improvised

Warning: Major spoilers follow for Spider-Man: No Way Home

Tom Holland has revealed that several of the meme-based references in Spider-Man: No Way Home were improvised on the day of shooting, as opposed to being written into the script. 

Speaking with co-stars Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as part of the first (and possibly only) interview with all three Spider-Men, Holland said: "From [Garfield] cracking Tobey's back, to [Garfield] coming up with the idea of pointing at us, it was all stuff we came up with on the day."

By the sounds of it, then, Garfield, who donned the iconic red and blue suit in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel, was the movie’s principle joke-maker. 

You can check out the full interview with all three actors (via YouTube) below. 

Incidentally, it was also Garfield who had the hardest time keeping the secret of Spider-Man: No Way Home’s reunion. At the height of speculation ahead of the film’s release, the actor was taking part in a press tour to promote his new Netflix movie, Tick, Tick… Boom!, and was frequently questioned about his much-rumored involvement in the Marvel project. 

“I was out there,” Garfield said. “I definitely think I had the hardest time. [Being] thrust into the world coincided with having to lie, for the sake of that audience reaction [...] I enjoyed it, it was quite fun. It felt like a game, like werewolf or mafia, where you know you’re the werewolf but you have to convince everyone that you’re not.”

Bringing the gang back together 

In the same interview, Maguire also revealed how Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal and Marvel boss Kevin Feige lured he and Garfield back into a franchise both actors had seemingly left behind.

"Amy [Pascal] was like, 'We'd love to talk to you. You know what this is about,'" Maguire said. "It was definitely intriguing, but I was also going, 'Well, what are we going to do?' And that was a bit mysterious."

Garfield, on the other hand, looked to Tobey when asked the same question. "Well, I was just waiting to see if Tobey was going to do it," he said, "I was like, 'Well, I have no choice.'"

It’s a good job both actors did come back, after all. Having secured the third-biggest box office debut of all time, Spider-Man: No Way Home has since gone on to become the sixth highest-grossing movie in history, surpassing the $1.69 billion mark globally.

As for whether No Way Home will prove the last movie in Tom Holland’s tenure as the titular webslinger, the jury is out. Franchise producer Amy Pascal was recently quoted as saying that both Marvel and Sony are currently planning for future Tom Holland-led Spidey movies, but insiders have since cast doubt on the claims.

Whatever happens to Spidey in the future, though, fans will likely rest easy even if No Way Home does indeed end up being the curtain call for three generations of the beloved superhero. 

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Opera's gaming browser is available to download on the Epic Games Store

Opera has announced that the gaming variant of its web browser, Opera GX, will also be available to download directly from the Epic Games Store, from today (January 27).

You can download the browser through this link, with this being the first web browser that's available to download on Epic's storefront.

Opera GX is similar to how the regular Opera browser works, but with exclusive features that are tailored to gamers. GX Control can limit the amount of RAM that the browser can use, alongside similar features for Wi-FI or CPU speeds.

Downloading the web browser from Epic Games will be useful if you have a PC that's just for gaming and nothing else, but it also raises the question of whether other gaming browsers are coming to help fill this need as well.

Analysis: it was always heading to this

Having Opera GX and your previously-purchased games, ready to download in one will be a great help for many, especially if you have had to wipe your Gaming PC, and you want to quickly re-download what you had installed before.

It was inevitable that we'd eventually see Opera's gaming browser on a gaming storefront, and it could lead to features from Epic appearing on Opera GX in time, such as downloading games or chatting to your friends through an Epic Games messenger client.

Annette de Freitas, Head of Business Development at Opera Gaming, explained, "At Opera, our mission is to create superior products that people choose to use and install." Freitas continues. "This mission has led to the development of Opera GX, the browser of choice for gamers, who decide to make it default for its superior features, look and feel. Opera GX is the perfect fit for the Epic Games Store because of this shared passion to create choice and enable a community of gamers."

Opera GX on Epic Games Store

(Image credit: Opera)

There's the possibility that other vendors in this space, such as Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft may be looking into a gaming variant of Safari, Firefox, and Edge, but we suspect this is a space that Opera will have on its own for the foreseeable.

When you factor in the other apps that are built into Opera GX such as Twitch and Discord, alongside being able to sync up your RGB to the web browser, it makes sense in the grand scheme of your gaming.

