Five guide for the weekend

FIVE BARS TO TRY

1. Pasha, Shed 22, Princes Wharf: You'll feel like a film star walking down the red carpet to the entrance of this very opulent bar. Extensive and interesting cocktail menu and good tapas.

2. Orchid, 152b Ponsonby Rd: You will find professional bar staff, fruity cocktails and lots of designer-clad Ponsonby-ites socialising until the wee hours at this gorgeous new bar.

3. The Met and Code, 1 High St, City: A good place to drink and dance. Resident DJs provide the beats throughout the week and on Saturday nights the bar goes live with local dance music station George FM.

4. Minus 5, Princes Wharf, City: The name of this vodka bar is accurate - it's made entirely of ice and is kept at sub-zero temperatures. You get coat and mittens and to keep the temperatures low, it's only 25 or so patrons - paying the $20 cover charge - at a time.

5. Wine Loft, 67 Shortland St, City: A perfect winter escape - candles, soft music and rustic interiors make this a warm and cosy bolt-hole. Eclectic wine list and good bar menu.

FIVE GALLERIES

1. Artspace, 300 K Rd: Tales of Gold: The Tale of Ray, by Billy Apple, who revisits the boom-bust days of the early 80s, when Auckland high-flyer (then low-flyer) Ray Smith commissioned a golden apple, which opened the way to some "creative dealing".

2. Studio of Contemporary Art, 5 Kingdon St, Newmarket: Heta: Power and Fragility, by Mark Cross, whose paintings document the devastation of Niue by the weather.

3. Auckland Art Gallery: Shane Cotton Survey 1993-2003, a stunning collection of work by an artist still in his early career; work that lives and breathes the essence of Maoridom and Aotearoa.

4. New Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery: The Brush of All Things, by Max Gimblett, major survey of New York-based NZ artist who references all manner of sources, from Jung to Buddhism to Len Lye, and stamps them with his own self.

4. Lane Gallery, 12 O'Connell St: Mezzotint Magic, group show, one of the most arduous forms of printmaking is highlighted in the skilled work of Vivian Ward, Jenny Dolezel, John Drawbridge and more.

FIVE ALBUMS

1. RJD2, Since We Last Spoke (Definitive Jux): Risking his hip-hop kudos gained when his sample-heavy debut Deadringer was released, the Ohio producer has turned his style on its head with this mesmerising, baffling and unpredictable late-night collection.

2. Edmund Cake, Downtown Puff (Lil Chief): Formerly of Bressa Creeting Cake and Neil Finn's collaborator on the Rain soundtrack, Cake here delivers an inspired, slightly eccentric collection of pop psychedelics, and lovely if lateral piano ballads topped by occasionally oddball lyrics.

3. Paselode, The Taming of the Wasps (Wildside): First outing by Wellington quintet who can sound like a happy collision of Head Like a Hole and goodshirt with songs rockin' at some very weird angles but rockin' indeed.

4. Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse (Geffen): Umpteenth album finds New York's avant-rockers relaxing a little on tuneful, teased out material and punctuated by Kim Gordon's deadpan vocals. A return to centre stage.

5. The Streets, A Grand Don't Come for Free (Locked On/Warner): Triumphant second album from one-man Brit-hop band Mike Skinner powered by his gripping monologues about his day from hell, delivered over unfussy, delicate DIY backings.

FIVE VIDEOS/DVDS

1. Once Upon A Time In Mexico: The third film in the saga that director Robert Rodriguez started with the low-budget El Mariachi, remade with Desperado and now finishes with the spaghetti-western-referencing conclusion starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and - as a bizarre CIA agent - Johnny Depp.

2. School of Rock: Frequently hilarious comedy with Jack Black as the going-nowhere guitarist who bluffs his way into substitute teaching job and lectures his class of 10-year-olds on how to rock.

3. Stuck On You: The latest bad-taste comedy from the Farrelly brothers stars Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins.

4. Big Fish: Oddball director Tim Burton's latest piece of grand whimsy, a Southern gothic fairy tale about teller-of-tall-tales Edward Bloom, who is played in two generations by Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor.

5. Veronica Guerin: Joel Schumacher-directed biopic of the famous Dublin reporter, here played by Cate Blanchett, who was murdered in 1996 by drug dealers.