Five guide for the weekend

FIVE ALBUMS

1. Fur Patrol, Collider (WEA): Second album sees expat band trying to reconcile their pop instincts with new-found rock muscle, while Julia Deans' heart-aching vocals still make her sound as though she means it.

2. Cassandra Wilson, Glamoured (Blue Note/EMI): The husky-voiced chanteuse again sees musical limitations as other peoples' problems on a set which veers between originals and interpretations of songs by Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson, Sting and Dylan.

3. The Strokes, Room on Fire (RCA): Second album finds New York's finest, scuffed-up rockers consolidating with a short, snappy collection of twitchy rock, filtered through those Velvet Underground/television influences.

4. Supergroove, Post Age (BMG): Double-disc of hits, album tracks and remixes from our great early 90s band which captures their feelgood funk, Godzilla-stomp blues and pop smarts.

5. Zed, This Little Empire (Interscope): On their second album the American-signed Christchurch guitar pop guys toughen up while basking in Californian sunshine.

FIVE BARS TO TRY

1. Mo's, Corner Wolfe and Federal sts, City: This small but perfectly formed bar tucked away at the bottom of the central city reminds one of a European boudoir. So order a Pernod or two and make like you're in Paris in the springtime.

2. Plum, Viaduct Basin, City: One of the least showy and nicest small bars down on the Viaduct. After a quick waterside stroll you can then relax with an expertly made and unique plummy cocktail.

3. Piha Surf Club, 23 Marine Parade, Piha: If you can wrangle yourself a balcony table, you'll be looking at one of the country's most beautiful beaches.

4. The Horse and Trap, Enfield St, Mt Eden: A perfect cross between a regular pub and sophisticated bar.

5. Crow Bar, 26 Wyndham St, City: It's been around for some time, but the Crow Bar and upstairs antechamber, the Trophy Room, still play host to the best dressed twenty and thirty-somethings in town.

(For more drinking establishment reviews see our Best bars guide.)

FIVE GALLERIES

1. te tuhi-the mark, 13 Reeves Rd, Pakuranga: Handycrafts, humorous, clever collection of contemporary objects made with nostalgic references, such as crocheted chickens and rag rugs.

2. Jonathan Grant Galleries, 280 Parnell Rd: The Katherine Mansfield Collection, by Susan Wilson, astringent images which were used to illustrate a Folio Edition of the writer's work.

3. Jane Sanders, 40 George St, Mt Eden: Six In 1, small works by Jan Nigro, Paul Cullen, John Lyall, Michael Shepherd, Greer Twiss and Dilana Rugs.

4. Whitespace, 1 Morgan St, Newmarket: Mallcontent, by Lauren Lysaght, multi-media musings on the meaning of the mall by a self-confessed aesthetic activist.

5. Gus Fisher Gallery, 74 Shortland St: Elsewhere, by Caroline Rothwell, astonishing forms, hangings and an installation concentrating on the writhing shapes of plants and weeds.

FIVE VIDEOS

1. Hulk: An ambitious retelling of the Marvel comic which was undermined by the computer-generated green giant on the big screen but it has pace, depth and style care of director Ang Lee and Eric Bana's performance as the emotionally bottled-up Bruce Banner

2. Charlie's Angels Full Throttle: With a plot that is thinner than the clothing, the second Angels' flick is at least smart enough to satirise its cheesiness, helping to make it an enjoyable big dumb movie.

3. X-Men 2: Like the first, the second X-film is everything you could want in a comicbook movie, if a bit crowded in the subplot department. But it still exceeds the usual expectations of action-franchise sequels.

4. The Good Girl: Friends' star Jennifer Aniston shows real range in a big-hearted, low-budget piece of West Texan Gothic, playing a bored housewife who stumbles into an affair with an angst-ridden teenager.

5. 25th Hour: The latest from Spike Lee stars Edward Norton jnr as a New York drug dealer putting his affairs in order before beginning a jail sentence. It also is an evocative elegy to New York after September 11.