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Notables: This is going to be another long notables section on movies. Sorry! There are some interesting things to explore. The controversial comedy Tropic Thunder took down The Dark Knight by a whopping $10 million. For those of you who weren’t with us last week, here’s a review from the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com. In last week's roundup, I shared a few thoughts (toward the end of the "notables" section on the top five movies) about the nature of satire and whether or not this particular movie lives up to the genre in which it wishes to be placed. I think the whole thing makes for an interesting conversation about the nature of judgment and critique (at what point does one forfeit his or her soul for the sake of attaining their desired goal of judgment, thus becoming the very things they judge). Though I haven’t seen the film, I can gather enough information from reviews, television/radio interviews, and previews to see that another intriguing theme emerges in the film, developed through the eccentric character played by Robert Downey, Jr. I’ll let the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com tell you about his character, Kirk Lazarus: he is “an Oscar-winning Australian who is very, very serious about getting into character”—so much so that he “has had his pigmentation treated by a doctor so that he can pass himself off as an African-American.” Sounds pretty crazy. It also sounds like something a lot of actors might actually do. But you know what’s even crazier? It sounds like something we might actually do. In fact, we might very well do it everyday (just not quite as extreme, of course).

Again, I’ve not seen the movie. Feel free to take this with a grain of salt. I’m well aware that those involved are describing Tropic Thunder as a high, fast, inside pitch at Hollywood, trying to get her to stop crowding the plate in all her narcissistic passion. Yes, I’m well aware that this is a comedy. But a lot of comedies—especially ones that wear a name tag that says “Look at me! I’m satire!”—do want to serve as social commentaries. That being said, I think Tropic Thunder has a lot to say about lost identity (and not just when it comes to Hollywood-types—though they are the chief target).

I can’t get over a line that Downey says in the preview—one that many folks say comes out as both funny and as a cry for help: “I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude!” In other words: “I’m actually acting like an actor who is great at acting like someone else.” In other words: “I have no idea who I am anymore.” He’s blurred the lines so much for the sake of Oscars and whatever other accolades he can get, that he’s lost everything of who he truly is. Sound familiar? I’ll let you play with that a bit. While you’re doing just that, you might want to check this article. Be warned: the guy is crass, cynical, tends to deliver interesting insights in a disgusting way, and offers a few spoilers that show how all the characters are sad cases of lost identity—but when I read it last night, I began to think that my gut feeling about Tropic Thunder wasn’t way off.

One last notable (I promise): I thought this was one of the more brilliant pieces I’ve read about The Dark Knight. Brant, the author, is a great guy with a great mind and heart. His push back at the feverish adoration for the movie serves as quite a punch to the gut.

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

Notables: Nothing to note here that we haven’t noted in the past. Like last week, there was but one tiny change: Pausch moved back to #4, and Meyer's New Moon moved up to #3.

Top Five Albums
1. A Little Bit Longer, Jonas Brothers
2. Mama Mia!, Soundtrack
3. Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock
4. Breakout, Miley Cyrus
5. Love On The Inside, Sugarland

Most of the albums from last week are still around, but in different places. The newest member of the top five is the Jonas Brothers. Ask your kids—they know all about these guys. You could argue they’re an interesting trio of boys. If you don’t believe me, check out this article from RollingStone. Now do you find them interesting?

Top Five Digital Downloads
1. “Crush,” David Archuleta
2. "Disturbia," Rihanna
3. "Change," Taylor Swift
4. "Paper Planes," M.I.A.
5. "Dreamer," Chris Brown

Notables: I suppose the big news for those who follow this column regularly is that Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” finally dropped out of the top five. There are, however, five newbies (#1, #3, and #5). David Archuleta was the runner-up in this year’s edition of American Idol. Taylor Swift’s “Change” and Chris Brown’s “Dreamer” are part of the “official” 2008 Beijing Olympics soundtrack. They’re your basic inspirational songs, although I did find Swift’s lyrics a little more interesting than Brown’s. Overall, this is more evidence that the Olympics are on a lot of people’s minds, and they like the soundtrack that has been attached to the events.

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

1. us news and world report
2. us news college rankings
3. u.s. news world report college rankings
4. project playlist
5. projectplaylist.com

Notables: U.S. News and World Report released their annual list of America’s Best Colleges. High school seniors—or maybe more notably their parents—begin narrowing the list for fall of ’09. As for items 4 and 5, Project Playlist is a free online playlist program that enables users to stream music to their social networking accounts (like Facebook or MySpace). It’s yet another resource to customize your personal cyberspace—which means even more time on the computer and more time fostering pseudo-community.