From intelligent ovens that make cooking a breeze, to VW’s new monster Golf R, here’s what’s dropping this month.

Streaming series

Turn Up Charlie 

(Netflix, 15 March)
Forget Luther and the James Bond rumours – Idris Elba’s new gig is playing ‘manny’ to his famous best friend's problem-child daughter, while trying to make it as a club DJ in the Netflix Original Turn Up Charlie. Starring alongside him are Covert Affairs’ Piper Perabo as Sara and young actor Frankie Hervey as ‘problem child’ Gabrielle. Sara is a superstar DJ, feminist icon and vivacious trendsetter, who abandons the exciting life she lived in America to put down roots in London, in an attempt to give Gabrielle more stability and normality. Spoiled and savvy, Gabrielle is wise beyond her years. Neglected by her career-driven parents, she pushes the boundaries – and the sanity of her nannies – to the extreme, in order to get her mom and dad's attention. Her spiky retorts, mischievous adventures and epic tantrums hide a lonely young girl with a distorted view of reality.


Book

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi 

(5 March)
Perdita Lee and her mother Harriet may appear to be just an average British schoolgirl and working-class mom, but they're not as normal as they appear to be. Apart from sharing their gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with verbal vegetation, they also make gingerbread their fellow Londoners aren’t particularly wild about but is hugely popular in faraway Druhástrana, the (potentially imaginary) land of Harriet’s early youth. Harriet’s charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval, is their biggest fan – and also seems to have had a hand in everything, good or bad, that has happened to Harriet since they met. Decades later, when a teenage Perdita sets out to track down her mother’s long-lost friend, Harriet’s story is retold in a new light, including encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate as the headlines – though gingerbread seems to be the constant.

Gadget

Intelligent Oven

We’ve heard of smart ovens before, with one-touch cooking for set dishes – but we’ve never seen anything like Whirlpool’s Connected Hub Wall Oven Concept, which uses augmented reality to teach you how to cook. A transparent 27-inch LCD screen replaces the traditional glass on the door, and becomes the interface which gives the user the chance to discover, learn and control the cooking process from a central hub. It integrates family calendars and analyses schedules to suggest the ideal family dinner time – then also prompts a quick recipe suggestion, based on the time and ingredients available, as well as learned family food preferences. Connected to the Yummly platform, the screen displays step-by step video instructions on how to prepare each meal, while Coordinated Cooking schedules the cooking of different dishes to ensure that everything is ready at the same time. The Whirlpool Connected Hub Wall Oven Concept debuted at CES2019, with production details, a release date and costs not yet announced.

Motoring

SuperGolf on Steroids!

Golf’s monster R model just got more aggressive, thanks to the addition of 15 extra kilowatts and new exterior design highlights. The revised model sees the power output rise from 213kW to 228kW, propelling it to 100km/h in just 4.6 seconds in conjunction with the snappy 7-speed DSG and standard Launch Control. On the exterior, optional R Performance Titanium exhaust and optional R Performance brakes with brake calipers painted black with the ‘R’ logo add extra sports appeal. Standard features include the ‘R’ designed bumpers, LED headlights and taillights. Exterior mirror housing caps come in matte chrome or optional carbon, with various 19-inch wheel choices. The revised 2.0 TSI 228kW DSG Golf R retails from R676 000 and includes a standard five-year/90 000km service plan, three-year/120 000km warranty and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.

Film

Captain Marvel 

(8 March)
Captain Marvel finally gets her own stand-alone film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film tells the story of hot-shot US Air Force officer Carol Danvers who signs up for a deep space mission with Starforce and finds herself up against her toughest-ever adversary, the Kree empire. In the process of joining Starforce, Danvers’ biology melds with Kree DNA, turning her into a hybrid, erasing her memory and setting her on a path to rediscover her true self. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brie Larson stars as Danvers and is supported by, among others, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening and Jude Law. After Captain Marvel, Brie Larson will reprise her role in Avengers: Endgame, out in April.


Film

Hotel Mumbai 

(29 March)
Hotel Mumbai is based on the gripping true story of humanity and heroism which played out when a group of terrorists laid siege to the famed Taj Hotel in Mumbai in 2008. Among the dedicated hotel staff is the renowned chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and a waiter (Dev Patel) who choose to risk their lives to protect their guests. As the world watches on, a desperate couple (played by Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi) is forced to make unthinkable sacrifices to protect their newborn child.

