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Notables: Clint Eastwood just saw the best opening weekend of his storied career. His best opening had been Space Cowboys. Remember that one? It made $18 million. Gran Torino made $29 million plus. I know the inflation of ticket prices has a say in all of this, but that's still an awfully impressive thing to do when you're a 78-year-old actor-director.

I was actually one of the people who helped pad his total. I caught a matinee showing this last Sunday afternoon. Let me warn you before I go any further: it earns its R rating, mostly through language. Eastwood's character is a (somewhat) unapologetic racist. You can probably guess that makes for some troubling dialogue. This one doesn't pull any punches on a variety of issues. I think the folks at CT Movies did a good job in their look at the film's many messages and its weaknesses (only a few, in my opinion). Seeing as this one is rated R, you might not be able to do much with it at all. Different preachers have different audiences who can handle different things. I do think there is some meaningful stuff to explore in Gran Torino, but I'd rather not go into detail yet, so as to not spoil what happens in the film. If you see it - and again, be warned: it's rough - you will find some strong fodder for conversations about faith, regret, the need for confession, community, racism, reconciliation, conversion, and sacrifice. I'm being quite honest when I say all of those issues are covered in the film (which is just under two hours). What's more - and on a more general level - this film makes quite a statement about America, race relations, and older/younger generations. After I saw this one, it stayed with me.

As for something the exact opposite: Bride Wars. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure this one doesn't have all that much fodder in it for discussion. And if the reviews are accurate, this one might stay with you for all the wrong reasons. I guess if you're really looking for something - and this might be stretching it - Bride Wars does sort of expose a bit about the wedding industry. I think we all know how cutthroat and outrageously expensive the world of weddings has gotten in America. It's almost as if we're enraptured by the wedding and a little uncertain about marriage.

The Unborn is a horror movie. I really don't know much about it. I read on one site that this one is about an evil spirit that is trying to find a host - perhaps even a woman's unborn child. With that in mind, I really don't want to know much about it.

The final two are holdovers from last week. I think I mentioned I was hoping to catch a showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with my wife. The snowy weather that hit on Friday encouraged us to stay in, instead. Maybe we'll go this weekend, and I'll have some more to share in the next roundup (assuming curious little Benjamin is still in the top five, of course).

And one final note: did you catch the Golden Globes this last Sunday night? Slumdog Millionaire had quite the evening. I'm intrigued by this little indie flick.

Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
2. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer
3. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
4. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
5. Plum Spooky, by Janet Evanovich

Notables: Meyer. She's unstoppable. Consider the staggering statistics shared in this recent USA Today article. If you don't have time to read the whole thing, here's the bottom line: she sold 22 million copies of her books last year, and she's the author of "about one in every five books sold since Thanksgiving." The other day I heard someone mention that the "Twilight/vampire thing is dying down." Hmmmmm. Really? If you still haven't done much exploring on this one, in last week's roundup we linked to a nice little article about Stephenie Meyer. If you are still wondering about a potential intersection between this cultural phenomenon and the Gospel, perhaps you would like to join the conversation we started quite some time ago.

Oh! I almost forgot all about Evanovich's Plum Spooky. Here's a plot synopsis. Sounds like it's your typical story about a "24-year-old genius?accused of breaking his project manager's nose with a Dunkin' Donuts coffee mug and caught on tape stealing a contraption called a magnetometer." Wait - what? It gets even weirder when you realize the protagonist's best friend is a really intelligent monkey.

Top Five Albums
1. Fearless, Taylor Swift
2. Dark Horse, Nickelback
3. 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West
4. I Am?Sasha Fierce, Beyonce
5. Twilight Movie Soundtrack, Various Artists

Notables: This is pretty much the same as last week. Not much going on.

Top Singles
1. "Just Dance," Lady GaGa (featuring Colby O'Donis)
2. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," Beyonce
3. "Heartless," Kanye West
4. "Live Your Life," T.I. (featuring Rihanna)
5. "Love Story," Taylor Swift

Notables: This too is pretty much the same as last week. Not much going on.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
iGoogle Gadget New! Site Feed
1. numbers lady
2. metric conversion table
3. abdc
4. chesley b. sully sullenberger
5. hendrik schon

Notables: In a time uncertainty - a time of great fear over what the future holds - the nation is turning to?"The Numbers Lady." Her real name is Glynis McCants. She's a popular numerologist. The dictionary defines numerology as "the study of numbers, as the figures designating the year of one's birth, to determine their supposed influence on one's life, future, etc." One testimonial on her personal site: "I've seen Glynis work her Numerology magic dozens of times..always with the same result; empowering people to create the best version of themselves by really knowing and understanding who they are." I think she's a big search item because she's been making some major radio appearances as of late. I suspect numerologists, palm readers, tarot card readers, and other various psychics are getting quite a workout these days.

I don't know why thousands of people are looking for a metric conversion chart. All I know is that I doubt Glynis McCants needs one. At least I hope not. She is, after all, The Numbers Lady.

ABDC is short for America's Best Dance Crew, a popular reality show.

And please tell me you've heard of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. He's the pilot who safely landed a U.S. Airways plane in the Hudson River, saving every single person on board. This story blows my mind. One of the things I keep hearing on the news and on the radio is that the only way this story was going to have a happy ending was if Sully was going to do things by the book. And he did just that, dotting every i and crossing every t that was in the safety manual. He weighed his options, and chose water as the safest place to land. Landed the plane, nose slightly up, just like he had been taught (allowing the plane to actually float). Made sure everyone was evacuated in the safest manner possible. Was the last person to exit the plane - and only after doing two walkthroughs to make sure everyone was accounted for. Amazing story.

I don't know why Hendrik Schon is back in the news, but here's another intriguing story for your morning (and possibly for illustration). Schon is a German physicist who rose to great acclaim, only to eventually admit he was making up all of his theories out of thin air. In other words, I'm as successful a physicist as he is.