Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea is a story of ordinary folk who are sideswiped by life. Lee is a stiff working as a janitor-handyman in Boston, his inexpressive, glum detachment occasionally interrupted by outbursts of anger or self-punishing bar fighting. After his brother, Joe, dies due to a heart condition, Lee travels back to his hometown of Manchester to break the news to Joe’s teenage son, Patrick. While awaiting the funeral—which cannot take place until the ground thaws in the spring enough to allow the grave to be dug—Lee discovers that Joe has named him as Patrick’s legal guardian.
Is the iPod headed for extinction? Let’s put it this way, if you had been meaning to pick up the newer version of your outdated nano or shuffle you’d better move fast. Apple has quietly dropped both models from its iPod product page, which now highlights only its top selling iPod touch.
The smart speaker market is so hot we wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook decided to get into the act, even though hardware isn’t its forte. Of course, the same could be said about Google, which is on its way to capturing close to a quarter of the market dominated by Amazon, according to a recent eMarketer forecast.
Q I’m looking to buy a new AV receiver. Denon just came out with the AVR-S930H, a 7.2-channel model that’s Dolby Vision compatible. Should I instead buy a 2016 model with similar features minus the Dolby Vision support? It would save me a few hundred dollars. The only Ultra HD source I plan to use it with is a Roku player. —Steve Guminy
Nine years ago this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the controversial merger of rival satellite radio companies Sirius and XM.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Open-back, planar magnetic design
Solid build quality
Handsome look
Minus
Can sound bright
THE VERDICT
These Tidal Force headphones face stiff competition from other comparably priced planar magnetic designs.
Tidal Force is a brand spanking new headphone company, and at the time I started working on this review, the Wave 5 was their one and only set of headphones. They’re off to a good start; build quality is excellent, and the mostly metal design felt great in my hands.
The number of on-demand audio streams exceeded 184 billion during the first six months of the year, representing a 62 percent increase over the same period in 2016, according to recently released mid-year statistics from Nielsen Music.