KEY POINTS:
7PM, TV ONE
COUNTRY CALENDAR
Country Calendar focuses on a group of friends who share some land on Waiheke Island where they make wine and grow lavender using organic principles.
7.30PM, TV3
OPRAH PRIMETIME SPECIAL
You'd better practise jumping backwards on to your sofa because it's Oprah time again. Tonight
is her Cheers To You Extravaganza, in which wishes are granted, dreams come true and lives are changed. Doesn't that make you feel all squishy?
8.30PM, TV ONE
BILLY CONNOLLY - A SCOT IN THE ARCTIC
Comedian Billy Connolly spends 10 days in the Arctic Circle with only the most basic survival techniques and his banjo.
9.35PM, TV ONE
YOUNG FARMER CONTEST
Dig that post hole, sort out those stock ratios, and balance that bank account because seven competitors go head-to-head in the final of Young Farmer contest held in Rotorua.
MOVIES
8.30PM, TV2
MURDER BY NUMBERS
Herald rating: * * *
Suspense-thriller starring Sandra Bullock who plays a murder detective hot on the trail of two high-school age murderers, whose motive is purely to alleviate their own boredom. (2002)
8.30PM, TV3
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Herald rating: * * *
Gigantic spaceships hover over Earth's major cities and blow the heck out of it. Director Roland Emmerich's monumental alien invasion story stars Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and heaps more besides. It's Bill Pullman who takes the spotlight though, as a hands-on US President who's comfy at the controls of a fighter jet. (1996)
8.30PM, RIALTO SKY DIGITAL
9 SONGS
Herald rating: * * *
Director Michael Winterbottom, who brought us 24 Hour Party People, is behind this racy yarn about the sexual relationship between a British glaciologist and an American college student, who get it on in between rock concerts. Bands include the Dandy Warhols, Franz Ferdinand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Primal Scream. (2004)
8.30pm, Sky Movies 1
CRASH
Herald rating: * * * *
"We're always behind this metal and glass," says police detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle), sitting in his car with his girlfriend (Jennifer Esposito). "It's the sense of touch. I think we miss that touch so much that we crash into each other just so we can feel something."
That line sums up Crash, a collection of vignettes about e different people who share the highways of California. During the opening sequence we glimpse a tragedy, then go back a day or so to witness the stories of the individuals involved, including a black youth who justifies his criminal nature by blaming white folk for his troubled world, and a racist white cop who misuses his power to terrorise people.
Visually reminiscent of Soderbergh's Traffic, but here director Paul Haggis contrasts the themes of class and racial tension by showing that even the most despicable character can turn out to be a hero. (2005)
SPORT
9.30PM, SKY 1 LIVE; 11.05PM, PRIME
NRL: WARRIORS V COWBOYS
The Cowboys were outplayed at Mt Smart earlier this year but they'll be a different proposition at home, especially if Jonathan Thurston backs up after State of Origin.
9.50PM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
TRI NATIONS: AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA
The Aussies have defied expectations in this series and now take on a weakened Springboks side with players out injured or being rested.
2AM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
CYCLING: TOUR DE FRANCE
This iconic but drug-tainted event begins with the Prologue, based around the heart of London this year, before riders take on Stage 1, London to Canterbury (9.15pm, Sky Sport 1 live).