A look at what people are watching, reading, listening to, and learning about…
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.
As for the rest? An interesting lot: A look at what could have been in Michael Jackson's final tour (This Is It), a very-loosely-based-on-a-true-story-if-at-all look at how the U.S. army has occasionally tried to tap into paranormal abilities of individuals (The Men Who Stare at Goats), a look at alien abduction (The Fourth Kind), and…well…a look at more paranormal activity (but involving ghosts, not goats).
Top Five Television Shows (according to Nielsen TV ratings, week of November 2)
1. World Series, Game 6, Fox
2. Sunday Night Football (Cowboys vs. Eagles), NBC
3. NCIS, CBS
4. World Series, Game 5, ABC
5. 60 Minutes, CBS
Notables: 60 Minutes used to be a regular in the top ten, but it has been crowded out in recent years by reality television and 5,192 crime scene investigation shows. When it makes a cameo appearance, I always wonder what sparked the renewed interest. This time? Tennis great Andre Agassi was interviewed about his new book, Open. And "open" he is. Turn the pages on this one and at given moment you'll find a rant about the pressures heaped upon him by his father or a startling confession of drug abuse (and not just any drug—crystal meth!). You can view part one of the interview by clicking here, and part two can be seen by clicking here. A painful story to watch—but the story of humanity in general, really.
Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney
2. Ford County: Stories, by John Grisham
3. Bed of Roses, by Nora Roberts
4. Tempted, by P. C. and Kristen Cast
5. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
Notables: The only newbie this week is John Grisham. Grisham usually writes legal thrillers, but occasionally wades into the waters of something else. I've not read many of his legal thrillers, but I quite liked 2001's A Painted House (one of Grisham's first forays into a different kind of fiction). Maybe I'll check this one out. It's a collection of short stories set in the same town as Grisham's first novel ever—1989's A Time to Kill.
Top Five Web Searches (based on the Google Trends report for Thursday)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1. happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance
2. barbara mandrell
3. thunder collins
4. doyenne define
5. black friday 2009 deals
Notables: How about item 1? What commentary could I possibly add? It’s all right there. I have no idea—no idea—what makes this the top item, but the mere fact that it is the top item is the proverbial “sign of the times.”
Country music icon Barbara Mandrell is enjoying the spotlight for the first time in a long time. Why? She heaped praise upon teen country sensation Taylor Swift when Swift won the Entertainer of the Year award at the CMAs on Wednesday. I suspect Swift’s fan have no idea who Mandrell is, but seeing as she praised their hero, they Googled her to no end.
Thunder Collins is a former Nebraska running back who’s heading to jail. A sad fall from lofty heights.
Not sure about item 4. A popular site or blogger? Don’t know.
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving—the first day of the Christmas shopping season. I guess today has been declared pre-Black Friday. There’s a whole slew of deals out there if you want to get an early start. Spend, spend, spend, America! ‘Tis the season!
Posted by Brian Lowery at 9:03 AM on November 13, 2009
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