A week on the box: July 27 - August 2

Reviewer James Croot checks out the best shows and films on New Zealand television screens for the week of Tuesday, July 27 to Monday, August 3.

Tuesday, July 27

Peta Unplugged in Marrakech
7.30pm, Prime
New series following Peta Mathias as she and her fellow 'gastronomads' go on a culinary and cultural tour of Marrakech. Over the course of the series, she promises to introduce Marrakech's ancient and fascinating old city, buy live pigeons from a Jewish market and delves into Marrakech's pit roasted lamb stalls.

Lust, Caution
8.30pm, Rialto

Brokeback Mountain's Ang Lee directs this stylish and sexually charged espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure. "Casts a spell you won't want to break," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Travers.

Threads of Hope
8.30pm, Maori
2000 Canadian documentary about three Chilean women, armed only with sewing needles and scraps of cloth, who reveal the truth behind General Pinochet's dictatorship. Narrated by Donald Sutherland. Meanwhile, over on TV One, that channel's Real Crime series looks inside one of Europe's largest jails - Wormwood Scrubs (9.30pm).

Teens and Tiaras
8.30pm, Living
2009 Channel 4 documentary following the British Debutante season. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jane Treays, it explores how the teenagers involved take their first tentative steps towards becoming young women in the heart of London's most sophisticated social scene and why the girls are drawn to the idea of becoming a debutante in an age of social equality.

Wednesday, July 28

White Men Can't Jump
8.30pm, C4

Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star in this knockabout 1992 comedy about a pair of basketball hustlers who work on the premise that white men can't play as well as their black counterparts. "Here is a comedy of great high spirits, with an undercurrent of sadness and sweetness that makes it a lot better than the plot itself could possibly suggest," wrote Chicago Sun-Times's Roger Ebert.

Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story
8.30pm, TV3
Miriama Smith, George Henare, Scott Wills and Nick Blake star in this two-hour TV dramatisation of the baby kidnapping case that gripped the nation in 2002. The eight-month old daughter of Maori High Court Judge, Justice Eddie Durie, and  prominent lawyer, Donna Hall was taken at gunpoint.

Real Life: Too Poor For Posh School
9.25pm, TV One
2010 Channel 4 documentary following 11 short-listed candidates competing for an education worth £200,000 at one of the most prestigious schools in the UK - Harrow. Prospective students like Krishan, Numhan and Tumi undergo a relentless series of assessments on everything from English and Maths, sporting prowess and musical ability, to their opinions on current affairs

Thursday, July 29

This is Not My Life
8.30pm, TV One
From the creators of Go Girls and Outrageous Fortune,  this new local mystery drama series begins a man waking up unable to remember who he is. Setting out to discover what's going on, he stumbles on the truth - this is not his life and he may not get out alive. Stars Charles Mesure, Tandi Wright, and Miriama McDowell.

The Blues Brothers
8.30pm, Comedy

Near seminal 1980 musical comedy about a former prison inmate who puts together his old band in order to save the Catholic home where he and his brother were raised. Comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are joined by legendary performers like James Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin for more than two hours of toe-tapping, laugh-out-loud mayhem.

Survivors
8.30pm, Prime
2008 re-imagining of the classic 1970s BBC drama series focusing on the aftermath of a world devastated by a deadly virus. Those left behind must deal with the danger of a planet with no society, no police and no law and order. A second series finished in Britain earlier this year.

Big River Man
8.30pm, Rialto

Former professional gambler, star of Slovenian TV ads, Flamenco guitar teacher and marathon swimmer Martin Strel is the antithesis of an athlete. But as this 2009 documentary shows he's determined to complete the seemingly impossible, become the first person to swim the length of the Amazon.

Friday, July 30

Sissinghurst
7.30pm, Prime
Eight-part 2009 BBC documentary series which follows the adventures of Adam Nicolson, a man on a mission to inject some organic spirit into one of Britain's most popular castles and its beautiful gardens. Based in Kent, it was originally established by Nicolson's grandmother, writer and poet, Vita Sackville-West.

ITM Cup Rugby: Canterbury v Hawkes Bay
7.30pm, Sky Sport 1
Defending champions Canterbury kick-off their 2010 campaign against their semi-final opponents from last year - Hawkes Bay. This year's competition has all 14 team playing one another before the four semi-finalists are found. There is plenty to play for this year as next year the competition is divided into two pools of seven which will be based on this year's final standings. Beaten finalists Wellington begin their campaign against Tasman at 4.30pm on Sunday, while Waikato face off against Bay of Plenty at 6.30pm on Saturday.

Squeegee Bandit
8pm, Stratos

2006 Kiwi documentary which focuses on Starfish, a Maori man who survives by washing car windows at intersections on the mean streets of South Auckland. We follow his struggles through nine months, three cars, two women, 30 residences, three weeks of homelessness, a hundred run-ins with the cops, one court date, a kilo of marijuana, a closet full of skeletons, finding God and the Zen of window washing.

