$50 iTunes card
How would you blow 50 bucks on music, movies, books, TV shows, and apps?
What would you buy…?
10 Cloverfield LanE John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead $14.99
Though this film’s name and producer (J.J. Abrams) tie it to 2008 monster blockbuster
Cloverfield, this is no sequel. It’s a slow-burning exercise in paranoia, mistrust, and mystery. After a car crash, Michelle (Winstead) wakes up in a bunker, occupied by Howard (Goodman) and Emmet (John Gallagher Jr). Howard explains that there’s been some sort of attack on the country, and that the three of them must stay in the bunker to avoid fallout. But Michelle becomes increasingly unsure about Howard’s honesty and sanity, and plans to escape. It’s tense, brilliantly acted stuff.
Wild Things Ladyhawke $9.99
Ladyhawke is an obscenely talented musician from New Zealand who has a habit of taking four years to perfect her albums. Man, that feels like a long time when you wait on them as eagerly as we do. WildThings has been worth it, though, and is the perfect summer soundtrack, full of ’80s synth-popinspired songs that feel as bright and warm as the evening sun. From the bouncing drums of TheRiver to the oscillating synths of opener ALoveSong, it all feels made to be fun – even when it gets soulful on tracks like the titular WildThings. Check out her first album too, which has some great Stevie Nicks-inspired tracks.
Preacher Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun $24.99
Preacher is a loose adaptation of a comic series, but don’t expect bright superheroics. Cooper plays Jesse, a disenfranchised Texas preacher with a violent past; Negga plays his gunslinging ex, Tulip; while Gilgun is an Irish vampire named Cassidy who arrives having bloodied up a plane full of vampire hunters. Jesse’s having a hard enough time living in a town full of as many terrible people as good ones… but then he’s inhabited by an ancient alien entity that imbues him with a strange new power. Horror and violence are balanced with dark comedy and personal drama.
Bitc am The Iconfactory Free
To celebrate Iconfactory’s 20th anniversary, the venerable Apple software house has released a modern camera app designed with the constraints of 1996 technology. No animations, color is a paid upgrade (a $1.99 In-App Purchase for the “Color Graphics Card” that adds… eight colors), and it produces chunky pixelated images. Iconfactory even limited the speed of the iPhone’s processor, to make high-res options run slowly.