The Week in Entertainment

Live: The Lion King which, wow. That is what theater is meant to be like. The costume design is superb, the acting wonderful, even the two little kids, and the singing terrific. If you have a chance to catch this (Broadway Across America, or the like) definitely do.

DVD: Chak De! India, an underdog sports film about the Indian women's hockey team. Shahrukh Khan takes a divided and antagonistic team to the World Cup. Mohabbatein (Love Stories) - which, I think, pretty much embodies the difference between Bollywood and Hollywood. Well, besides the songs and dances, of course. In the latter, given the set-up (stern headmaster expels gifted student who had fallen for his daughter, thereby ruining his chance for any academic career; daughter, despairing, commits suicide; student returns to school using a false name seven years later and gets a job teaching music as an extra-curricular activity), the student's goal would be the destruction of the headmaster and school in the name of revenge. In this movie, though, his goal is ... the headmaster's redemption in the name of Love.

TV: The Mentalist, an amusing episode. Someone tried to kill a sports hero, and they were pretending he was dead to help them trap the killer because, as Jane put it, "How many times have you wanted to talk to the victim?" I liked it when Lisbon told the guy "You're threatened by a mobster and then your car is blown up and you don't tell us? You're about as helpful as a real murder victim." Psych, funny. The Middle, a nice episode about questioning things, and I'm glad they didn't have Brick decide the Bible was flawless. Modern Family, a very funny episode about trying to celebrate Christmas around everyone's schedule - and neuroses. Leverage - I adored that German film-maker, especially when he fell for Parker. "She has nuclear winter in her soul!" Watched the rest of Boss, which was very powerful. Next season should be tremendous. And a couple of episodes of Grimm, which is still interesting.

Read: Perdito Street Station by China Miéville, which (like everything else of his I've read) is a stunning, inventive creation.