Glee
8.30pm, TV3
Josh Groban and Olivia Newton-John guest star as Regional Competition Judges on the season finale. When their own cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) announces that she will also be on the panel, the glee club members worry that New Directions will soon be disbanded.

Saturday, July 31

Funny People
8.30pm, Sky Movies

Judd Apatow's 2009 tragic-comic opus is less than the sum of its parts. There are some interesting insights into comedy writing and plenty of hilarious moments, but there's also a sense that this is a movie made more for Apatow and his mates - especially his former roommate Adam Sandler, who stars - than a wider audience. It also doesn't help that Sandler is considerably outperformed by the film's real star, a slimmed-down Seth Rogen.

The Man in the Hat
9.30pm, Documentary

Cinematographer turned director Luit Bieringa's 2009 documentary is as warm as its main subject. The combination of photos, interviews with Peter  McLeavey and  footage of him walking to work, create not only a portrait of a dapper, highly intelligent man with the common touch but also of the vibrance and diversity of inner-city Wellington. Watching him, it's easy to see why this art dealer has had clients from lawyers to beneficiaries, MPs to escorts.

Tri Nations Rugby: Wallabies v All Blacks
9.50pm, Sky Sport 1
The Bledisloe Cup goes back on the line as the All Blacks travel to Melbourne's Etihad Stadium for this first of four clashes, culminating in a second visit for the two sides to Hong Kong in late October. New Zealand born Australian coach Robbie Deans will be anxious to record a win, he's managed only one in eight previous meetings with Graham Henry's men.

The Pianist
10.30pm, TV3

Roman Polanski's searing 2002 drama is a compelling, chilling portrayal of life in World War II Warsaw. Lacking the sentimentality of similarly themed films (not a violin to be heard on Wojeciech Kilar's sparse score), The Pianist presents powerful imagery without resorting to slow-motion or a lingering shot. Adrian Brody's  method approach to the title role also  pays dividends, his gaunt appearance helps him to inhabit his character.

Sunday, August 1

It's In the Bag
7pm, Maori
Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison return for a second series of Maori TV's re-imagination of the iconic New Zealand game show. The pair will be blazing through Bay of Plenty, Waikato and the Far North, offering laughter, heaps of aroha and prizes that range, as ever, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Top Gear
7.30pm, Prime
Season 15 of the world's biggest car show kicks off with Jeremy asking why there aren't more three-wheeled cars in the world like the 1980s comedians' favourite, the Reliant Robin. Meanwhile, James attempts to drive a Toyota Hilux up an active Icelandic volcano and Richard's gives the old Chevrolet Lacetti a dignified send off.

Crude - The Incredible Journey of Oil
8.30pm, Maori

Superbly-crafted 2007 documentary which spans 160 million years of the Earth's history to reveal the story of oil. Filmed on location in 11 countries across five continents by  award-winning Australian filmmaker Dr Richard Smith the film talks to leading international scientific experts to join the dots between geology and economy.

The Day Before
9.30pm, Documentary
2007 documentary focusing on designer Marc Jacobs as he tries to balance his own American line with his role as artistic director of prestigious French fashion house Louis Vuitton. A feature-length forerunner to a four-part 2009 Sundance Channel documentary series which debuts at 9pm next Sunday.

Monday, August 2

Eastern Promises 
1.30am, TV2

Rubbish time for this excellent 2007 thriller. Playing on Londoners' fears of the city's rising eastern European influence, Canadian director David Cronenberg and writer Steven Knight seek to expose London's grimy and unseemly underbelly. Cronenberg excels at rapidly changing the film's tempo with short, sharp, shocks of unflinching, unblinking and uncompromising violence. Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts star.

Rick Stein's New Zealand
8pm, Food
Ahead of his live Food Odyssey stage show appearances later this month, the popular celebrity chef talks to April Ieremia at his co-owned NSW hotel Bannisters. He talks about his interest in our country - its people, culture and food - and how he has a developed a love for our wine and fresh and plentiful produce.

The Mentalist
8.30pm, TV2
Season 2 of this popular police procedural drama begins with Patrick (Simon Baker) learning that the case involving the serial killer who killed his wife and child has been reassigned to a team led by straight-shooting officer Sam Bosco (Terry Kinney). Meanwhile, a woman who apparently stole a million dollars from her employer is found suffocated.

Street Kings
8.30pm, TV3

Keanu Reeves, Forrest Whittaker and Hugh Laurie star in this 2008 action-drama about a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. "It's easy to laugh at for its bigger than big emotions, its preposterously kinky narrative turns and overwrought jawing and yowling, but there's no doubt that it also keeps you watching, really watching, all the way to the end," wrote The New York Times' Manohla Dargis.

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