Final Update of 2005

Hello everyone and welcome back to the drill. Its gonna be a short one, so lets get to it.

Disneyland Mini Update

More like NANO update. ;-) If you're planning on heading to Disneyland this weekend AT ALL, be prepared for HUGE crowds and lots of out of state Texans. I'm not kidding either. There will be lots of tourists in town for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. So be ready for the crunch. New Years Eve is hands down the worst day to goto Disneyland because of the mass of people going to ring in the New Year. Be safe if you and dont expect to go on any rides. I was there last Sunday on Christmas Day and it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. We arrived @ the parking garage at approx. 830am and the sign outside already had Disneyland listed as being extremely busy. The lines werent too bad that early, well except for one:

Space Mountain

But the rest showed times of 20-30 min. But once 11am hit, it was all over. Everything jumped to 45-90 min or more.

I just hope that once the buzz for the Monsters Inc. ride dies down, the crowds die down also. I cant take another year of a SUPER PACKED Disneyland. ;-)

2005: Where does time go?

Well time flies and this Sunday we'll be ushering in a new year. 2005 was full of so many events. Some highlights

Hurricane Katrina destroyed the gulf coast when it slammed into New Orleans during the Summer.

Pope John Paul II passed away.

Terrorist attacks in London

Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges

The Bush White House continued to come under heavy criticism from all sides concerning the war in Iraq

Free elections were held in Iraq

Los Angeles elected its first Latino Mayor in over 100 years when Antonio Villraigosa was elected in May.

In sports the New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four years. The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title in June. And in baseball the Chicago White Sox expelled their "Black Sox Curse" and won their first World Series title in 86 years.

NHL hockey returned after having its season wiped out in 2004.

Star Wars: Episode III was finally released completing George Lucas' "Star Wars" saga.

Disneyland celebrated its 50th Anniversary in July

The Birth of TomKat (hehe)

Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers

and SOO MUCH MORE.

It was a year full of surprises, heartbreak, tragedies and memories.

2006 is upon us and hopefully it brings with it better times and pleasant surprises.

To you all my readers I wish you a safe and happy New Year. My New Years resolution is to update this blog at least 3 times a week. We'll see how long it lasts!

Til next year

 

DQ

Thursday Best of Update

Welcome back to the drill! Now, you didnt think I would go the rest of the year without putting SOMETHING up did you? So I wanted to do some sort of "Best of" list and the easiest one I could think of was a "Best Movies" list. Now, PLEASE keep in mind, that this is only what I thought were the best movies I SAW. So if there's a movie that you REALLY liked that isnt on this list, I might not have seen it. For example, I didnt see "The Corpse Bride" or "Fantastic Four" or "Cinderella Man". Besides, I might have different taste than you. ;-) 

 So now that the "disclaimer" is out of the way, lets get to it.

 

MY TOP 10 FILMS OF 2005

10)Hitch

Why Its Here: This was 2005's Valentine's Day movie and it was really good. I'm not usually a fan of romantic comedies or "chick flicks" but this one wasnt really either. It had just enough slapstick stuff in it to make it a good stand alone comedy. The fact that I'm able to imitate Kevin James' dance moves from the movie didnt sway my thoughts either. ;-)

9)The Wedding Crashers

Why Its Here: Box office wise, this movie came out of nowhere to gross over $200 million. It's a very well written comedy with great performances by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

8)The 40 Year Old Virgin

Why Its Here: The sleeper hit of the summer, this movie had like non-stop laughs the whole way out. You're literally laughing as soon as the movie starts.

7)Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith

Why Its Here: OK, I'm not a HUGE Star Wars fan. In fact I hadnt even seen the original movies (With the exception of Episode VI) til earlier this year. But I thought this was a great film. I loved that it pretty much tied up the loose ends of the story and brought it all together so to speak. It probably has the coolest title of the six movies also. ;-)

6) The Legend of Zorro

Why Its Here: This movie was either great or sucked depending on who you talk to. It was the sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, so if anyone would have a good opinion on it, it would be me. ;-) Seriously, its a good movie. It wasnt as good as the first one, but it was a worthy sequel IMO. I think the fact that waited so long to release it (The original was released in 1998) hurt the movie in the long run.

5)Chicken Little

Why Its Here: Disney's first true animated blockbuster in years! This was a fun little film that I actually saw twice. The second time in 3D which was very well done. I hope they find a way to release both versions on DVD next year. Lots of laughs and a good story put this in my top 5.

