???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

From the director behind the drama Carol and Bob Dylan fictionalized biopic I’m Not There comes new documentary The Velvet Underground, about the unconventional band that rose to rock-n-roll fame out of New York’s avant-garde scene in the 1960s. Once defined by their iconoclastic sensibility, the band and its dark star frontman Lou Reed crafted a distinctive sound that continues to exert influence over mainstream rock and pop. Meanwhile, the banana painted by Andy Warhol (an early Velvet Underground manager) for the band’s debut album is an icon in its own right. Lacking any available concert footage, director Todd Haynes draws heavily from experimental film shot by Warhol to tell the story of the anti-establishment band whose name became synonymous with 20th-century cool. Catch the doc on Apple TV+.

⚽ Are you ready for a night of champions? Football reaches peak excitement tonight with the return of UEFA Champions League matches. Club Brugge and Manchester City face off at 6:45pm, at the same time as Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon will hit the field. At 9pm, the league has a stacked lineup: Atletico Madrid v. Liverpool, Shakhtar Donetsk v. Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain v. Leipzig, Porto v. Milan, Ajax v. Borussia Dortmund, Inter v. Sheriff.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Don Paolo opened on Maadi’s Road 218 over the summer with an impressive array of authentic pizzas, pastas and desserts, all made in-house with fresh Italian ingredients. The open kitchen means you can watch the chefs at work as they load up the pizza oven, or choose to dine al fresco in the seating area out front. We recommend the gnocchi, as well as anything with seafood. It’s open from 12pm to 1am — and if you can’t drag yourself away from The Velvet Underground, you can order in.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

Medrar’s 10th Cairo Video Festival ends tomorrow, but you can still catch the closing party at Cairo Jazz Club from 9pm tonight. Keyboardist Abo Sahar will join producer Kubbara to play out the festival with a mix of electric, hip hop, and mahraganat.

The Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF) continues until Friday, with tomorrow seeing the first performance of French-Syrian play The One Who Lived in the House Before Me at Rawabet Art Space at 8pm. The 60-minute play brings to life the work of Cairo-based Syrian poet Rasha Omran in the original Arabic and in French, with the writer also performing on stage.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

It’s publication day for John Grisham, the master of the “legal thriller” (not even he is sure where the term came from) and easily the most underrated modern American writer. The Judge’s List zeroes in on a judge who may be a serial killer — in a land in which judges are elected, not appointed. Grisham rarely misfires and his prose has only improved as his career has continued. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this interview with the New York Times, published ahead of today’s book release: John Grisham on judges, innocence and the judgments he ignores.