Entertainment picks: Cute, but no cigar

Television

Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, is a sweet and lovely film, but it ain't Oscar material. It won't win best picture but what's it doing as a finalist anyway?

It seems the best-picture category this year is a little lacking in true, Oscar-worthy films. My pick is Ray. Who would've thought actor Jamie Foxx could have played Ray Charles without being a cheeseball? Top marks.

By the way, if you're sitting down to watch the Oscars ceremony tonight (10.30pm, TV2) forget the bubbly. The late start means that to get through the gushing, the tears and the long embarrassing speeches, you'll probably need coffee.

TV2 says it's screening the 77th Annual Academy Awards at the later time to avoid interrupting top-rating dramas ER and Nip/Tuck.

Just in case you want to check on New Zealand nominees Andrew Adamson (for Shrek 2) and Taika Waititi (Two Cars, One Night), their categories will be presented about 10.57pm and 12.12am. Those who have Sky can watch live coverage starting at 2pm on Movies 1. The awards themselves start at 2.30pm which means our guys will be on about 2.57pm and 4.12pm respectively. Afterwards you can stay up and see Bishop Tamaki on Destiny TV in its new primetime spot of 2.50am.

And in other TV this week, it's all about being rich. Richard Branson is the wackiest of billionaires, and to prove it he makes 16 wannabes walk on the wings of a biplane in the first episode of The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (Tuesday, 8.30pm, TV3). It's all in the name of seeing if they can take the heat.

Music

Ever fancied yourself as being the person who breaks the hippest new bands? Or being editor of a music magazine? Well, Resonate - a free music forum on this week at Auckland Art Gallery - is where you should be hanging out.

Guest speakers include editor of British music magazine NME, Conor McNicholas, and Stephen Jones from Universal Music - he's the guy who signed hip Las Vegas band the Killers and stoner rockers Queens of the Stone Age. So hang out, man, you might learn something.

The gigs keep rolling on just as easily as the immortal words "one bourbon, one scotch, one beer" slip off George Thorogood's tongue. Yes, the man who still claims his bad to the bone-ness plays the Logan Campbell Centre tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, many of you will still be moping round, your baggy shorts lower than usual, because you didn't buy your tickets to Green Day early enough. Their sell-out concert is on at North Shore Events Centre this Saturday.

One gig you can go to however is dance music event, Together, at the St James on Friday. Yes, it is gurning house music courtesy of headliner Armand Van Helden (nice chap apparently) and the MAN with the most suggestive name in dance music, Dave Seaman.

But of more interest at Together should be the appearance of original hip-hop DJ, Grandmaster Flash. Odd that he's appearing with a bunch of house DJs but apparently the 45-year-old's line nowadays is: "I'm not new skool, I'm not old skool, I'm all skool." Should be an interesting show then.

Or else you could just wait until Saturday and head along to see country-music weirdos Lambchop at the Studio.

Arts

AK05 - the festival you were all told off for, for forgetting to buy tickets early - is on until March 13. Highlights this week include adult puppet show Cabaret Decadanse and the play Three Furies by Stephen Sewell. If you're into poetic dancing check out Bush, by the Bangarra Dance Theatre from Australia.


Exhibitions

Artbeatz Activate has the catchline "Like music to your eyes". This ambitious project is just that, the coming together of music and images by 34 local visual artists, including photographers, graphic artists and painters. The result, a collection of imaginary album-cover artworks at four galleries around Auckland.

See them at Auckland Art Gallery (March 2-5), X Space at AUT (March 2-18), Illicit HQ on K'Rd (March 7-20), and Disrupt Gallery (March 6-17).

Movies

Closer has Natalie Portman in it. Now that should be enough to get the guys along when it opens on Thursday. If you're wondering what the film is about, here goes: Take four strangers, throw in passion and drama, complicate things with connections they never knew existed and ... fireworks.

For something a little less complicated, try Constantine. Keanu Reeves plays demon detective John Constantine who has the ability to see half-breed angels and demons that disguise themselves as humans. He's doing God's work. But he doesn't necessarily get on with his boss.