A week on the box: May 11-17

Reviewer James Croot checks out the best shows and films on New Zealand television screens for the week of Tuesday,May 4 to Monday, May 10.

Tuesday, May 11

The Apprentice
7.30pm, TV2
The finalists battle it out one last time to see who will be crowned by Terry Serepisos as his apprentice. Six of the fired candidates are waiting to help them in the final task which involves organising an auction at Te Papa for the Cure Kids charity. Plenty of surprises are promised.

House
8.30pm, TV3
Star Hugh Laurie steps behind the camera for this week’s instalment of the hit medical drama. David Strathairn guest stars as a patient stuck in a room with House when the hospital is locked-down due to a missing infant. Also trapped together are Foreman and Taub in the file room, Wilson and Thirteen in the cafeteria and Chase with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Cameron.

Why Can’t We Predict Earthquakes?
8.30pm, Documentary
2009 BBC documentary investigating the phenomenon capable of ripping up roads, moving mountains and tearing down towns. Travelling into the high-stakes world of seismic research, the award-winning Horizon team meet the men and women trying to answer the question of whether we can predict earthquakes and follow the extraordinary experiments that are pushing the limits of this fast-moving science.

The Grocer's Son
8.30pm, Rialto
****
Created after writer-director Eric Guirado spent 18 months following travelling tradesmen around southern and central France, this 2007 film is a lovingly crafted family drama that celebrates life in the slow lane. Closer to being a Gallic Garden State or Elizabethtown than A Year in Provence, Guirado’s deceptively simple storyline is given richness and depth by a colourful cast of characters who have flaws and wit in equal measure.

Wednesday, May 12

Cougar Town
8pm, TV2
Friends’ Courtney Cox plays a woman longing for a little more action in her life. With an ugly divorce behind her and a 40th birthday lurking around the corner, Jules Cobb reluctantly decides it is time to dip her toe back into the dating pool. "The dialogue, timing and jokes have the madcap pace and anarchic spirit of Scrubs," wrote The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley about this new sitcom.

Lost
8.30pm, TV2
Thanks to the series having a week off in the US, TV2 is now only a week behind. On tonight’s episode Jack must decide whether or not to trust Locke after he is asked to follow through on a difficult task. In America, the four-hour finale (which includes a two-hour recap) is scheduled for May 24 (NZ Time).

SVU: Special Victims Unit
9.30pm, TV3
Comedienne Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) joins detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Chris Meloni) in this week’s episode. She plays a lesbian activist whose agenda gets in the way of the cops as they try to investigate a case of rape-turned-murder. An episode that became infamous because of the editing of a same-sex kiss.

Real Life: The Perfect Vagina
9.30pm, TV One
2008 Channel 4 documentary which follows Lisa Rogers as she investigates the wacky world of genital plastic surgery. She told The Guardian that her wise oracle Welsh dairy farming dad said to her when asked about the subject, "The thing is, Lis, if you’ve got a house you want to do up for a prospective buyer, you don’t start by decorating the cellar."

Thursday, May 13

UEFA Europa League
6.30am, ESPN
The inaugural final of European club football’s new second-tier competition is between two surprise finalists. England’s Fulham have never won a major trophy in their 131-year existence while Athletico Madrid’s only European honour came in 1962. The match is being played in Hamburg.

Being John Malkvoich
8.30pm, Comedy Central
****
The warped minds of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman combine for this 1999 surrealist comedy about a puppeteer who discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star, John Malkovich. The actor himself stars along with John Cusack and Cameron Diaz.

Project Runway
9.30pm, TV3
This week’s Season 6 finale sees Carol Hannah Whitfield, Irina Shabayeva, and Althea Harper sending their collections down the catwalk in the hopes of wowing the judges. But only one designer will go home with $100,000 to start her own line.  To round out the season, Models of the Runway concludes at 7pm on C4 on Saturday.

Lord of Illusions
9.30pm, Prime
***
A rare foray by Quantum Leap and Enterprise’s Scott Bakula onto the big screen. He plays New York Private Detective Harry D’Amour who finds himself in over his head when he stumbles upon a mystery involving a world-famous magician and his beautiful wife. This 1995 fantasy was written and directed by horrormeister Clive Barker.

Friday, May 14

ICC World Twenty 20: Semi-Final 
3.15am, Sky Sport 1
St Lucia’s Beausejour Stadium hosts the first semi-final of the third edition of the Twenty 20 World Cup. It will also host the second semi at the same time tomorrow morning. The final is scheduled for the same slot on Monday morning. After a terrific start against Sri Lanka, New Zealand will be hoping to at least appear in the semis.

