The Week in Entertainment

Live: American Idiot. It was a lively, energetic show, but for too much of it it was way overamped - they had eight up front, all cranked up to eleven. No matter how they miked the singers, they weren't going to get over that. And it's a shame - perhaps if I (like the guy beside me) had been familiar with Green Day, I'd have known all the words, but I'd only heard one song they sung (and that was the post-curtain-call number), so, not so much. It was a shame because I think Green Day's lyrics probably repay attention - and they were moving the story, which was therefore painted in broad strokes, not nuanced ones, at least for me.

DVD: Vivah ( विवाह, Marriage) with Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Sameer Soni (much more sympathetic character than he played in Baghban!) and the wonderful Anupam Kher as the bride's father. This movie doesn't have huge dance numbers, though it does have songs, lovely ones, and it's a real tear-jerker, in a good way. Excellent film, though the story (of an arranged marriage) could be called old-fashioned, and nothing in it will surprise you. And then another Shahid Kapoor film, with Vidya Balan, set in Toronto and called Kismat Konnection. Kapoor is a unlucky architect who finds his good-luck charm in Priya, who's engaged to another man. Cute, but nothing special.

TV: Psych - hilarious. All the flailing around the crime scene, and Woody's "I cannot be trusted!" The Mentalist - okay, about as much Red John as I can take, a good season ender (though I  hope they aren't leading up to telling us RJ really does have supernatural powers. This isn't Grimm; it's not the right genre). But for crying out loud. They didn't search that woman for poison? How many times does an RJ minion have to kill themself before they take precautions? Speaking of Grimm, a really nice episode. Good character stuff. I really like Renard, and I loved the way they all kept calling around about Nick. Also enjoyed The Middle and Modern Family. "I trust the Doctor." - "You think he knows what he's doing?" - "I'm not sure I'd go that far." She's still an engima, but they give her good lines.

Read: The Wrong Goodbye, another in the Collector series - no sophomore jinx here! Just started Out of the Black Land, a novel set in Ancient Egypt (just before and during the reign of Ankhenaten.