ELF

[Banky]

I saw the preview for this attached to Dumb and Dumberer and it looks funny as hell.  The trailer had more laughs than all of Dumb and Dumberer.  Will ferrell never gets old.  If anyone checks out the trailer look closley at the wide shot of Ferrell walking throught the snowy mountain.  I hope this movie lands a PG13 and does not go the kiddy route.

[Sleuth]

I think this movie looks depressingly unfunny

[modage]

I think this movie looks depressingly unfunny

wow, you really are the thread ruiner.  i like will ferrell, but if it does go the pg13 route that could spell trouble.  when you have a family friendly moral/message but also have a bunch of dick and fart jokes, it can be dangerous, if you dont know who the movie is for.  like Liar Liar, which seems like total family fare with its goofy message, but was littered with sex jokes.  this pisses off families who go cause it inappropriate, and pisses off teenagers and young people because their raunchy comedy has a family message.  shouldnt this be in GRAPEVINE/?  
on a side note, i dont doubt that ANY TRAILER has more laughs than all of dumb and dumberer.

[Banky]

i dont know.  I admit walking into Dumb and Dumberer that i knew it was going to be bad.  With the right frame of mind and low expectations, it actually had a few good laughs.  They should have gone for the R rating and thrown in some nudity.  And the two actors actually did good impressions of Carey and Daniels.

[MacGuffin]

Trailer

[Pedro]

from the looks of the trailer this will be terrible.

[Ghostboy]

Aw man, the trailer cracked me up. Will Ferrell could do anything and make me laugh, though. The other night, I was eating dinner with my family and imagined him off in the kitchen, watching the dishes, and I just randomly cracked up.

From what I understand, the movie's going going to be a PG family film, more along the lines of The Santa Clause than Old School.

[Fishbulb]

Yeah, "Elf" looks like it will be more of a kids' movie, but it was directed by Jon Favreau, so you never know. But the Will Ferrell movie I'm more looking forward to is the one he is shooting now, "Anchor Man: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (that probably won't be the title, it's been through about 10 titles). In this movie, Ferrell plays a 1970's news anchorman in Portland, Oregon (probably explaining the 70's porn-style 'stache he was sporting when he gave the commencement address at Harvard a few weeks ago). His position as "top dog" in Portland news is threatened when a female reporter, played by Christina Applegate, joins the station that he works at. Ferrell wrote the script with his frequent SNL writing partner Adam McKay, and McKay is directing. If you've ever seen the short films that McKay and Ferrell did for SNL ("The H is O", where Ben Stiller bets his friends he can get Glenn Frey into bed with three pick-up lines or less) or "The Baby and The German Intellectual"), you will know that they were very insane and hilarious.

There's lots of other funny people in this movie, David Koechner from SNL, Fred Willard, Paul Rudd (who was funny in "Wet Hot American Summer"), and reported cameos from Jack Black and Vince Vaughn. It probably won't be out for a while but I've been looking forward to it since I read a script review on Aint-It-Cool-News.

[bonanzataz]

I LOVE the baby and the german intellectual. that is funny shit. mckay rocks!

[Sleuth]

McKay is also a former member of UCB

[dufresne]

In this movie, Ferrell plays a 1970's news anchorman in Portland, Oregon (probably explaining the 70's porn-style 'stache he was sporting when he gave the commencement address at Harvard a few weeks ago).

i really want to find an mp3 of his speech:

"352nd Harvard CommencementThursday, June 5, 2003 Class Day speech June 4,
2003

This is not the Worcester, Mass Boat Show, is it? I am sorry. I have made a terrible mistake. Ever since I left "Saturday Night Live," I mostly do
public speaking now. And I must have made an error in the little Palm Pilot. Boy. Don't worry. I got it on me. I got the speech on me. Let's see. Ah, yes. Here we go. You know, when Bill Gates first called me to speak to you today, I was honored. But when he wanted me to be one of the Roxbury guys, I -- Sorry, that's Microsoft. I'm sorry about that. Star Trek Convention. No. NRA. NAACP. Dow Chemical. No. But that is a good one. That is a good speech. The University of Michigan Law. Johns Hopkins Medical School. I'm sorry. Are you sure this is not the boat show?

No, I have it. I do have it on me. I do.
It's here. Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Faculty,
Administrators, Friends and Family and, of course, the graduating Class of
2003, I wish to say hello and thank you for bestowing this honor upon me as
your Class Day speaker. After months of secret negotiations, several hundred
secret ballots, and a weekend retreat with Vice President Dick Cheney in his
secret mountain bunker, a Class Day speaker was chosen, and it was me. You
obviously have made a grave error. But it's too late now. So let's just go
with it.

