Entertainment picks: Putting the stuffing back in

TV

Feeling nice and full are we? You could probably do with a run around the block or a wander down to the beach for a body surf.

But it's also the perfect time to rest up, because come New Year's Eve it will be time to do it all over again.

This week, after the sun goes down, there's a few good movies on the box. Tonight there's the sweet lottery-winning yarn of Waking Ned Devine (TV One, 8.45pm), the soppy but still funny Four Weddings and a Funeral (TV2, 8.30pm), and the Jurassic Park sequel, The Lost World (TV3, 7.30pm).

Tomorrow there's the excellent - especially if you're a music geek like me - High Fidelity (TV3, 9.25pm), starring John Cusack and Jack Black, and on Wednesday in a bit of midweek stupidity Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star in Zoolander (TV2, 8.30pm).

On New Year's Eve, if you're not out and about, Slave and Otis bring in 2006 on C4 (9pm, Saturday) and the boys from Back of the Y do the same on TV2 (10.30pm, Saturday).

Music

If I wasn't going to be in a secluded part of Lake Taupo, hopefully eating some fresh trout washed down with a crisp beer - or eight - for New Year's Eve, then I don't know where I would be. There's so much to choose from in Auckland.

For some booty-shaking there's Bring It On with French DJ Bob Sinclar (Civic Theatre) and Nice'N'Urlich funk up the Studio.

For something with a bit more mongrel, try New Yeah 06 at 4:20 with Concord Dawn, Recloose, Open Souls, North Shore Pony Club and more.

More civilised will be First Night 2006 at the Aotea Centre with Breaks Co-Op, Anika Moa, and Nathan Haines.

And if you're at the Mount - and many of you rebels will be - then check out either the Datsuns, Rock and Roll Machine and Conan and the Mockasins at Blue Chip Stadium, or Blindspott and the Bleeders at Brewers Bar.

Movies

It's hard to be more memorable than actress Scarlett Johannson. Yet Bill Murray, with his gormless doe eyes and kind nature, was her equal in Lost In Translation.

In Broken Flowers (which opens today), a road-trip comedy directed by Jim Jarmusch, Murray is likely to be even more delightful.. He plays Don, a middle-aged man who receives an anonymous letter saying he has a 19-year-old son by one of his former lovers. Don travels far and wide searching for his ex-girlfriends to find the mother of his child. A must-see if ever there was one.

Also starting today is The Legend of Zorro with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It's 1850 and Zorro (Banderas) has promised his wife, Elena (Zeta-Jones), that he will give up his secret identity and go back to living as plain old Alejandro de la Vega. But when an old villain comes knocking, Zorro finds it hard to hang up his sword.

Apparently, Mad Hot Ballroom (which opens today at the Academy in Lorne St) is Spellbound meets Strictly Ballroom. I'll take Spellbound, but leave the latter.

Mad Hot Ballroom tells the story of a bunch of 11-year-old New York City public school kids competing for a place at the city-wide final of the ballroom dancing champs. If it's anything like Spellbound, it will be hilarious but also fraught with nervous moments for competitors and viewers alike.

On New Year's Day many of you will be having the hair of the dog. But if you've got kiddies and still feel like a bit of a lie-down, then two animated feature films opening on Sunday will make your day.

Valiant tells the story of a small British pigeon (voiced by Ewan McGregor) who becomes a hero for flying dangerous missions in World War II.

Then, from Japanese animation whiz, Hayao Miyazaki, comes Howl's Moving Castle, about a young hat-maker called Sophie. She has been turned into an old woman by an evil witch and is on a mission to break the spell when she meets a young magician called Howl, who has an amazing moving castle.

And, in brief, Rumour Has It stars Jennifer Aniston as a woman who learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film The Graduate, and Indian film Shadows of Time is a tragic love story about Ravi and Masha, two child labourers working in a carpet factory near Calcutta.

Beaches

Beaches provide hours of entertainment and are easily my favourite places for summer.

So here's a few to check out if you're in the area.

In the far, Far North, there's Rarawa (halfway between Kataia and Cape Reinga); and moving further down the North Island we have Ahipara (bottom end of Ninety Mile Beach); Oakura (just out of New Plymouth); Waitarere (turn off between Foxton and Levin); Ocean Beach (Hawkes Bay); Medlands (Great Barrier); and finally the windy but stunning Waikawau (at the end of the Coromandel).

I'll see you there.