Although box office takes continue to top eight billion dollars in revenue every year, it looks like Hollywood is in for a a bit of a Blue Christmas as gift giving continues to slip. According to this article in Variety, the Grinch appears to be taking over the duties of handing out presents and bonuses, and this is the pre-epiphany Grinch, we're talking about the miserly, Scooge-like one. So a lot of Tinseltown (ironic name, eh?) employees could be heading home with coal, or possibly a membership in the Jelly-of-the-Month club.

Most employees depend (or hope) on some sort of a Christmas bonus at the end of the year. When it doesn't come, you feel like you got Scrooged. Hollywood tightens their belt in increments every year to try to save on costs by doing things like shooting out of the country, nixing big budget films like Halo, and minimizing their risk wherever they can. During a time of year where we often find ourselves doing a little soul searching, would it kill to slip a little heartfelt sentiment and some sort of material goods in there?

As someone who has worked in the trenches of the industry, a little bit can go a long way. Our Christmas bonuses vaporized awhile ago, and the company Christmas parties were slimmed down to basically a few munchies and drinks in the parking lot, and it was like pouring cold water on our morale. Hollywood bosses, if you're reading this, consider taking your team out to lunch and telling 'em how much you need 'em. They'll appreciate it. The rest of you, carry on and keep checking your stocking. The Grinch can't make it every year.

Yay for Valentine's Day! If you're like me, you woke up this morning, threw open the closet and dusted off that crusty old red sweater you save solely for this day. Your day. You shine in your red sweater and, even though most of the people you talk to despise this semi-holiday, you love it...if only because everyone else hates it so much.

There's that one girl who wears all black in an attempt to protest the commercialism of chocolate covered flowers, so you make sure to wish her a happy V-Day a good 20 times throughout the day. That's right, you're the kind of person who sends flowers to your mailman's granddaughter because it's just so sweet. That's you - Captain Valentine!

Now, for those that actually have real dates (ie: human beings) tonight and are thinking about vegging on the couch with a groovy flick in the DVD player, I must warn you that only certain films are acceptable for Valentine's Day viewing. The following are a few movies that, no matter how great the night is going, you must keep far, far away from your Valentine today...