4)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Why Its Here: I'll admit I might have been a bit harsh in my original review for it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a great movie, even if it didnt quite capture everything from the book. You have to understand that "Goblet" is my favorite of the six books so far and I had really high hopes for it. Those high expectations may have caused me to give it a lower score than it deserved. I'll watch it again when it comes out on DVD next year.

3)Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Why Its Here: Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka was awesome and he threw himself into the role all the way. Its not as "musically inclined" as the original one, but I liked this version better. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp: Cant go wrong with that combo. ;-)

2) King Kong

Why Its Here: The rare movie that actually lives up to its hype! King Kong was such an awesome movie. The special effects are insane and even if the movie is 3 hrs long, it doesnt feel that way. It isnt doing as well as they thought it would at the box office, but I'm sure business will pick up on it soon.

1)Batman Begins

Why Its Here: Controversial choice I'm sure, but this movie was truly my favorite of the year. The re launching of "the Dark Knight" went over very well with the audiences and the story was great. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical about this one when I first heard about it, but all my fears were laid to rest once I got a chance to see it. There's talk of a sequel, but I'm not sure it would be able to top this one. Warner Bros finally got the Batman character right.

Honorable Mention:Sin City (Wouldve been number 11 on the list), Flight Plan, The Longest Yard, The Amytiville Horror

And of course you cant have a "Best of" list without a "Worst" list. I didnt see that many bad films this year, but if I had to pick ONEtruly bad film it would be this one (Drum roll)

MY PICK FOR WORST MOVIE

Land of the Dead

Why Its Here: Cuz it sucked. nuff said! ;-)No seriously, it was such a pointless movie and the ending even more pointless. Argh, I cant believe I actually paid money to see this one!

DisHonorable Mention: War of the Worlds (Just because of the ending)

Agree with my choices? Disagree? Feel free to comment or drop me a line at my new email address for this twominutedrill8@yahoo.com

Maybe one more update before the end of the year. Til then, thanx for reading.

DQ

Christmas Hiatus

WELCOME!!

Not really and update today, just wanted to wish you, my readers, a very Merry Christmas! Be safe out there this Holiday weekend and if you're crazy like me, maybe I'll see you @ Disneyland on the 25th. I'll be back next week with some updates and at least 1 "best of 2005" list. Til then take care everyone and see you next time. :-)

Me on Sunday morning. ;-)

 

DQ

Hump Day Update

Greetings one and all!! Welcome back to the Drill!! Its the middle of the week!! Halfway to Saturday!! ;-) Lets get on with it shall we?

When We Last Left You...

OK, sorry about the teaser yesterday, but I really needed to make sure this story was even remotely true. It still might turn out to be BS or not happen at all, but even so its worth mentioning.

So as you could tell by the images in the teaser, it has something to with Disney and Harry Potter. For those of you that don't know, these two brands actually have a bit of a history together.

See, back when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was shopping the movie rights to her beloved novels, she actually met with Disney first. Seeing as how the Walt Disney Company was synonymous with fantasy story telling and magic, she felt that the Harry Potter franchise would be a good fit. Disney of course was thrilled about getting the first look at making the books into movies. They imagined the possibilities that owning the movie rights to Harry Potter would bring and of course the money they would make.

Yes, it looked like things were going to work out for Disney and Rowling. But then Rowling threw a curveball at Disney. Seeing how many other stories Disney had changed to suit there needs, Rowling insisted on having final say on everything in the movie. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Who gets cast, where the movie is filmed, what gets shown, what doesnt, where things go, etc. You get the idea. Well, Disney didnt like the idea of basically giving up control their films so in the end they decided they'd have to pass on Harry Potter.

This of course led to Ms. Rowling taking her movie rights down the street in Burbank to the Warner Bros Lot and after meeting with executives they quickly gave in to her demands and the rest is history.

Flash forward to today. For years now Disney has been trying to make up for letting Harry Potter slip through its fingers. Its paid large amounts of money toWarner Bros. to acquire the TV rights to the first two films in the series to air on "The Wonderful World of Disney". There's even been talk flying around about Disney purchasing Scholastic (the publishers of the Harry Potter books) just so they can own the publishing rights. But the main thing Disney has been eyeing is the biggest prize of all:

Theme Park Rights.

It seems that after years of negotiations with Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling herself, Disney may FINALLY be close to acquiring the theme park rights to Harry Potter and all his friends. Granted, this deal could still fall apart (as it has in the past) but things seem to be going so well, that it might just be a matter of time before they make the final announcement.

Please keep in mind though, that even if they DO get the rights, they wont use them right away. See, Disney would have to wait until the final book has been published before they can move forward with any ride designs or shows. So dont expect to jump on that train to Hogwarts so soon.

