TV HIGHLIGHTS
SUNDAY
The Hangover TVNZ 2 8.30pm The good-time movie that launched the careers of Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis also launched a thousand cliches. The basic idea is that a group of friends go to Vegas for a last hurrah before one gets married, the night disappears in a blur, the groom goes missing, then it gets worse. Maigret TVNZ 1, 8.30pm, Sunday and Monday The famous fictional French detective created by Belgian writer Georges Simenon in the 1930s is played by Rowan Atkinson. The two-part series starts with Maigret under pressure to find a serial killer who has terrorised Paris.
MONDAY
74th Golden Globe Awards Vibe, 2pm The Golden Globes is the bridesmaid of the awards season, but in many ways it’s the superior entertainment product, less overblown and less self-important than big brother the Oscars and arguably with higher-quality judging too. This year’s likeable comic host will be Jimmy Fallon, from high-profile US talk show The Tonight Show and he’ll no doubt bring plenty of wacky gags and not a few sick burns for the big egos.
WEDNESDAY
Hail, Caesar! Neon It’s a pleasure to see the arrival, in the prime summer viewing lull, of this excellent film. The Coen brothers’ latest turns its gaze on the Hollywood studio scene of the 1950s and skewers it. It’s funny, slightly off-kilter, everything you hope for in a Coen brothers’ film, plus George Clooney at his wry, foxy best.
THURSDAY
Beyond the Brick Prime, 7.30pm Possibly an exploration of one of the world’s most enduringly wonderful, frustrating toys and possibly just a giant advertisement for a company that is doing okay already, this doco offers to look at what it calls “the fundamental question”: Is Lego a toy, or is it something more? The film-makers take us into art galleries and claim to be exploring the nature of human creativity. – Greg Bruce