The Week in Entertainment

Film: The wonderful Monsieur Lazhar, which fortunately was still in town. I loved this movie - the kids were great and real and Fellag was wonderful in the title role. If you can see it, do - there really isn't a flaw in it, unless you want an unqualified happy ending with all the troubles neatly disposed of.

DVD: Two very different Shahrukh Khan films - Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (Our hearts are still Indian) and Swades (Homeland). The latter is a "boy leaves home, makes good, and then finds his heart is still at home" film with a few little twists, very well done. The former is indescribable - a cross between a screwball romcom, a media satire, and a political thriller, with some frankly terrific musical numbers thrown in. Also Aamir Khan (no relation)'s Taare Zameen Par (Like Stars on Earth), which is a somewhat predictable story about a teacher discovering a child's dyslexia and solving it.

TV: Leverage is back! Yaaaaaay! I love that Elliot was upset about "the brew-pub menu is the hardest menu to decide." And his perfect delivery of "I'm only gonna say this once. Give me the ..." winces "teddy bear." And what the hell is Nate planning?

Read: Land of Milk and Money, a wonderful novel about a Portuguese dairy-farming family falling apart after the death of its matriarch. It's by Zeno, of "Halfway There", and it's just so entertaining I can't praise it enough. The Crowded Grave, a Chief Bruno novel, this one dealing with ETA, the Basque organization; The World Without You, about a family recovering (or not) from the loss of their only son; Teach Your Children Well, about raising happy children instead of driven, neurotic ones; and Dead Harvest, an intriguing first installment about a collector of damned souls. Also began Tigers in Red Weather, though I'm not sure I like the characters the review said it would shift to another POV soon, so I'll wait and see.