Screening guide: Zombies, space criminals and waiata anthems

Hollie Smith appears in new series Waiata/Anthems with Don McGlashan to rerecord their hit Bathe in the River.

Waiata / Anthems
(TVNZ OnDemand)

This seven-part series is a spin-off from the chart-topping 2019 compilation album of the same name. It takes the same concept, artists re-recording their biggest hit in Te Reo, and adds a TV crew so we can see the process, not just hear the result.
Each 15-minute episode sees the likes of Che Fu, Bic Runga, Katchafire and Hollie Smith and Don McGlashan reinterpreting their biggest songs, breaking cultural barriers, facing their fears and discovering a deeper connection to Aotearoa than they first imagined.
As we're smack bang in the middle of New Zealand Music Month, now's the perfect time to binge through this brilliant new series.
Streaming now.

Army of the Dead
(Netflix)

Fresh from completing his re-cut four-hour superhero opus Justice League, director Zack Snyder leaves the cowls and capes behind to return to his horror roots.

Dave Bautista and friends in Army of the Dead, streaming on Netflix.

Here, he blends some good old zombie horror with the calculated cunning of a heist movie as a group of mercenaries bust out of a quarantine zone and into the zombie-infested casinos of Vegas in an attempt to loot them dry.
One reviewer said, "There's enough gore, mayhem, and decay in Army of the Dead to make for a satisfying zombie-movie experience," which is exactly what you want from a Friday night fright flick.
Streaming from tomorrow.

Intergalactic
(Neon)

This new British sci-fi series can be likened to the old British sci-fi classic Blake's 7. Just like that dusty old favourite, the crew here are convicted criminals of varying degrees of innocence who, en-route to a prison planet, successfully mount an escape. The series follows the newly liberated prisoners as they go on the intergalactic lam while being pursued by merciless space police.

Scene from the new sci-fi series Intergalactic. Streaming on Neon.

Its been likened to Dr Who, with one critic praising the, "fine performances and nifty costume and production design".
Streaming now.