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Top Five Movies (according to box office returns)
1. 2012 (PG-13)
2. A Christmas Carol (PG)
3. Precious (R)
4. The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
5. This Is It (PG)

Notables: As I noted in Wednesday's Weekly Intersections: The box office success of apocalyptic thriller 2012 (it made over $65 million in its opening weekend) has a lot of folks reflecting on our obsession with the end of the world.

Top Five Movies (according to box office returns)
1. A Christmas Carol (PG)
2. This Is It (PG)
3. The Men Who Stare at Goats (R)
4. The Fourth Kind (PG-13)
5. Paranormal Activity (R)

Notables: And just like that, Disney jumpstarts the holiday season a littler earlier than usual with another cinematic take on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The folks at CT Movies say this one is one of the more faithful adaptations out there. Still, if you read the review, they didn't like it all that much. In my opinion, Dickens’ classic tale is one of the more powerful conversion stories in literature—and the Christmas backdrop only adds to its potency. This one might be worth a look. Still, when I see the Disney-fied aspects that have been pasted on to the old narrative—Scrooge being flung into the sky like a rocket or riding some sort of icy rollercoaster, trying his best to dodge perilous icicles—I cringe to no end. Your best bet is to actually grab a copy of Dickens’ book and work with the original. I think there are amazing moments in the story that can be used appropriately from the pulpit. Maybe the movie will allow you to draw from the source material and people can hang with you because of this new adaptation.

Top Five Movies (according to box office returns)
1. This Is It (PG)
2. Paranormal Activity (R)
3. Law Abiding Citizen (R)
4. Couples Retreat (PG-13)
5. Saw VI (R)

Notables: Pop singer Michael Jackson died during the final stages of preparation for his highly-anticipated "This Is It" tour (50 sold-out dates in London). In fact, when you read reports of the last few months of Jackson's life, it sure seems like it was the pressure of these make-or-break shows (plus one very, very troubled life) that sent him spiraling into drugs and wild abuse of his body. Nonetheless, people want to see what they never got a chance to see. So producers dutifully combed over hundreds of hours of video and cobbled together a glimpse into what might have been. Here's a review from the folks at CT Movies. A lot of other reviews for This Is It insist that there is nothing morbid about going to see this one. But I'm not sure how it can't rattle you from beginning to end. You're watching archived footage of a man wasting away for entertainment's sake. Even the title is eerie to the point of turning your stomach. Count me out. (Of course, I was never a Jackson fan, so this isn’t geared toward me.)

Here are the notes from today's webinar by Steve Mathewson. Just below the notes are links to many of the helpful resources he mentioned in his presentation. Stay tuned for more webinars in the future!