Top Picks: Real Estate's 'In Mind,' the PCalc Lite app, and more
Mellow but stirring
Describing the music as mellow is usually the kiss of death for a rock album, but the music by the group Real Estate manages to be an exciting, stirring kind of mellow. While that may sound oxymoronic, the veteran New Jersey band sounds anything but boring. Their fourth long player, , features literate lyrics, shimmering guitar play, and a guileless sincerity that rewards repeated listening. Outstanding examples of the quintet鈥檚 art are the genial 鈥淒arling鈥� and the semi-psychedelic 鈥淭wo Arrows,鈥� with the lyric, 鈥淭he sky was wild with circumstance, the ground littered with chance.鈥� These days, Real Estate鈥檚 good vibrations are a rare pleasure.
Calculation help
Are you a student or do you work in a profession that needs a calculator that鈥檚 a little more powerful than what the standard smartphone has to offer? The apphas engineering and scientific notation and supports binary calculations, among other features. The app is free for iOS.
Language learning
Looking to learn a new language or brush up on what you already know? Check out the app, which offers the opportunity to learn languages including Turkish, Ukrainian, and Polish. If you鈥檙e learning languages such as Spanish or German and are using an iPhone, you can talk with bots to practice your conversational skills. Duolingo is free for iOS and Android.聽
Movie buffs
Are you a movie fan who loves to track which films you鈥檝e seen or get inspiration for future viewings? With the app you can keep a list of the movies you鈥檝e watched and check out which ones your friends have seen and whether they liked them. Cinephiles, unite! The app is free for iOS.
War epic
August Diehl, Alice Isaaz, and Joshio Marlon star in the movie , which tells the story of the French people who tried to leave as the Nazis invaded France in 1940. Suzanne (Isaaz) helps young Max (Marlon), who has been separated from his father (Diehl). Monitor film critic Peter Rainer writes that the movie 鈥渉as some of the solid narrative pleasures of a good, old-fashioned Hollywood war epic鈥� and notes that the score, which he calls 鈥渕arvelous,鈥� is by the legendary Ennio Morricone. The film is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
