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Notables: Just this week The Dark Knight moved to seventh on the all-time domestic blockbuster list. It's also set the record as the fastest movie to $400 million. Translation: if you've not noticed, it's one of the biggest cultural phenomena of all time. All of this moneymaking probably explains why there are 42 comic-book and superhero movies in production. When you read the article I just linked to, however, you’ll notice that most of the movies in production focus on a protagonist who is deeply flawed, possibly even more evil than good. Remember the wholesome qualities of Roy Rogers and Superman? Well, make room for playboy Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Hellboy (name says it all). And while we’re talking about The Dark Knight, do you remember last week's entry—how I mentioned newspaper and blog pundits are droning on and on about the political leanings of the film? Well, get this: when asked which superhero they would most want to be, both McCain and Obama said they would want to be Batman. Let the debate rage on. As for next week, look for Pineapple Express and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to do big business. Express is a comedy about marijuana and murder, while Sisterhood is about friendship. I think we know which one will earn the top spot this weekend—The Dark Knight.

Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
2. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
3. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
4. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
5. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

Notables: The saga of Bella and her having to choose a vampire or a werewolf as her soul mate is now complete. The final book in Meyer's series—Breaking Dawn—was gobbled up by swarms of people who were willing to camp out by their local Borders or Barnes and Noble. Are fans pleased with the outcome? Most are. Some aren't. If you want to spoil the surprise—Did she choose the vampire? Did she choose the werewolf? Did she choose someone a little more human like herself?—click here. We might start to see Meyer slip out of the top five. Might. The next rush of fan fury is going to come when the first movie is released. I’m looking forward to seeing people dressed like vampires and werewolves waiting in line to see it.

Top Five Albums
1. Love On The Inside, Sugarland
2. Breakout, Miley Cyrus
3. Mama Mia!, Soundtrack
4. Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock
5. Tha Carter III, Lil' Wayne

Miley and Sugarland swapped places, and that's the only real news this week. Boring, I know. I wish I had more for you.

Top Five Digital Downloads
1. "Disturbia," by Rihanna
2. "Tonight," by Jonas Brothers
3. "I Kissed a Girl," by Katy Perry
4. "Paper Planes," by M.I.A.
5. "Burnin' Up," by Jonas Brothers

Notables: The Dark Knight continues to stand tall over its competition. We should probably just go ahead and name the Top Five Books list “The Meyer Top Five List.” I thought we had something similar going with Katy Perry—but then the mighty one was laid low. She has finally loosened her kung fu grip on #1. In fact, she tumbled two spots this week. Who did it? Rihanna’s “Disturbia.” Interestingly, though, the lyrics to “Disturbia” smack of the same themes covered in Perry’s tune—the idea of a good girl gone bad. In this case, it’s a good girl gone mad. The old bubble gum pop said “girls just want to have fun.” But that doesn’t seem like it’s enough anymore.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.

1. cctv olympics
2. watch olympics live
3. olympics opening ceremony live
4. katie holmes pixie
5. olympics online

Notables: I would say folks are a bit interested in the Olympics. We’ve put together a couple of blog entries about stories to keep an eye on at this year’s Games here and here. We get to see the opening ceremonies tonight, but here’s a recap of what went down. One moving story concerning the opening ceremonies: a former “lost boy” of the Sudan, now a U.S. citizen, was selected to carry the American flag on opening night. Click here to read his story. As for the one lone item that isn’t Olympics related: Does it have to do with Russian tanks invading the breakaway Georgian region? Is it related to the awful bus crash in Texas that killed 13 people from a Vietnamese church group? How about the critical decision we face in this election year? None of the above. It all has to do with the fact that Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise’s wife, opted to change her hairstyle from a bob to a pixie cut.

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