Rebel Sport Super 14: Crusaders v Brumbies and Waratahs v Hurricanes
From 7.30pm, Sky Sport 1
It could be a long final round-robin weekend for New Zealand supporters. Even if the Crusaders and Canes win tonight’s games they may have to wait until at least Saturday night when the Reds take on the Highlanders or even Sunday morning when the Bulls and Stormers clash to find their ultimate fate.

Darcy’s Wildlife
9pm, TVNZ7
Mid-noughties North American tween drama about a relocated-to-the-country girl who works part-time for the local veterinarian. Darcy soon finds herself captivated by animals she never even knew existed, builds friendships with the quirky local townspeople, and adapts to a life she never expected to lead.

Willie Jackson’s Newsbites
10pm, Maori TV
The straight-talking broadcaster is back after last year’s successful pilot to take on the newsmakers and get to the heart of the issues that concern Maori and all New Zealanders. Plus Toi Iti’s popular and cutting edge ‘Half-Caste Broadcast’ takes a light-hearted satirical squint at life in Aotearoa.

Saturday, May 15

The Merchant of Venice
8.30pm, Rialto
****
Star-studded 2004 adaptation of the bard’s classic tale. Jeremy Iron’s is Antonio, Joseph Fiennes his cash-strapped friend Bassanio and Lynn Collins plays the beautiful heiress Portia. But it’s Al Pacino who steals the show as the hard-bargaining money lender Shylock, a man who demands his pound of flesh.

Reign of Fire
8.30pm, TV2
***
Beefcakes Gerard Butler, Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale combine for this promising but ultimately disappointing 2002 tale of a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flying dragons. “An odd cross between Mad Max and Dragonheart, this movie is all borrowed ideas, but it's still trashy fun,” wrote the Chicago Reader’s Hank Sartin.

Ray
8.30pm, TV3
***
Jamie Foxx successfully grabbed himself an Oscar for his portrayal of legendary and blind musician Ray Charles in this by the numbers 2004 biopic. “Contains large helpings of Hollywood schmaltz, stereotype and cliche, but it's also pretty impossible to resist,” wrote The New York Times’s Lou Lumenick.

The Cooler
11.30pm, TV3 
****
William H Macy, Maria Bello and Alec Baldwin are all in top form in this understated and underrated little gem from 2003. Macy plays an old school Las Vegas casino’s top gambling jinx who seemingly breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to the consternation of his boss.

Sunday, May 16

Doctor Who
7.30pm, Prime
Tonight the Doctor has been summoned by an old friend, but in the Cabinet War Rooms far below the streets of blitz torn London, it’s his oldest enemy he finds waiting for him and they have extermination on their minds. Meanwhile, Prime goes back to the beginning of vampire drama True Blood at 10.15pm.

Bones
8.30pm, TV3
Audiences have spent five seasons watching Dr Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) in action on Bones, but it has never been revealed how the two met. All that will change in tonight’s 100th episode, directed by Boreanaz.

Alien 3 
8.30pm, C4
***
Much-maligned and under-rated 1992 sequel which reverts back to the “haunted house” template of Ridley Scott’s original. Using ideas from an abandoned Vincent Ward screenplay, director David Fincher (Se7en) keeps the tension levels high and elicits some terrific performances from the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance and Paul McGann.

CSNY – Déjà Vu
9.30pm, Documentary
***
No not another cop drama, but rather a 2008 documentary following  Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on the Freedom of Speech 2006 tour of North America. Songs from the Tour are woven together with archival material, news footage, and audience reaction and observations, as the film examines the issues surrounding the integration of politics and art.

Monday, May 17

Haumanu
8pm, Maori TV
Series premiere of this documentary series about taonga puoro, or traditional Maori instruments, which reflect the sounds and rhythms of nature and the environment. Tonight’s episode looks at kohatu (stone) and the making of tools in order for taonga puoro to flourish once more.

Desperate Housewives
8.30pm, TV2
Lynette balks at the idea of seeing a couples' therapist. Meanwhile, Katherine shows no intention to moving back onto the lane and Gabrielle and Susan are determined to find out which of their kids is in the smartest math group at school. Elsewhere, Orson makes life harder for Bree and Angie disapproves of Danny's new girlfriend. Just another day on Wisteria Lane.

CSI
8.30pm, TV3
The body of a 14-year-old boy is discovered in a field and the investigation reveals the victim has blood under his fingernails that matches a convicted killer who is in prison for murdering his wife. The incarcerated man demands to be released, claiming that someone else with identical blood killed his wife.

Skins
9.30pm, C4
Debut of the fourth season of this award-winning UK drama series. The gang return from their summer holidays only to have their care-free bubble abruptly burst when a near-stranger dies needlessly, sending a shockwave through the group. In particular, the tragedy leaves Thomas (Merveille Lukeba) questioning everything - his faith, his family and even his choice of friends.

- © Fairfax NZ News