Today's speech is going to be a little different, a little
unorthodox. Some of you may find it to be shocking. I'm not going to stand
up here and try to be funny. Because even though I am a professional
comedian of the highest caliber, I've decided to do one thing that a lot of
people are probably afraid to do, and that's give it to you straight. As
most of you are probably aware, I didn't graduate from Harvard. In fact, I
never even got a call back from Admissions. Damn you, Harvard! Damn you! I
told myself I would not get emotional today. But damn it, I'm here, and
sometimes it's just good to cry. I'm not one of you. Okay?

I can't relate to
who you are and what you've been through. I graduated from the University of
Life. All right? I received a degree from the School of Hard Knocks. And our
colors were black and blue, baby. I had office hours with the Dean of Bloody
Noses. All right? I borrowed my class notes from Professor Knuckle Sandwich
and his Teaching Assistant, Ms. Fat Lip Thon Nyun. That's the kind of school
I went to for real, okay? So my gift to you, Class of 2003, is to tell you
about the real world through my eyes, through my experiences. And I'm sorry,
but I refuse to sugarcoat it. I ain't gonna do it. And I probably shouldn't
use the word "ain't" during this day in which we celebrate education. But
that's just the way I play it, Homes.

Graduates, if you will indulge me for
a moment, let me paint a picture of what it's like out there. The last four
or, for some of you, five years you've been living in a fantasyland, running
around, talking about Hemingway, or Clancy, or, I don't know, I mean
whatever you read here at Harvard. The Novelization of the Matrix, I don't
know. I don't know what you do here. But I do know this. You're about to
enter into a world filled with hypocrisy and doublespeak, a world in which
your limo to the airport is often a half-hour late. In addition to not even
being a limo at all; often times it's a Lincoln Towncar. You're about to
enter a world where you ask your new assistant, Jamie, to bring you a tall,
non-fat latte. And he comes back with a short soy cappuccino. Guess what,
Jamie? You're fired. Not too hard to get right, my friend. A world where
your acting coach, Bob Leslie-Duncan -- yes, the Bob Leslie-Duncan -- tells
you time and time again that you will never, ever be considered as a
dramatic actor because you don't play things real, and are too over the top.


Amazing! Simply amazing! I'm sorry, graduates. But this is a world where you
aren't allowed to use your cell phone in airplanes, during live theater, at
the movies, at funerals, or even during your own elective surgery.
Apparently, the Berlin Wall went back up because we now live in Russia. I
mean just try lighting up a cigar in a movie theater or paying for a dinner
for 20 friends with an autograph. It ain't that easy. Strong words, I know.
Tough talk. But more like tough love. Because this is where my faith in you
guys comes into play, Harvard University's graduating Class of 2003, without
a doubt, the finest, most talented group of sexual beings this great land
has to offer. Now I know I blew some of your minds with my depiction of what
it's really like out there.

But if anyone can handle the ups and downs of
this crazy blue marble we call Planet Earth, it's you guys. As I stare out
into this vast sea of shining faces, I see the best and brightest. Some of
you will be captains of industry and business. Others of you will go on to
great careers in medicine, law and public service. Four of you -- and I'm
not at liberty to say which four -- will go on to magnificent careers in the
porno industry. I'm not trying to be funny. That's just a statistical fact.
One of you, specifically John Lee, will spend most of your time just hanging
out in your car eating nachos. You will all come back from time to time to
this beautiful campus for reunions, and ask the question, "Does anyone ever
know what happened to John Lee?" At that point, he will invariably pop out
from the bushes and yell, "Nachos anyone?!" At first, it will scare the crap
out of you. But then you'll share a laugh with your classmates and
ultimately look forward to John jumping out of the bushes as a yearly event.

I'd like to change gears here, if I could. Talk a little bit about "Saturday
Night Live." Now, during my 18-year stint on the show, I had the chance to
play or impersonate some very interesting people, none more interesting than
our current President, Mr. George W. Bush. Now in some cases, you actually
have contact with some of the people you play. As a byproduct of this former
situation, the President and myself have become quite good friends. In fact,
I might even call him a father figure of sorts, granted a dim-witted father
figure who likes to take a lot of naps and start wars, but a father figure
nonetheless. When I told the President that I'd be speaking here today, he
wondered if I would express some sentiments to you. And I said I'd do my
best. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to read this message from the
President of the United States:

Students, Faculty, Families and
Distinguished Guests, I just want to take time to congratulate you on your
outstanding achievement as graduates of the Class of 2002. The great thing
about being the Class of 2002 is that you can always remember what year you
graduated because 2002 is a palindrome which, of course, is a word or number
that is the same read backwards or forwards. I'll bet you're surprised I
know that word, but I do. So you can suck on it. Make no mistake, Harvard
University is one of the finest in the land. And its graduates are that fine
as well. You're young men and women whose exuberance exude a confident
confidence of a bygone era. I believe it was Shakespeare who said it best
when he said, "Look yonder into the darkness for knowledge onto which I say
go onto that which thou possess into thy night for thee have come with only
a single sword and vanquished thee into darkness.