You may feel as though other web browsers, such as Microsoft Edge and Firefox will do the job for browsing sites and downloading files.

But if you either have a hard drive partition that's focused solely on gaming, or a Gaming PC, it makes sense to have a web browser that tries to solve the same need.

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Is the Halo TV show's Silver Timeline canon? It's complicated

The Halo Silver Timeline isn't officially canon within the Halo universe – but it will co-exist alongside, and potentially add to, the franchise's main timeline.

That's according to Frank O'Connor, Halo's Franchise Development Director, who has attempted to clarify how the upcoming Halo TV show fits into the series' established lore.

O'Connor, who also serves as an executive producer Paramount Plus's TV adaptation of the beloved FPS series, was interviewed by the Halo Waypoint team to explain how the TV show's narrative fits into the wider Halo universe.

Asked if he could simplify where the Silver Timelines fits into the history of the franchise, O'Connor begun by stating that the Halo TV series is built on series' "core canon".

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"One of the first things we realized... was that there were some real dangers of mapping a totally different medium – games – to a linear narrative format, TV or movie for that matter," he said. 

"Halo’s core canon is extremely important to us and our fans, and we wanted to think of the simplest and most productive way to make sure we didn’t ‘break’ either medium by trying to force square pegs into round holes. The idea of the 'Silver Timeline’ kept resurfacing throughout that process.

"We wanted to use the existing Halo lore, history, canon, and characters wherever they make sense for a linear narrative, but also separate the two [timelines] distinctly so that we don’t invalidate the core canon."

So how does the Halo Silver Timeline actually fit into the extended universe? O'Connor stressed that the TV adaptation won't retcon any of Halo's pre-existing history, instead suggesting that it'll live alongside the main timeline already established in the games and novels.

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"To be clear: these will be two parallel, very similar, but ultimately separate timelines whose main events and characters will intersect and align throughout their very different cadences," he revealed. "The TV show timeline – the ‘Silver Timeline’ – is grounded in the universe, characters and events of what’s been established in core canon.

"But [they] will differ in subtle and not so subtle ways in order to tell a grounded, human story, set in the profoundly established Halo universe. Where differences and branches arise, they will do so in ways that make sense for the show, meaning that while many events, origins, character arcs, and outcomes will map to the Halo story fans know, there will be surprises, differences, and twists that will run parallel, but not identically to core canon."

In other Halo TV series related news, we recently learned when the show's official trailer will be released. And check out why we think Halo's TV adaptation takes its cues from Star Wars series The Mandalorian, as well as how we think it'll build on John-117's backstory.

Analysis: A Halo story full of Silver linings

Sarah Ridgeway portraying Master Chief's mother in Paramount Plus' Halo TV show

(Image credit: Paramount Plus/Amblin Television)

As with any movie or TV adaptation, diehard Halo fans were (and still are) naturally apprehensive about the prospect of a Halo TV series. This is an iconic and beloved gaming franchise, after all, so why would anyone want to tarnish its reputation and potentially retcon its canon with a TV adaptation?

Based on O'Connor's comments, though, fans should be resting a little easier now. 

Yes, Paramount's Halo TV show will take plenty of cues from the games and novels, and it's likely to retell key events in the Halo universe, albeit with a unique television-based spin. 

Given that O'Connor has confirmed there could be crossovers between the Silver Timeline and core canon – "Absolutely – and ideally both ways... story differences create great opportunities to make new things that could potentially feature in future games" – some fans may still have reservations about how the TV show will impact the already established Halo universe.

But the key takeaway here is that the Halo TV show will exist on its own timeline. As such, it's unlikely to have any major impacts on the overarching narrative that's come before in the games and books. Think of other recent TV adaptations, such as The Expanse on Prime Video or Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, and you'll catch our drift.

If anything, we suspect that the TV series will expand on key story material where some puzzle pieces have been missing. And it may introduce newcomers to the wider Halo universe, too, and entice them to play the games or read the books, which developer 343 Industries and various Halo authors will only see as a good thing.

So is Halo on Paramount Plus actually canon? No. Sure, O'Connor's long-winded answers – the whole interview is well worth a read if you require further clarity – leave things open to interpretation in some instances. But, for the most part, the Halo TV show is a separate entity to what's come before, and that should make hardcore Halo fans breathe a sigh of relief.

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Wednesday, 26 January 2022

Australian Open tennis on ESPN Plus: what can I watch and how much does it cost?