Still this is exciting news and the possibilities for a Harry Potter themed ride are endless.

How about a ride based on the "Knightbus"?

The Knight Bus

or being able to shop and eat on a street themed after "Diagon Alley"?

 Diagon Alley looks like Main St. doesnt it? ;-)

There are just some of things I've been thinking about. Imagine what the Imagineers can cook up?

All I can say on this is STAY TUNED. They've been close before, but never this close. Maybe the New Year will bring Disney a new franchise.

OK, hope that was worth the wait. I believe thats 2 updates this week! I might just reach that goal after all! ;-) Til the next time...

DQ

Tuesday Teaser

Hi everyone! Just a super fast teaser update.

I just found out some news but I need to do a bit more research first. I'll try to have the story tommorrow along with the regular update. Here's a teaser though. It involves the two things below.

 

AND

??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Tune in tommorrow!!!

 

DQ

Monday Update

Greetings one and all!! Welcome back to the Two Minute Drill!! So two weeks left in 2005. Shall I be like every other website and do a "best of" edition next week? Hmm, we'll see. I'm shooting for at least 3 updates this week. We'll see how that goes.

 

Dodger Blues (Update) or Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

So you might remember a few weeks ago I was blasting Dodgers managment. (If you dont remember then scroll down and read up! ;-) ). But what a difference a week makes. Owner Frank McCourt may finally have this team back on track. He hired a respected baseball man to be his GM in Ned Colletti. Colletti in turn hired respected baseball manager Grady Little to be the skipper of the team. After that Colletti signed Rafael Furcal to be the new shortstop and leadoff hitter insuring the offense will have a new spark plug it so sorely needed last season. Then today Colletti finalized a one year deal with former superstar shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. So now the Dodgers appear to be the favorites to win their division in 2006 and go back to the playoffs. It looks like the McCourt family finally gets "it". With Colletti promising more moves, its once again an exciting time to be a Dodgers fan!

Disneyland News

Had the privlege of going to Disneyland on Saturday and was greeted with a sign at the parking garage that said "Disneyland Park is FULL". I didnt whip out my camera phone fast enough to take the picture, so sorry no visual. Inside it seemed like it was full, although several families were leaving. As promised last week, here are some tips to best avoid the crowds and make the best of your day

-Arrive early and do the major rides first. Everyone seems to shoot for Space Mountain and Indiana Jones first so if you can get a FASTPASS for one and wait in the standby line for the other you'll have a good shot at riding both with minimum stress. Also remember that FASTPASS for Space Mountain runs out quickly so get one of those as soon as possible.

-Schedule your meals for non peak hours. EVERYONE seems to eat at the same time @ Disneyland, but if you plan ahead you can avoid the huge lines and satisfy your craving for a Clam Chowder Bread Bowl. ;-) Usually the best times for lunch are 11am-12pm or 2pm-4pm. Dinner time at Disneyland isnt as crowded as lunch, but generally the best times are 6pm-8pm. Be warned that if you try to get something to eat right before the parades or the fireworks show you will encounter huge lines as people try to get something to eat while they wait for the shows to start. Also use the many Outdoor Vending carts whenever possible to grab a quick snack or drink.

-If you want to shop, the early afternoon is the best time. People stream into Disneyland between 10am and noon and head straight into the park, usually bypassing all the shops on Main St. The Emporium is usually empty or with light crowds between opening and whenever the first parade hits the route. If you wait til closing be ready for the throngs of last minute shoppers.

-Dont insist on the best viewing for the fireworks or Fantasmic. Yes, its awesome to watch "Remember, Dreams Come True" from the hub, but if you dont want to deal with the pain of getting out of that crowd afterwards then the view from "its a small world" is just as good. Also from Fantasyland you can take the shortcut right into Frontierland for "Fantasmic" (If you're planning on watching both). As far as "Fantasmic" viewing there is a spot that is right in front of the river that provides an awesome view of the show and isnt a hassle to get out of after its over.

This is the view from the seating area I suggested

If you walk over to the New Orleans Square part of the "Rivers of America" go past "Pirates" and the "The French Market" towards "The Haunted Mansion". To your right you'll see a set of steps that goes down to the "river shore". There you get a somewhat off-center view of the show and because seating is limited to 4 rows, it doesnt get crowded. This section doesnt fill up as quickly as the prefered "Front and Center" view by "Pirates" but it is becoming popular so make sure you head over there quick.

