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Notables: A word of warning: this section is going to run a little long compared to the other sections. Why? There's just not much to note in the world of music and books this week, while there are some really intriguing things to cover in the world of cinema. First things first, I feel the urge to shamelessly brag about my box office prediction from last week. Themes of marijuana and murder and enduring friendship could not lay low the Batman. Now that my ego has been sufficiently massaged, let's move along to two thoughts on Pineapple Express. Check out this article from Time magazine about the prominent role pot is playing in our movies and television shows. I grew up under the shadow of Nancy Reagan and the D.A.R.E. program: "Just Say No." Now it seems we want to live under the shadow of Cheech and Chong: "Just Laugh." But it seems even those who are putting together pot-themed entertainment are trying to say it is a big deal that we smoke pot as much as we do (and we do - 6 percent of Americans smoke it regularly, and 42 percent have tried it at least once). In the Time article, current king of comedy Judd Apatow and star Seth Rogen - both behind Pineapple Express - admit they continue to debate the core message of the film. Is it anti-pot or pro-pot? Rogen seems undecided, but Apatow insists the message of the movie is that these guys stand to lose absolutely everything - including their very lives - because of pot. The article goes on to note how other movies by Apatow (including 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) show pot as a sign of dysfunction and not just delinquency. Or consider the non-Apatow, indie film The Wackness. It displays pot as a crutch that "takes the edge off of loneliness." In the TV show Weeds, the protagonist sells pot to help suburbanites bat away boredom. Bottom line: our films and television shows offer an outright acknowledgement that we are doing more drugs than ever, followed by another outright acknowledgement that we do so because we are struggling more than ever as human beings. All that from a few comedies.

But wait - there's a bit more to explore in Express. The folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com say the film is definitely pro-male friendships. In fact, the latest cultural fad is to refer to such relationships as "bromance" (brotherly romance). For more, check out this article. If movies mirror society - or look to offer a newer, better world for us to adopt - then the men of America want/should want more meaningful, non-homosexual relationships with other men. The current swirl of conversation about this issue is an intriguing one to me. To some degree, it probably ought to inform some of what we're through our litany of ministries.

Moving on, the other big news in the world of cinema has little to do with this top-five list. This week marks the release of Tropic Thunder, a comedy starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. A review from the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com can be found here. It's garnered quite a bit of buzz - and it's not all good. Many say Thunder is a hilariously scathing satire of big-budget, narcissistic Hollywood. Others aren't laughing over its depiction of the mentally disabled. The debate is so heated, that CNN ran two columns, one negative and the other positive. This commentary from Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics for the past 11 years, says we should all choose to sit out the movie in protest. This commentary says Shriver and others are missing the point of the film. He also indicates they are missing the point of the satire - that those involved in Thunder are mocking the actors who take Oscar-bait roles of disabled people, thus making a mockery (and cash cow) of the disability. Perhaps there is something worth exploring in this debate, perhaps not. Some questions for reflection: Is it good what the film is trying to accomplish? It is, after all, a poke in the eye of the juggernaut that is Hollywood. Then again, satire subversively doles out judgment with an eye toward social change. So is Tropic Thunder actual satire? Stiller and the gang take their shots at self-serving Hollywood types, but they do so knowing full well that Tropic Thunder's success will serve up for them a dose of popularity, awards, cash, and future starring roles (the very things they mock about their characters in the film). At what point does the difference between the judge and the judged crumble to the ground - and again, is that satire or just parody? And at what point does our satire or judgment of the self-serving ways of others become self-serving and vicious in and of itself - thus making us worthy of our own judgment? Hmmmmm. I've got another thought on Tropic Thunder, but it can wait until next week. I have a feeling we'll be talking about it again, because I have a feeling it might finally steal the top spot in the box office.

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

Notables: One tiny change this week: Pausch moved down a spot (to number 3), switching places with Meyer's Twilight. And that's it, folks. See why I had more room in the movies section? Continue to keep an eye on Meyer. She's doing a number of interviews while touring the country with the latest and last book in her vampire-love-triangle series. I've not seen anything earth-shaking, but I'll link to it if I do. Again, this is mostly just an author who loves to tell stories in creative ways.

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

ABBA is number one. According to the folks at Billboard, "ABBA has never had a top 10 album on the Billboard 200; the Swedish pop act's highest charting set is 1978's The Album, which peaked at No. 14." I guess there are a lot of closet ABBA fans out there. Musically, I don't get it. Socially, I do. In times marked by an up-in-the-air future - politically, socially, economically, militaristically - we cling to the past like a warm blanket. In other words, nostalgia is our drug of choice (along with pot, I guess). The emergence of Mama Mia! meant the re-emergence of the music that pumped through America's speakers in happier, disco-drenched times. Sure, Vietnam still hung over the nation like a black cloud, but we still hadn't been attacked on our own soil (i.e. the towers still stood in New York), and the economy would eventually find its legs). A lot of people liked the warm feeling they had walking out of the movie theatre - brought on by those warm memories - so they bought a delivery system (the soundtrack) that could squeeze a little happiness and good will from yesterday into their chaotic, uncertain today. And it doesn't stop with ABBA. People are gobbling up old school Air Jordans, looking for hints of both Kennedys in Obama, urging McCain to choose a VP that screams Reagan conservatism, and watching remakes of every other movie that came out between 1940 and 1990. So again: musically, I don't get it; socially, I do.

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

Notables: A lot of songs switched places this week, and another Jonas Brothers tune broke through to the top five (they have new album out, which will surely debut at number one). Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" takes another big fall. It's awfully close to seeing the end of its 15 minutes. One thing I'm still mulling over, though - perhaps you should to - is how the lyrics to "Disturbia" and "I Kissed a Girl" offer the storyline of a good girl gone bad, and girls and boys alike are eating it up and claiming it as an anthem of sorts.

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

1. kinesiology tape
2. mike and the mad dog
3. chris russo
4. nastia liukin
5. dazzle dvd recorder

Notables: I suppose the interest in kinesiology tape is due to the Olympics. I believe it's what the gymnasts wrap their ankles, wrists, and knees in during competition. Speaking of gymnastics, that also explains the fourth item on the list. Nastia Liukin won the gold medal last night in the women's all-around competition. As for items two and three, both have to do with the very popular New York-based sports radio show "Mike and the Mad Dog." After close to 19 years together, I guess it's going to be called "Mike." Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is leaving. The "dazzle dvd recorder" is just that - a DVD recorder that critics say dazzles (mostly because it's easy and cheap).