Entertainment picks: Start off with a wacky story

MOVIES
Tony Scott's Domino recounts a story so wacky it's hard to believe it happened. In this loosely based biopic of model-turned-bounty-hunter Domino Harvey, Keira Knightley gets to blow smoke in people's faces and charge after dangerous crims.

Before she died of a drug overdose, the real Domino, a lesbian, lambasted the film for portraying her as heterosexual. But Knightley pulls off the tough act, as does Mickey Rourke as her nutty partner. The cast also includes Lucy Liu, Edgar Ramirez, Christopher Walken, Mena Suvari, Jerry Springer, Tom Waits and 90210 alumni Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green - don't worry - as themselves.

Charlize Theron popped into the country last week to help Niki Caro (Whale Rider) promote her new film, North Country. The Oscar-winner plays a single mother and miner who won a landmark lawsuit for sexual harassment in the US. The Man is an odd-couple comedy about a detective, Derrick Vann, out to get the man who killed his partner. A case of mistaken identity leads him to Andy Fidler, a salesman with too many questions and a knack of getting in Vann's way. Sounds corny if not for the two leads, Samuel L. Jackson and professional goofball Eugene Levy. If you can handle one of Hollywood's longest-running fart gags, that is.

For something a little, um, meatier, The Producers is the screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical about a canny accountant (Matthew Broderick) who comes up with a scheme to profit from Broadway flops. Make a show about Hitler, he reckons, and it'll be so bad they'll walk away with the investment cash. But the American public interpret it as a satirical masterpiece and the show is a hit. Uma Thurman stars as a Swedish bombshell and Will Ferrell as a Nazi playwright.

Sean Penn delivers another faultless performance as the salesman who plots to kill in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (Rialto). Set at the height of the Watergate scandal and based on true events, it follows family man Samuel Bicke who blames the dishonourable leader as everything that's wrong with his life. It stars Naomi Watts as his estranged wife and Don Cheadle as his friend.

Lou Pucci took the Best Actor Award at last year's Berlin Film Festival for his role in Thumbsucker, (Rialto) playing 17-year-old Justin Cobb, a boy with an embarrassing habit. In an attempt to curb his childhood addiction he tries a range of alternatives, including Ritalin. His parents, played by the equally brilliant Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio are just as screwed up, as was the casting director (in a good way) who chose Keanu Reeves for the role of hippie orthodontist (Bill & Ted all grown up?), Vince Vaughn as his debating coach and Polyphonic Spree as the soundtrack's composers.

TV
There's good reason The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (tonight and tomorrow, TV3, 8.30pm) won an AFI. Based on the true story of a young British convict shipped to Australia's first penal colony, the show is incredible, thanks to the great acting, slick production values and one hell of a story. It stars Romola Garai as Mary, Sam Neill, and sexy Jack Davenport.

Lost (Wednesday, TV2, 8.30pm) returns with a two-hour recap to bring virgins up to speed. Not that fans can explain much, anyway.

What's in the blimmin' hatch? I stopped caring. But in case you're still dying to know what made Evangeline Lilly's pretty face recoil with such horror at whatever's lurking at the bottom of it, and can't wait until the series proper starts next week, here are a few suggestions: a) Lord of the Rings fans keen to get a glimpse of her boyfriend co-star Dominic Monaghan, b) new cast member David Hasselhoff in a g-string, c) more tunnels and hatches.

Local six-part mini-series Doves of War (Thursday, TV3, 8.30pm) is a political thriller from the Street Legal writing team, and starring Kiwis Scott Wills, Robbie Magasiva and Blair Strang, it's about an ex-Army sergeant who was part of a peace-keeping force in Bosnia 10 years ago, who is now facing war crimes.

Also this week: new local series Human Potential, (tonight TV One, 7.30pm) looks at the speed, endurance and strength of the body, Lucy Lawless goes to Bangladesh to meet her sponsored child on Five Days in Bangladesh (tomorrow, TV2, 7.30pm), and Barbara Walters reveals her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005, (Friday, TV2, 7.30pm) including Teri Hatcher, Kanye West and Dakota Fanning.

THEATRE
The Silo presents Neil LaBute's This is How it Goes, a play about inter-racial love and prejudice in small town America. The Broadway production starred Ben Stiller, Amanda Peet and Jeffery Wright. Here, Sara Wiseman and Mark Ruka play married couple high-school sweethearts Belinda (the cheerleader) and Cody (the athlete) who have a complicated relationship with their high-school friend, (the dork) played by Roy Snow. He also serves as the play's narrator, who confesses to being unreliable and alters his story as he goes. Opening night is on Wednesday and it runs until February 25. Jeff Szusterman directs.

MUSIC
Not satisfied at the Big Day Out? Music festival season is not yet over, and SoundSplash Reggae (Wainui Reserve, Raglan) this Waitangi weekend, is the one to be at, mun. Veteran Jamaican roots reggae band Third World (whose biggest hit was the remake of O'Jays'Now That We Found Love) make their New Zealand debut, as do Big Youth (the dentally bejewelled hit-maker behind Hit the Road Jack) and Earl Gateshead, (Trojan Soundsystem), one of the world's top reggae DJs. Salmonella Dub, Katchafire, Cornerstone Roots, Kora, Rhombus, the Midnights, Open Souls, House of Shem, Stinky Jim and more are also on the bill. You can't fault a festival with a theme of recycling. As long as that doesn't apply to things like loo paper, you'll have a blast.

If you have friends in Mission Bay, now's the time to chat them up for parking space, as the Jazz and Blues Streetfest kicks off on Saturday, 7pm-midnight on Tamaki Drive (closed from 6pm). More than 25 bands play throughout the evening. Get in the mood on Friday with Sara-Jane Auva'a, Jan Preston, Torch Songs and Wizard and Oz playing the Selwyn Theatre, Kohimarama.

FESTIVALS
Trouncing the notion that busking precedes cracking the big time, 20 professional buskers from abroad will descend on Queen St, Wednesday-Monday with their own festival.

Not exactly in keeping with the Waitangi spirit but bring your loose change to support the usual gamut of magicians, comedians, artists, jugglers, stunt performers. And an Aussie who claims to be the world's tallest contortionist. Check out the main stage in Market Square at the Viaduct. Or bring your karaoke machine along and blend right in.