Entertainment picks: Car gets kicks on Route 66

Movies
Not since Herbie have talking cars been so cute. Kit doesn't count. I'm not talking about the Lindsay Lohan remake, either. Cars is the next off the block from Pixar, with Owen Wilson as cocky racing car Lightning McQueen, who gets stuck in a small town on Route 66 where he bonds with the locals, all vehicular of course.

Speaking of Lohan, she stars in Just My Luck, a bit of fluff about the little-miss-perfect who kisses some random and suffers a run of bad luck.

And here's one Linds should probably see: It's All Gone Pete Tong (Rialto), which casts a satirical eye over dance party culture. British comedian Paul Kaye plays a DJ who has lived it up and is now paying for it. Pardon? I said he's PAYING FOR IT.

3-Iron is a delicate love story by Korean film producer, writer and director Kim Ki-Duk, about a guy who breaks into buildings to do the housework. Critics have been largely impressed by its lack of dialogue and surreal, elegant style.

Sports fans and lovers of a good underdog story should check out Glory Road, a basketball drama based on the true story of college coach Don Haskins, who started five black players against the all-white team from Kentucky at the NCAA championships in 1966.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift also opens on Thursday. But I don't care.

TV
Now that The Apprentice has finished - Randal, you big meanie - the even-more-expensive reality show The Amazing Race returns (TV2, Tuesday, 7.30pm). For something that looks pretty exciting to do in real life, I find this a bit of a dull watch.

But fans of business reality shows, never fear - Julie Christie is bringing the NZ version of Dragon's Den our way in a few weeks. Until then, TV One has the Aussie version (Thursday, 8.30pm). Watching the entrepreneurial Brits was entertaining enough; we can only imagine what our Tasman cousins will try to flog.

We're about to see a lot of one of the panellists, Darren Lyons, too. He's the high-flying photographer who owns one of the world's biggest paparazzi agencies. And he also turns up on Paparazzi (TV One, Friday, 9.30pm), a three-part series that asks whether celebrities should be allowed a grace period from the prying lenses while eating spaghetti bolognaise.

The kids from Child of Our Time (TV One, 8.30 tonight) certainly don't get one. Since 2000 Professor Robert Winston has been tracking them like David Attenborough tracks hatching flies. The BBC series follows 22 British families to get to the bottom of the nature v nurture conundrum. But how natural is a life spent in front of a camera?

Also this week: Desperate Housewives returns (TV2, 8.30 tonight) and it's the finals of Everybody Hates Chris (TV3, Wednesday, 7.30pm) and Bones (TV3, Wednesday, 9.30pm).

Theatre
Roger Hall's comedy Glide Time celebrates its 30th anniversary care of Silo Theatre at the Maidment (also turning 30) from Wednesday. Hall's first major hit went on to become the TV series Gliding On. Theresa Healey, Craig Parker, Simon Prast and more star in the story of a group of public servants who hate their jobs. Alas, Hall didn't sue Ricky Gervais over The Office.

Tim Balme will take over from Parker when he heads back to London near the end of the show. Oliver Driver directs. Wear beige.

Social
One for those who want to be seen, but not in shops: the House of Double Exposure celebrates the opening of its new office in Grey Lynn on Wednesday. The business acts as a fashion hub, offering designer labels at discounted prices, some straight off the runway; others from rich American socialites.

Since its opening in 1986 the House has sprouted offices in Sydney, LA and New York. And like all fashionable entities, it has undergone a makeover, moving from Gillies Ave in Newmarket to a refurbished villa at 15 Surrey Cres. Black, of course.

Music
Metallers Some Girls - who have named their latest album Heaven's Pregnant Teens - promise to brutalise your eardrums at the Kings Arms on Tuesday, with support from the Mint Chicks

Warm up with Batacuda Sound Machine and Kora at Galatos on Friday before BSM head off on a three-week tour of Britain, where they'll play Womad and the Edinburgh Fringe Fest. They're joining forces with their roots mates to raise a bit of cash before they go in search of warmer climates.

Speaking of Britain, it's time to return the London Bar to its former glory by paying your respects to jazz drummer Frank Gibson. He'll be playing there again regularly from Thursday with a new line-up: his long-time collaborator, pianist Murray McNabb, trumpet great Kim Patterson and newcomer Andy Atwell on bass.

For those who thought DJ battles were strictly a hip-hop pastime, check out Mix for Life at the Studio on Friday: Peter Urlich v Thane Kirby, Sample Gee v Sam Hill, Murry Sweetpants v the Herald's own Dean Campbell, and more. Watch out for flying needles.

Spy Bar celebrates its eighth birthday on Saturday, and if you're planning on wishing them many happy returns, just don't do it in your pleb gears. (Ripped jeans from Fabric are not okay!)

The line-up is a Spy staple - Grant Marshall, Tim Phin, Emma Green et al - but this is possibly the only 8-year-old's party where the fizzy drink comes with benefits.