-Take some time to view attractions you wouldnt normally do on a slow day. The beautiful thing about Disneyland is that there's so much to do you sometimes miss the small things. If the park is crowded and you want to maybe just hang out for a bit, you should try some of the A and B ticket offereings. "The Enchanted Tiki Room" is a nice place to chill and enjoy a Dole Pineapple Whip while you wait for the show to start. Over at the Main St. Opera House "Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years" provides an indepth look at how Disneyland came to be. There are park models on display in the lobby along with other park memoribilia. There is also a short, but entertaining film hosted by Steve Martin and Donald Duck discussing the history of the park. You can also check out Innoventions or the Main St. Cinema as other non crowded offerings.

These are just some tips to help you out. The best thing for you to bring with you to the park though is PATIENCE!! If you have that, your day will be a breeze. The super busy Christmas Day and New Years weekends are coming up. If you plan on going either day, be ready for a HUGE crowd. Just go prepared and with some sort of gameplan and you'll do ok.

 

 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORT

 

Kong isnt too happy with his initial numbers! ;-)

 

1) King Kong, $50.1 Million: The word underachiving comes to mind here. Universal execs are disappointed this film didnt do more business for the 3 day weekend. Since its opening last Wednesday it has taken in $66.1 million. They are hoping that word of mouth will boost its second week numbers. At 3 hrs long, it is a tough sell for some movie goers, even if it is a good film. We'll see how this plays out, but I'd be very surprised if this one doesnt make it to the $200 million mark eventually.

2) The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe..$31.8 million: Geez, that is one long title.I think I'll shorten it next week! ;-) Last weeks box office champ drops a notch. Its already crossed the $100 million-blockbuster mark. See how long it stays in the top 5.

3) The Family Stone, $12.5 million: Sarah Jessica Parker's first post "Sex in the City" role drew respectable numbers. Considering it openend up against "King Kong" its actually pretty good. We'll see how much staying power this one has though.

4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, $5.9 million: Still alive and kicking a month later "Goblet" has taken in $252 million putting it ahead of "Prisoner of Azkaban" ($249 million) in terms of highest grossing Harry Potter films. It still MIGHT hit $300 million but it would take alot to do it. More likely I think it will outgross "Chamber of Secrets" ($261 million) but fall short of "Sorcerers Stone" ($317 million).

5) Syriana, $5.6 million: It drops three places to fifth on the list after two weeks of release. Based now on what I've heard, it might drop even farther. ;-)

 

OK, that will do it for this update. As always, thank you for reading and hopefully I can reach my goal of 3 updates. Til the next time.

DQ

Finally back...

I'm baacckk. Yes, miracles never cease to amaze. Its been a long lay off and alot of it had to do with being slammed at work and having a crappy dial up connection at home. Hopefully I finish the year off with some solid updates. Today's is pretty good sized one, so sit back and enjoy.

 

Thoughts on Stanley "Tookie" Williams

Rapper Snoop Dogg marches in support of Williams before his execution.

OK, so I'm like wwayy late on this, but here's my two cents anyway. First off, I dont TOTALLY agree with the Death Penalty. I agree its merited with serial killers and homicidal maniacs that show no remorse. But for a murderer, I think LIFE in prison without parole is the more appropriate punishment. Now, Williams' case was a unique one, in that he seemed to have become a changed man in prison and began speaking out against the gang lifestyle he helped create. While in prison, he wrote childrens books and wrote of living life away from gangs. He was also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize on numerous occasions. Do these actions warrant having his death penalty revoked? One can make a case that yes, he was a redeemed man and should not have been put to death. But in the end, his refusal to accept responsibility for the murders he was convicted of cost him his bid for clemency. Williams maintained he was innocent to the very end and once said he would never own up to a crime he didnt commit even if it meant saving his life. I guess we'll never know the truth for sure.

Someone made a great point how Williams was executed, yet psychopath Charles Manson remains alive and in jail. Our legal system at work. ;-)

 

Thoughts on the passing of Richard Pryor

1940-2005

Yep, late again, but I felt I should say something to someone who has influenced so many lives. Richard Pryor passed away this past Saturday at the age of 65. Pryor had been in declining health for many years and succumbed to a heart attack at his San Fernando Valley home. Pryor's comedy was unique in that it brought together stereotypes and social commentary in a way no other comic had done before. His style was one that was controversial and yet way ahead of its time. If you've never heard one of his records or seen one of his standup specials you are missing out. Pryor influenced many comedians of today such as Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Steve Harvey and George Lopez. Lopez especially credits Pryor with making "a young chicano boy think he could do something better with his life and made me not afraid of being dark." On his own life Pryor once said "I had some great things and I had some bad things. The best and the worst... In other words, I had a life." RIP Mr. Pryor

 

Disneyland Update

OK, I know I was kind of a downer, but here's some Disneyland news for you.

