The Spinoff shares their suggestions of what's worth watching this weekend.
The Spinoff shares their suggestions of what's worth watching this weekend.
In Weekend Watch, New Zealand TV blog The Spinoff takes the stress out of your time with the remote, pointing out the five best places to rest your eyes on your days off. Selected by staff writer Alex Casey (AC) or editor Duncan Greive (DG).
100 Year Old Drivers, Sunday Vibe 8.30pm
The vast majority of 100 year olds are, unfortunately, quite dead, so it's to the great credit of the participants in this UK reality doco that they're not only still alive, but still tooling about in cars. Better yet, the majority started driving in an era before there was even a licensing test - and thanks to UK law they have never, ever, even once had their driving certified by anyone. It might not shock you to learn that many of the 209 drivers aged 100 or more in the UK are terrible.
A scene from the TV show 100 Year Old Drivers.
They drive extremely slowly, use whatever lane they can find, pull out into traffic and consider indicating giving unnecesary information to their enemy. In New Zealand they wouldn't be anywhere near the wheel, thankfully - here you have to bang out a new test every two to five years once you get past 75 thank Christ.
But in the UK these mad mavericks in their oversized suits and shrunken frames are taking the missus on hair-raising trips to the beach any time they damn well feel like it. They're cute as hell, and some semi-competent. But all freaking terrifying. / DG
The Bachelor Australia, Friday TV2 at 7.30pm
I know I've talked about The Bachelor Australia before, so I will try to keep this brief. The season has been waning a bit - especially in comparison to the truly astounding twists and turns of The Bachelor US (available on TVNZ Ondemand). What has excited about the Australian version this week is that we are going to witness something never before seen in Bachelor history. The introduction of new girls! Six whole new girls!
Blake Garvey from the TV show Bachelor Australia.
This is exactly what the tired season needs to be honest - the girls are just too nice, the dates are just too civilised, and Blake's voice is just too damn deep. With some 'serious' relationships blossoming (as serious as the absurd circumstance will allow), it's going to be a great sequin-wearing cat to throw amongst the sequin-wearing pigeons.
And who knows, with New Zealand's tendency to be reality TV guinea pigs, we could expect similar plot twists when The Bachelor limo rolls our way on March 17. / AC
Sex and the City Movie, Friday TV2 at 9.00pm
I'm always down to recommend a movie that can almost count as TV, so let's go ahead and chuck Sex and the City onto your watchlist this weekend. There are a few reasons why you should watch it, the first being that it's just a bloody good bit of fun.
The movie reunites New York dwellers Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda four years after the end of the TV show. Their love lives have changed dramatically, their faces have tightened slightly - but their friendship and antics remain exactly the same. If you like shoes, there are a lot of shoes. If you like body sushi, there is a lot of body sushi.
A scene from the Sex and the City film.
If you happen to tune in, why not follow it up with the sequel? I hate to go rogue into the abyss of non-scheduled programming here, but Sex and the City 2 has recently been announced as the latest foray for comedians Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery's podcast The Worst Idea of All Time.
Committing to watching the sequel once a week for an entire year (just as they remarkably managed to do with Grown Ups 2), the pair will be delivering weekly instalments of their depleting Sex and the City 2 sanity in podcast form. The first episode for this year is out iTunes now, so there's no better time to get involved. / AC
Hannibal on Lightbox
Tell you what, if you live in central Auckland you aren't sinking your teeth into fruit anytime soon, so why not try out a more refined/disgusting taste? I'm talking of course about Hannibal, and of course I'm speaking metaphorically - please don't become a cannibal just because our fruit is a little flyblown and I told you to.
Hannibal is a horrific psychological thriller series based on the Thomas Harris novels (and subsequent horrific films), and a good way to get very on edge this weekend.
At the centre of the story is Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), and FBI investigator with a knack for empathising with and knowing the patterns of pure psychopaths. On one particularly tough case, Will approaches famous psychiatrist/secret cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) for help, and from there blossoms a beautiful, totally normal working relationship. It's your classic Batman and Robin duo.
Be warned that Hannibal is not for the weak of stomach, but balances the gratuitously jaw dropping gore with a slick style and incredible performances from the lead actors. Oh, and Morpheus is in it too. / AC
Shortland Street Omnibus, Sunday TV2 at Midday
Spencer Falls and Angela Bloomfield in the TV show Shortland Street.
Shortland St's once indomitable ratings have been on something of a slide so far this year. The show has lost some key characters (Sarah Potts, Ula Levy) and had Ben Mitchell basically spend every moment he's not acting on the show being a doofus.
It's extremely fortunate timing, then, that the producers scheduled 'Storm Week' for early March. Not because it remotely matches the endless summer we're having, but because it returns the show to what it's been best at over the last few years - balling extra hard on an extra tight budget. This week a giant, once-in-a-generation storm his Ferndale, knocking out power and demolishing beloved sets right before our eyes.
It's traumatic and romantic (particularly for young wannabe seductor Harry Warner) and involves the show's ambitious-to-a-fault producers trying to accomplish with about $47.50 what the maker of The Perfect Storm couldn't do with US$120m: make a semi-plausible looking extreme weather event. / DG