The first Grand Slam of the year is well under way Down Under, and the great news for tennis fans in the US is that coverage of the event is easy to stream thanks to ESPN Plus.

The specialist sports streaming service's comprehensive coverage means every serve, backhand and volley will be available to watch live online for the remainder matches of the tournament .

From the saga surrounding Novak Djokovic's vaccination status, to Rafa Nadal's pursuit of a record breaking 21st slam title and home-court hero Ashleigh Barty's quest for her first Aussie Open title, its been a tournament that's already delivered on big talking points and gripping action. 

No tennis fan will want to miss out on its conclusion. So read on to find out the latest info on what ESPN Plus Australian Open tennis coverage gives you, as well as the cheapest way to subscribe to the service and whether the streaming device you own is compatible.

Australian Open tennis on ESPN Plus: what can I watch?

While Australian Open live stream live coverage is accessible on linear ESPN channels, ESPN Plus has access to every key match live including the semis and finals

As well as simulcasts of all ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts of the remaining singles and doubles matches in the men’s, women’s, mixed events, the online only service also gives access to wheelchair, legends and juniors matches.

It also has the big bonus of offering the ability to pause, rewind and replay every single live game, plus on-demand replays of completed matches - a super handy feature when so much of the play is scheduled for inconvenient start times for US viewers.

Plus, there's a daily highlights show posted at 11am EST / 8am PST on every morning of the tournament, on-demand replays of classic AO matches from the past and the option of Spanish-language commentary instead of English during live coverage.  

How much does it cost to watch Australian Open tennis on ESPN Plus? 

The mega popular free trial ESPN Plus offer is now sadly a thing of the past, but the service remains at a budget-friendly $6.99 a month or $69.99 for a whole year of access.

Where real savings can be made is via a bundle offering that include ESPN Plus. The sports network is jointly owned by Disney, and there are massive saving to be had by opting for a package that gets you Disney Plus and Hulu as well as ESPN Plus, for the bargain monthly fee of just $13.99. You can sign up for the package by checking out Disney Plus's website here.

Taking advantage of that Disney Plus bundle deal means that as well as getting all the tennis and sports content provided by ESPN Plus, you'll also have access to a treasure trove of family entertainment including Classic Disney Animations, Pixar movies, and documentaries from National Geographic plus the entire Marvel and Star Wars film library via Disney Plus. And that's not all as you'll also be able to delve into Hulu's massive library of movies, TV shows and top notch originals.

You'd be looking at a fee of $18.97 a month, or $24.97 if you opted for Hulu without ads, if you signed up for all three services separately, making the $13.99 monthly asking price for the bundle just about the best streaming service deal there is right now.

What other sport content can I watch on ESPN Plus?

Beyond its excellent coverage of the Australian Open tennis, an ESPN Plus subscription also opens the doors to live action from a multitude of sports. 

On of the service's biggest draws is ESPN Plus's exclusive coverage of UFC live streams, with the platform having the rights to live stream all of the MMA promotion's events in the US. That includes every Fight Night and numbered PPV event which are now shown on ESPN Plus (although the latter still requires viewers to pay a PPV fee for access).

Composite image of Naomi Osaka and Rafa Nadal

(Image credit: ESPN)

If you're a subscriber you'll also get streaming access to one NHL and MLB game per day during their respective regular seasons, every out-of-market MLS match plus a wealth of international and FA Cup soccer, top-tier boxing cars and select PGA Tour golf events.

Another big incentive to sign up is that a subscription will also give you access to the entire 30 for 30 documentary library, with on demand access also available to a whole host of exclusive original sports programming including must-see programmes like The Fantasy Show and award-winning sports analysis series Detail.

What devices can I watch Australian Open on ESPN Plus with?

With its wide-ranging support for a host of devices, it's easy to watch ESPN Plus.

For phones and tablets, its a simply case of downloading the ESPN app from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign up for the service there. 

If you're on a PC or Mac, you also can watch ESPN Plus via your web browser by heading to the service's website.

If you've a streaming box connected to your TV, it shouldn't come as any surprise that ESPN Plus is available on Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV , as well as the Roku platform.

Games consoles also offer access to ESPN Plus, with dedicated apps for the service available for the PS5 and Xbox Series S and Series X as well as older machines such as all Xbox One models and the PS4, (but not unfortunately the Nintendo Switch). 

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