Entertainment picks: Batman back in the spotlight

Batman Begins, the fourth big screen version about the comicbook super hero, stars Christian Bale.

Music

They might look like 8 Foot Sativa's intellectual cousins, and yes, they love their metal but Wellington band Phoenix Foundation are behind this year's most innovative and sublime pop release. Fresh from winning a bNet award for best unreleased track (Hitchcock), their national tour to support second album Pegasus brings them to the Classic on Friday and Saturday, with Cassette playing support. Granddaddy fans welcome.

From six-man band to one, the following sounds suspiciously like the guy who plays Elvis tunes on his tambourine-keyboard-guitar-thingy outside the supermarket. Thankfully, Texan musician John Schooley is actually talented. Marvel as he performs his distorted, sometimes sloppy but very rock'n'roll brand of blues-trash - that's guitar, drums, harmonica and vocals - all on his own. He's at the Kings Arms on Friday with the Blunts and Labrette Suede & the Motel Six, and on Saturday with the Boxcar Guitars and the Biff Bangle Experience. Award for best band name coming soon.

Here's another physical feat to behold on Saturday: the National Air Guitar finals, aka rock guitarists playing guitar without the guitar. The winner will be representing their tuneless self in Finland for the international Air Guitar championships in August. Cheer them on at the Poenamo Hotel, Takapuna.

Movies

Batman Begins is the fourth big-screen interpretation of the caped crusader's exploits, but before you roll your eyes at the thought of George Clooney's nipple-enhanced batsuit, or become nauseous at the Katie-Tom phenomenon, consider this: Batman Begins was directed by Christopher Nolan, the man behind the dark, unpredictable thrillers Memento and Insomnia; the guy in the cape is the brooding Christian Bale, the serial killer from American Psycho. The film spends more time explaining why a seemingly adjusted man decides to dress as a flying rodent and save the planet, and early reviews have praised its darker, psychological bent as being more in tone with the early comics. In cinemas from Thursday.

Hotel Rwanda, the film Angelina is plugging when she's not doing hype for Mr & Mrs Smith, is at the Rialto from Thursday. Less a documentary that explains the genocide of one million people in 1994 when civil war broke out in Rwanda, and more a dramatic re-telling of one man's courageous actions, it stars Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager in the Rwandan capital Kigali, who housed more than a thousand Tutsi refugees. Bet Brad's seen it, too.

Social circuit

The 37th annual Film Festival starts in early July and to kick it off on Tuesday, there's a screening of Double Dare, a documentary by Amanda Micheli about stuntwomen. It features veteran Jeannie Epper, who has spent five decades dodging cars, falling from buildings, taking punches and being lit on fire, and Kiwi Zoe Bell, who has doubled for Lucy Lawless in Xena and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Bell will also attend the screening; at which the programme will be announced. Stay tuned.

TV

Nip/Tuck may be over but the knives are still out with the return of Footballer's Wives (tonight, TV2, 9.30pm), the show that is to the Beckhams what Kath & Kim is to Aussie suburbanites. Highlight last season? When Amber swapped over Tanya's tanning lotion resulting in the "I've just been slapped in the face with a hot rasher of bacon" look. This time both are up the duff to footy captain Conrad, Shannon gets her own reality show and guest stars include pop singer Peter Andre, chef Antony Worrall-Thompson and former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman. Bring on the cat-fights and nasty manicures.

Which brings us to Straight Plan for the Gay Man (TV2, Monday, 11.05pm). Meet "the Flab Four", a bunch of ordinary, middle-aged men who take a perfectly groomed gay man and introduce him to their flannel-shirted, slovenly bachelor ways. Then the poor guy is unleashed on the public to see if he can get away with being a hetero. Now let's see them try the role-swap idea with Extreme Makeover.

You can just imagine the discussion around the boardroom table when they came up with Celebrity Circus (Prime, Wednesday, 7.30pm). Washed up Aussie soap stars? Check. Potentially disfiguring physical stunts? Check. Skimpy leotards? Check. But if you'd rather see an animated version of Ray Romano than watch Dieter Brummer attempt to ride a unicycle, The Simpsons celebrate their 350th episode (TV3, Wednesday, 7.30pm).

Festival

It must be hard for musicians lumped in under "Other". Lucky for them, there's the Noise Festival, a celebration of experimental music - or should we say, sound sculpture. Alleluya Cafe, Artspace and the Silo Theatre host an array of oddball gigs so you can finally hear that Chinese folk song on the dulcimer or check out that mean riff on the er, Apple Mac. Highlights this week: Isyd performs with computer, violin and CD player at Artspace on Friday and there's an improv session with local musos at the Silo, Sunday. But for those after serious aural inspiration, I'm setting up a stand on K Rd featuring egg-beater, lamb chop and annoying Devo lyric. Just $5 to make me stop.