A week on the box: December 1-7

Reviewer James Croot checks out the best shows and films on New Zealand television screens for the week of Tuesday, December 1 to Monday, December 7.

Tuesday, December 1

Engineering Connections: Sydney Opera House
7.30pm, National Geographic
Top Gear's Richard Hammond swaps cars for climbing as he ascends to the top of the Jørn Utzon-designed (who also allegedly conceived Dunedin’s former Georgie Pie premises) building. The documentary shows how a First World War gas mask, a set of false teeth and a collapsible puppet inspired the trail-blazing building techniques.

After the Sunset
8.30pm, TV2
Talents like Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle couldn’t save this Bahamas-set 2004 action-comedy from box office disaster. "You need at least one very good reason to exhume the moribund jewel heist genre, and the makers of After the Sunset can't find one," wrote Variety’s Todd McCarthy.

Real Life: The World’s Hairest Person and Me
9.30pm, TV1
Continuing Mark Dolan’s quest to find the globe’s extraordinary people, this British documentary focuses on the unusually hirsute. Visiting America, Mexico and China, Dolan meets those who claim to have the most body hair, including Nu Zen Wan. Known as Wool Boy, he is already a national celebrity with a singing career.

The United States of Tara
9.30pm, TV3
Stephen Spielberg, Juno writer Diablo Cody and Australian movie star Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding) combine for this new dramedy series about a suburban housewife with Dissociative Identity Disorder. These multiple-personalities allow Collette to play everyone from a provocative teenager, to a Vietnam vet and a Betty Crocker-style housewife.
  
Wednesday, December 2

Australian Gladiators
7.30pm, Prime
Former Aussie rugby league whistler Bill Harrigan is one of the referees for this reinvention of the popular 1990s all-action game show. Competitors take on the likes of Hunter, Nomad, Amazon and The Nockinator  in their quest to win $A50,000 and a Subaru Forester.

The Universe
7.30pm, History
Series 4 of this popular American documentary series focuses on some of intergalactic threats to our planet. Episode 1 of the 12-part series looks at Death Stars, which while they aren’t how George Lucas imagined them, could potentially be just as deadly.

V
8.30pm, TV2
Yet another 1980s sci-fi series finds itself reimagined. Like the original this has Earth being visited by a group of superior-technologied but seemingly benign humanoid aliens. However, it isn’t long before their true identities and intentions are revealed. "Bold and still surprising," wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s Barry Garron.

Dazed and Confused
8.30pm, C4
Richard Linklater’s (Before Sunset) 1993 high-school comedy about the last school day of 1976 is now notable for the number of future stars on show. Milla Jovovich, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck and Parker Posey all went to more high-profile projects.

Thursday, December 3

How to Make Love to My Wife
9.30pm, Vibe
After two decades of marriage, family, and the same romantic routines, comedian Greg Lawrence spares no humiliation in his attempt to morph into the type of lover he’s spent his adult life thinking he already was ... and more importantly, the type his wife wishes he were.

The End of the World Bus Tour
8.30pm, Documentary
Most package-holiday tourists are seeking sun, sex or adventure, but the customers in Sharon Stolebarger’s charge are looking for something rather different. She is the tour rep on one of the world’s most extraordinary vacations, aimed exclusively at those who believe the Apocalypse is only a few years away.

The Thomas Crown Affair
8.30pm, Prime
Now this is an example of a good reason to exhume the jewel-heist genre. Director John McTiernan’s (Die Hard) 1999 thriller is slick, suspenseful and super sexy as Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo sizzle as a playboy and the detective on his trail. A rare remake that is as good, if not better, than the (1968) original.

Top Chef
8.30pm, TV3
Continuing their parade of beautiful people, the producers have this week enlisted the help of the delectable Nigella Lawson as guest judge. She will be trying the remaining six contestants’ takes on a hotel-themed breakfast-in-bed dish. Let’s hope no one leaves any crumbs on the duvet.
   
Friday, December 4

Christianity: A History
7.10pm, TV7
This eight-episode Channel 4 series investigates key moments in Christianity’s history from its birth in Palestine, through its conquest of the Roman Empire and its future prospects in the world of the 21st century. This first instalment examines the story of the origins and consequences of Christian belief.

Is Your House Killing You?
8pm, TV1
Experts Dr Peter Dingle and Cedric Chong expose the hidden biological and chemical dangers that could be lurking in your home. Each week focuses on a different house suffering from a distinct toxin. Like the fictional House, this reality series uses a 'whodunnit' plot to seek out the causes of the symptoms the houses' inhabitants are suffering from.