Game

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 

(22 March)
In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, players assume the role of the ‘one-armed wolf’, a disgraced warrior rescued from the brink of death. Duty-bound to protect a young lord, descended from an ancient bloodline, Sekiro becomes the target for scores of vicious enemies. When the young lord is captured, nothing can stand in the way of Sekiro’s perilous quest to regain honour and save the life of his liege. Set in the late 1500s Sengoku Japan, the game gives players the chance to unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities in visceral head-to-head combat that can only end in a bloody confrontation.
Available for Playstation 4, XBOX One & PC, from R799 via www.store.steampowered.com


By Trevor Crighton

From brutally honest reads, new car launches and tech releases, to series and movie synopses, here’s what’s dropping this month.

Streaming series

Santa Clarita Diet 

(Netflix, first week of February)
Sheila (Drew Barrymore) and Joel (Timothy Olyphant) are husband and wife estate agents who lead an ordinary but dissatisfied life in the L.A. suburb of Santa Clarita with their teenage daughter Abby – until a dramatic change in Sheila’s life sends the family down a road of death and destruction. Expect blood, guts and loads of zippy one-liners! The first season comes to Netflix SA in the first week of the month, while season two has already been commissioned in the US.


Book

The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler 

(1 February)
When a joint FBI and police investigation into an international child pornography ring gets too close to a group of powerful people, sex-crimes detective Livia Lone narrowly survives a hit. Suspecting the FBI itself was behind the attack, Livia reaches out to former marine sniper Dox, and together they assemble a team to tackle the threat. Hopping between Japan, America and France, the group uncovers a series of interconnected conspiracies which seemingly lead straight to the doors of senior US government officials. This fast-paced page-turner is from the pen of New York Times bestselling author Barry Eisler.

Gadget

Gillette Heated Razor

The Heated Razor by Gillette aims to deliver the comfort of a ‘hot-towel’ shave in the traditional personal razor format. A warming bar heats up the shaver head to your preferred temperature in under a second, which the designers say helps contour the face throughout your shave for a more comfortable experience. The waterproof razor also boasts wireless magnetic charging and an ‘Intelligent Heat Safety Control System’. Currently only in the prototype phase, having been launched via Indiegogo at $150 (about R2 100) as a test product, it’ll be interesting to see if it lives up to the hype and the price tag, and whether it ever makes it into mass production.


Motoring

Super Supra

The fifth-generation Toyota Supra – and the first to be produced by Toyota GAZOO Racing – is here! Drawing inspiration from heritage models and the 2000GT sports car, the front-engined, rear-wheel drive racer offers enthusiasts the perfect blend of power, agility and precision handling, thanks to a short wheelbase, wide track and low centre of gravity. The 3.0-litre engine is boosted by a twin-scroll turbocharger, producing 250kW and 500Nm of torque and driving the wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. ‘Launch control’ mode helps the car move from rest to 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds, and an active differential makes the drive more responsive during both acceleration and deceleration. The obligatory Nürburgring Nordschleife testing honed the handling – but it was also tested in the ‘real world’ on roads around the globe. The first GR Supras should arrive in South Africa by mid-April 2019, with pricing still to be confirmed.


Film

Holmes & Watson 

(8 February)
The cast of Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Ralph Fiennes lead a brand-new Sherlock Holmes caper, this month. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Ferrell) and Dr. John Watson (Reilly) join forces to investigate a mysterious murder at Buckingham Palace. All signs seem to point to Professor James Moriarty (Fiennes), the duo’s longtime nemesis. When new twists and clues begin to emerge, the world's greatest sleuth and his trusted assistant must try to catch the killer before the Queen becomes the next victim.


Film

What Men Want 

(22 February)
Passed up for a well-deserved promotion, sports agent Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) wonders what more she could possibly do to succeed in a male-dominated industry. Seeking help from a psychic, Ali finds herself with the sudden ability to hear what men are thinking after drinking a strange concoction – and uses her newfound powers to beat her obnoxious male colleagues in the race for basketball’s next superstar. Sound familiar? It’s a modern retelling of the 2000 film What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.


Game

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown 

(1 February)
Bandai Namco’s cult favourite flight simulator returns with its seventh version, set in the alternate universe of Strangereal. Take your aerial duels to the next level with first-person cockpit or third-person views – with specially-created missions for Playstation VR owners. Expect the trademark political intrigue and glorious Top Gun-level cheese as you pilot some of the world’s most advanced warplanes through photorealistic visuals which deliver intense dog-fighting action, a multitude of authentic and futuristic aircraft to fly, an immersive storyline and even virtual reality!
+- R830 for PS4, Xbox One, PC via www.bandainamcoent.com


By Trevor Crighton