I'm going to be honest
with you, I just made that up. But I don't know how to delete it from the
computer. Tomorrow's graduation day speaker is former President of Mexico
Ernesto Zedillo. Ernie's a good man, a deeply religious man, and one of the
original members of the Latino boy band Menudo. So listen up to Ernie. He
was at the beginning of the whole boy band explosion. As you set off into
the world, don't be afraid to question your leaders. But don't ask too many
questions at one time or that are too hard because your leaders get tired
and/or cranky. All of you sitting here have the brightest of futures ahead.
Many of you will go on to stellar careers and various pursuits. And four of
you -- and I'm not at liberty to say which four -- will go on to star in the
porno industry.

One of the challenges you will be faced with is finding a
job in our depressed economy. In fact, the chances of landing a decent job
are about as good as finding weapons of mass destruction in the Iraqi
desert. Slim and none. And Slim just left the building. In fact, the closest
thing I found to looking like a weapon of mass destruction is the turd that
Dick Cheney left in the Oval Office toilet about an hour ago. Man, that
thing is a WMD if I've ever seen one. On that note, God bless and happy
graduation.

You know, I sincerely hope you enjoy this next chapter of your
life because it's really going to be great, as long as you pay your taxes.
And don't just take a year off because you think Uncle Sam is snoozing at
the wheel because he will descend upon you like a hawk from hell. Let's just
put it this way. After some past indiscretions with the IRS, my take-home
pay last year was $9,000. I figured I'd leave you today with a song, if you
will. So, Jeff, if you could come up here. Jeff Heck, everyone. Please
welcome one of your fellow graduates. Jeff is, of course, from Eliot House.
You know what you guys? You guys at Eliot House, give yourselves a nice
round of applause because you had the head lice scare this year, and it shut
you down for most of last semester. But you didn't mind the tents they set
up for you, and you were just troopers. You really were. Anyway, here's a
song that I think really captures the essence of the Harvard experience. It
goes a little like this.

[SINGING]I close my eyes, only for a moment, and
the moment's gone,All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity.Dust in
the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.Same old song, just a drop of
water in an endless sea,All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse
to see.Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind. Okay, you know
what? I'm just realizing that this is a terrible graduation song. Once
again, I'm sorry. This is the first time I've actually listened to the
lyrics. Man, it's a downer. It's bleak. Boy, I want to finish this. Just
give me a minute, and let me figure out how to fix this thing. Okay. I think
I got it. [SINGING]Now don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the Harvard
alumni endowment fund.It adds up, has performed at 22 percent growth over
the last six years.Dust in the wind, you're so much more than dust in the
wind.Dust in the wind, you're shiny little very smart pieces of dust in the
wind. Thank you. Good luck. And have a great day tomorrow."

[Ernie]

Zooey Deschanel is in this which means I will be seeing it. I hope she plays an elf.

I really think it looks good other than that too. Will Ferrell has always been funny. He's always been one of my favorite SNL guys...Trebek alone is gold.

The Anchor Man sounds great too...I probably will look forward to that a little more than Elf just cause Ferrell wrote it and it sounds like less of a family film. "The H is O" is fucking hilarious...I've tried to get that off Kazaa for months. If it's any sign of how funny this movie will be, I'll be there opening night.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

i dont know.  I admit walking into Dumb and Dumberer that i knew it was going to be bad.  With the right frame of mind and low expectations, it actually had a few good laughs.  They should have gone for the R rating and thrown in some nudity.  And the two actors actually did good impressions of Carey and Daniels.

That's the reason I probably won't go see it.  Carey and Daniels aren't in it!!!!

[MacGuffin]

A new trailer is up here. Click on 'All About Buddy' to find Trailer.

[Weak2ndAct]

Okay, so I saw the movie recently and here are my 2 cents: it's actually pretty good.  Sure, it's kind of corny in a Xmasy, let's have holiday spirit kind of way, but there are some pretty good laughs.  But first let me say that the movie rests solely on Farrell's shoulders.  If you don't like him, don't go.  If you love him, you're in for a treat.  I honestly don't know of another actor who could have done this part-- it really seems tailor made for him.  He pulls of the childness, stupidity, and other antics off with ease.  Zooey Deschanel is good as always (she sings too, dunno if that means anything to anyone).  I wish James Caan could have been a bigger prick.  But the best stuff is the North Pole scenes (a mish-mash of miniatures, trick photography, cgi and yes, stop-motion animals) and the scene w/ Artie Lange as a Gimbels Santa, which has my favorite line that only Will can deliver: "You sit on a throne of lies."