Most Shocking: Britain’s Weirdest Phobias
9.30pm, Prime
ITV documentary which reveals some particularly absurd and irrational phobias and how they have developed.  Peas, cobwebs, barns, bananas, tree roots, cats and little people are all revealed by contributors as their greatest fear and quite literally if confronted by this feared object they could in, some situations, be scared to death.

Napoleon Dynamite
9.55pm, TV2
Gosh! Jared Hess’s 2004 comedy about an odd teenager who decides to help his new friend win the class presidency might be more style than substance but it’s easy to see why it struck such a chord with Generation Y. Made a star out of Jon Heder and allegedly inspired everything from the Conchords to Instant Kiwi Ads.

Saturday, December 5

Air Force One
8.30pm, TV1
Harrison Ford is at his belligerent best as the President besieged by terrorists on his own plane in this 1997 thriller. German director Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm, Das Boot) again shows why he’s the king of the small-location-set drama, while Gary Oldman hams it up magnificently as the top terrorist. 

Choke
8.30pm, Sky Movies
Based on Chuck Palahniuk’s (Fight Club) 2001 novel of the same name, this 2008 drama is certainly not for the easily offended or faint of heart, Choke replaces sex with Fight Club’s violence but retains its pitch black humour, streak of subversiveness and unexpected turns, with Sam Rockwell providing just the right mix of weasley good looks and laidback charm.

Fifa World Cup Soccer Draw
6am, Sky Sports 2
Live from Cape Town comes an event potentially even more exciting for All Whites fans than the football itself. Will we draw another group of death like we did in 1982 or will captain Ryan Nelson get his wish of a more ‘friendly’ fixture list. The heart says England, Australia and South Africa, but Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal is more likely.

The Ladykillers
10.30pm, TV2
Known as one of the Coen Brothers’ least successful films, this 2004 comedy suffers more from comparisons to the 1955 original than anything else. Was also hampered by being in the wake of the far slicker Ocean’s 11 heist movie, with Hanks’s crusty Southern Dandy and jokes about irritable bowel syndrome too much for many.

Sunday, December 6

International Rugby: All Blacks v Barbarians
3.05am, Sky Sports 1
The All Blacks wrap up their tour of the northern hemisphere with a clash against the multi-national Barbarians. Viewers can usually expect a much more open game than a traditional test with Wallaby Matt Giteau, Springbok Bryan Habana and even former All Black wing Joe Rokocoko expected to be part of the Baa-Baas line-up.

Shaun of the Dead
8.30pm, C4
The British rom-zom-com that breathed new life into zombie films. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost burst onto the scene with this 2004 flick about two ordinary blokes facing a horde of brain-munching undead. An American rival Zombieland has just opened in Kiwi cinemas.

Role Models
8.30pm, Sky Movies
Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd play to type as a pair of energy drink salesman who are forced to participate in a Big Buddy programme as a form of community service. Actually sweeter than the cast and plot suggest, this 2008 film generates many easy laughs out of everything from re-enactment societies to rock-band Kiss.

Raging Bull
8.30pm, Rialto
Martin Scorsese directs Robert De Niro to an award-winning performance as the emotionally self-destructive boxer Jake La Motta. Shot in stunningly gritty black and white and part of a Scorsese double bill that also includes the equally brilliant Taxi Driver (10.45pm)

Monday, December 7

Harper’s Island
8.30pm, C4
All the questions will be answered in the finale of this underwhelming horror mystery series. Viewers can expect three more deaths as  the remaining wedding guests desperately strive to be one of the few survivors. Followed by the final episode in the current series of The Riches.

International Men’s Hockey: NZ v India
8am, Sky Sport 1
Fresh from qualifying for March’s World Cup in India, the Black Sticks now take on their prospective hosts in the opening game of the eight-team Champions Challenge in Salta, Argentina. China and Belgium are also in the Kiwi’s group as they strive to win the tournament and gain a place in next year’s prestigious Champions Trophy.

Shark Week
8.30pm, Discovery
Discovery Channel’s annual festival of fins kicks off with a documentary about the feeding habits of the Great White. Other highlights include Kiwi extreme fisherman Matt Watson confronting a Mako (9.30pm, Wednesday 9th) and a documentary about America’s "summer of the shark" in 2001 (8.30pm, Saturday 12th).

Most Haunted USA
8.30pm, Vibe
Yvette Fielding and the rest of the popular British paranormal documentary reality television series’ team take their investigate skills across the Atlantic in this latest series. Tonight’s first episode has them staying in the Stanley Hotel, a place made famous by Stephen King’s The Shining.

- © Fairfax NZ News