Disneyland continues to blow all attendance estimates away and now with Christmas a few days away the crunch is really going to be on. This past weekend brought with it another record crowd and Disneyland was forced to once again close its gates in the afternoon. Last Friday alone saw attendance hit 58,000 for the day!!But the real fun started at night. As people that were getting off of work and school began showing up in the evening hours the walkways became completely jammed. At one point right before the 9:25 pm fireworks show you couldnt move from the Main St Station to the Coke Corner on the other end. People began shoving and pushing to try to get out of the area. At one point, several people began calling 9-1-1 to try and get some assistance as people began hyper ventilating and having panic attacks. Anahiem paramedics did arrive and fought their way thru the crowd to help out a guest that had passed out.

This was the scene @ 10am last Sunday outside the "Mickey and Friends" parking structure (Photo courtesy of Miceage)

Saturday was just as bad as attendance climbed to 62,000 and gates were closed for the better part of the day. As guests that arrived were told they couldnt come in, they began to get angry and some actually physically assaulted the poor cast members at the gates that were simply doing their jobs. Security was beefed up for rest of the afternoon and Anahiem Police was also called in to keep anyone from getting too out of line.

Well, at least they warn you before hand (Photo courtesy of Miceage)

With Christmas and New Years still ahead, its only going to get worse and worse. If you decide to go I cant stress enough that you be patient and prepare for the worst. Understand that you might not be able to do everything and your best bet is to get there as early as possible and try to hit as much as you can before the guests pour in. Based on my personal experience 8am-10am is the quietest time. Once 10am hits, be ready for the crowd. Remember that FASTPASS is really the only way to get on the major E-ticket rides such as "Indiana Jones" and "Space Mountain" on busy days. "Space Mountain" fastpasses tend to run out quicker so if at all possible grab one for that ride first and either wait in the regular standby line for "Indy" or skip it all together. If u feel like getting away from the crowds for a bit or just need to sit for awhile "The Main St Cinema" and "The Disney Gallery" are quiet places where you can just hang out and relax. Also "Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years" is a great show that you can catch while you wait for those crowds to die down a bit or for your FASTPASS time to come up. . Keep in mind also that Disneyland is still experiencing a massive staffing shortage so dont be surprised if a ride or two is closed or your favorite restaurant is only open half the day.

I'll have more tips for you in another update.

 

Box Office Report

I was going to skip it this week since its so late, but then I figured since we have a new #1 film, I would do a quickie report

This Lion roared at the box office (Roll eyes now. ;-) )

 

1) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe...$65.5 mil: Whew, thats a long title. ;-) Well, we knew it would do well and it was the one that finally knocked "Goblet of Fire" out of first. I've heard this movie might actually be better than the book that inspired it. I never read the novels, so I guess I'll just have to take the critics words for it. ;-)

2) Syriana, $11.7 mil: I think the adults are tired of all the fluff in the theatres. That pretty much explains this strong debut for a movie that hasnt really been hyped as much as it could be. This one has some fairly strong Oscar buzz going as well, so it should do pretty decent box office numbers.

3) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, $10.2 mil: The defending champ gets knocked down two pegs. "Goblet" is still going strong and should top the $250 million mark fairly soon. But does it have enough left to do something that only one other Harry Potter film has done and hit the $300 million mark?

4)Walk the Line, $5.7 mil: This bio-pic continues to pull in strong numbers as well. Its at the $76 million mark and has an outside shot of hitting $100 million in the next few weeks.

5) Yours, Mine and Ours, $5.0 mil: With such heavy hitter family films out right now, the fact that this one has hung in the top 5 is a very good indicator of the quality of this movie. However, with "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" opening in a few weeks it will take away alot of the same audience.

 

The biggest film of the year (no pun intended) "King Kong" opens today. All the critics seem to agree its by far the best movie of the year, so expect it to do huge (again no pun intended) numbers this weekend.

Also the teaser trailer for "X3: X-Men 3" was finally released last week. It looks awesome and it seems that the change of directors has not hurt the franchise. Lots of new mutants in this one but the one I am looking forward to the most is "Beast" played by Kelsey Grammer.

Yup, thats Kelsey Grammer

He looks crazy in the blue makeup and hair and the makeup dept did a great job transforming him into the character. May 26th, 2006 is the official release date for this one.

 

OK, that should do it for now. I'll try to be back on a more regular basis and finish up the year strong. Much thanks for reading and see you again next time.

DQ