SP list contents as JSON?

Hello!

I am trying to use DataTables to present the content of a SharePoint list more nicely.  This has led me to a couple of issues:

1) I've figured out how to format the list URL to output XML.  The XML doesn't take on the typical "tree" structure that I would have expected though.  Is there any way to prescribe this, so that it's more usefil?

and

2) Is there a way to output either the SP list directly to JSON, or via some kind of intermediary?  The DataTables library requires JSON input.

Thanks!