Hello everyone and welcome back to the "Drill". Its Thanksgiving Week and I'm sure alot of you are counting down til the long weekend. I know I can't wait! On with the show...
Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!: Christmas Time @ Disneyland
Well, its time. Another Holiday Season is upon us and Disneyland has returned to its full Christmas glory. With the "Christmas Fantasy" parade making its season premier this past Friday, everything is now in full swing at the resort. Here are some pics:
(Following photos all courtesy of "Dark Beer")
As reported last week, Disneyland is facing a huge staffing crunch at the worst time possible. The problem is that the resort is losing far more employees than it can replace. Disneyland HR is doing everything in its power to try to shore up the staff levels. There's been aggressive recruiting all around the area and in the theme parks themselves. They are even contacting former cast members to see if they have any interest in returning. Things are so bad that now cast members are no longer guaranteed days off or even personalized schedules. All employees are basically being forced to work whatever hours they need them. you might be saying "Who cares?" right? But think about it this way: If you've been working like 6-7 days straight with OT and no days off against your own will, just how well are you going to be treating those you interact with? Or how motivated are you going to be to do everything right? They're running these poor workers ragged and now its affecting the overall running of the park as well. Several shops are no longer open all day and some may even be closed on "slow" days. There's no end in sight to the shortage either, so for those of you planning on visiting the parks in the coming weeks, exercise patience and remember that the frazzled cast member in front of you has probably been working non-stop since Halloween. ;-)
Weekend Box Office Report
Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
1) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, $101.4 Million: WOW!!!! This opening is huge on so many levels. Its the highest opening for a "Harry Potter" film to date. Its the fourth highest three day opening ever (Spider-Man opened to $114 million back in 2002. Shrek 2 and Star Wars: Episode III both took in $108 million for their three day opening) and the highest opening for a movie opening in November. WB was expecting something in between $85-$95 million so to say they're "pleased" with this opening is an understatement. There was concern that the Harry Potter franchise was starting to fizzle as each film has grossed less than the last, but this puts the franchise right back on track. This opening also helped Hollywood break out of its box office slump it had been experiencing lately. We'll see how week number 2 plays out.
2)Walk the Line, $22.4 million: Considering the competition this one had, $22 million isnt bad. The Johnny Cash bio-pic has many people talking Oscar. Joaquin Phoenix is being praised for his portrayal of Cash. Next week will probably be a better indicator of how well this film will do. Everyone's Harry Potter hang over will have worn off by then. ;-)
3) Chicken Little, $14.7 million: The little film that could. Well, not "little" really considering how much it cost to make. Yet, nobody thought it would be practically on the cusp of breaking the $100 million mark at this time. Heck, it might have already gone over by the time you read this. Disney Animation finally has a blockbuster, although not a mega one like "Shrek" or any of the recent Pixar films. Still, its a start and it at least shows they're on the right track.
4)Derailed, $6.5 million: Jennifer Anniston was just named GQ's first ever "Woman of the Year." Crazy. Oh and her film isnt doing too bad at the box office either. Its been a "mild" success so far. Still, it wont hang around much longer unless word of mouth saves it.
5) Zathura, $5.1 million: This was the film that was supposed to give "Goblet of Fire" a run for its money. Instead its sinking fast and audiences arent really giving it a second thought. Which is too bad, because according to the critics its a great film. And the guy from "Punk'd" is in it! I didnt even know those guys had a life after they were done with the show. ;-)
The Lakers lost to the Clippers last Friday, showing once again that the balance of power may be shifting as far as LA basketball is concerned. Funny to see how many Clippers fans are coming out of the woodwork now that they're team is respectable. Congrads to them, their long suffering fans deserve a chance to cheer for once. Alot of people are still waiting for the bottom to fall out on this team. Its not how well you start, but how well you finish the season that counts. So far though, this young team has hung in there.
OK, thats all for now. Hope you all had great weekends. Til the next time.
DQ
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