The Week in Entertainment

TV: August Rush, which I thought an enchanting urban fairy tale. Zoom - not bad; a bit predictable, but well acted. Up, Up and Away - very predictable, but pleasant enough. Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker - not bad (well, except for Missi Pyle's bizarre turn as Nadia. Weird, truly laughably weird). Oddly, they cast a 16-yr-old to play Alex, who's 14, and a 16-year-old who looks older, even, than that. Considering that the "we're so cold we'll send a child into danger" thread was rather important in the books, having the "child" be taller than most of the adults was a weird casting choice. Mickey Rourke was an odd choice for the villain, but he wasn't terrible, considering how the role was written - not terrible, just not good.And poor Tony Blair must have had fits seeing Robbie Coltrane as a slightly dim PM... And also oddly, Brits seem to put a hard G into "Magellanic Cloud". Eleventh Hour; they're doing some nice work with Felix, I think. And Numb3rs, which is still good. I like the way the Charlie/Don relationship works, the way they both wonder about the effect Don has on Charlie - on his career, his promise. Plus, how can you resist a show about a (possible) killer AI called "The First Law"? And ohohohohoh - Ashes to Ashes. I thought that Life on Mars (the British version) was an exiquisite gem of television, and this sequel looks very good. True, it's only one ep, but just seeing Gene Hunt stride into the scene - oh my yes.

Read: Finished The City of Falling Angels, a fascinating look at Venice. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, a retelling of the 1860 Kent Road House murder combined with an examination of the detective in fiction and the popular press; it's very good.