Entertainment Guide: A pat on the back for mediocrity

TV

It's Oscar day and Brokeback Mountain is the favourite. This gay cowboy movie is a sad tale, and a touching one at times, too. It's also a yawn. If Best Movie nominees such as Brokeback, Good Night, and Good Luck and Crash, a movie crammed with ridiculously cliched and extreme racial stereotypes, are anything to go by, today's ceremony (Live, Sky Movies, 1pm/delayed, TV2, 10.30pm) will be just another pat on the back for mediocre American movies.

Heath Ledger, who plays Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback, is also favourite for Best Actor. It's a challenging role for Ledger but, really, it's nothing that memorable. And, while not wanting to be too graphic, don't gay cowboys ever have beautiful, sensitive, sex? It's all pretty rough stuff.

My Best Actor pick is Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote - a great American movie. And Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line wasn't bad, either.

But a movie like Brokeback regurgitates memories of last year's Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby. In my opinion, that movie didn't deserve it, and neither does Brokeback. Capote rightfully does.

And Peter Jackson's King Kong also warranted a nomination for Best Picture. But, of course, the mighty Kong didn't get a nod and Jackson was snubbed in the Best Director category.

Now, if you're thinking my take on the Oscars is because of some parochial, cry-baby, give-'em-a-taste-of-Kiwi sentiment, it's not. It's about good movies, and Kong and Capote are excellent. Brokeback, Crash, and Good Night are three-star, wait-for-the-DVD type flicks.

Elsewhere this week, if you're a bike nut, or just interested in a good idea for a TV show, check out Drop In TV (C4, Thursday, 10pm).

This part-reality, part-cycling film, part-documentary show brings together a team of elite riders who tackle some of the world's nuttiest bike trails.

This week, the lads are in New Zealand where they take on 11 rides, including the Wanaka Canyon Gap and the Fringe Hill Downhill in Nelson. Yeeha.

Theatre

If you see only one piece of theatre this month, make sure it is the bent and twisted new comedy Mr Marmalade, which starts on Wednesday at the Silo. In Noah Haidle's play, the good and bad behaviour of grown-ups is interpreted through the eyes of 4-year-old Lucy and 5-year-old Larry.

Mr Marmalade is Lucy's imaginary friend and husband who just happens to be a suit-wearing cocaine addict. Warning: Don't take the kids, it won't be appropriate for their wee eyes and ears.

Also starting Wednesday at the Herald Theatre is The Complete History of New Zealand (Abridged) which is 1000 years of our history condensed into less than 100 minutes.

Music

If you thought festival season was over, think again. Littleweed, from Friday to Sunday in Katikati, and Lothlorien Rhythm Festival on Saturday in Puhoi are two of New Zealand's oldest music festivals. Littleweed started in 1979 and Lothlorien in 1977 and, despite long lay-offs in the 80s and 90s, both resumed last year.

At Littleweed this year the line-up includes Kora, dDub, Batucada Sound Machine, Minuit, Sola Rosa, and more. Go to www.littleweedfestival.org.nz for more information.

Lothlorien features Herbs (who have played at every festival), Kora, Sunshine Soundsystem, Hollie Smith, Ladi6, Sola Rosa, and Open Souls. For more information see link below.

Other gigs worth checking include German electronic exponent Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva. Noto) at Galatos on Friday at 9pm, multi-instrumentalist David Pajo from Slint (performing as Pajo) at the Odeon Lounge on Friday and Saturday, and Fort Minor, the hip-hop band fronted by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, at the St James tomorrow.

Movies

What did your mother always tell you? "Never accept a ride from a stranger." After seeing Wolf Creek, a film based on true events, you will be compelled to heed that advice. Three backpackers are travelling through Australia's Outback when their car breaks down. They're forced to take a ride from a passer-by. Big mistake.

Something a little lighter is The Honeymooners, a romp that unites a jilted groom and a waitress on a crazy adventure in rural Ireland.

Proof is a drama starring Gwyneth Paltrow about a woman called Catherine, the daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician, who is coming to grips with the fact she could inherit his insanity.

Also starting this week at the Rialto in Auckland, where you can now have a wine with your movie, are a couple of local feature films made on shoestring budgets. Memories of Tomorrow, a thriller by Amit Tripuranemi , was made with $15,000 and a lot of love. The storyline revolves around John (Richard Thompson) and Tanya (Rachel Gilchrist), who lead a seemingly normal life. But John is haunted by nightmares and has no recollection of his past. The arrival of a stranger (Ray Trickitt) kicks off an uncontrollable string of events.

On a more "shocking" and "titillating" note, Offensive Behaviour, another zero-budget film, unravels as a dual story. Quentin (Richard Allom Cosgrove) is a destitute film-maker, who makes homemade porno movies to achieve his dreams, and Nigel (David Sheard) is a sweet and sensitive hairdresser who is reluctantly helping his hit-woman mum do one last job.