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.
I think this movie looks depressingly unfunny
Quote from: tremoloslothI 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.
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.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elfmovie.com%2Fflash%2Fimages%2Fposter_poster.jpg&hash=4e936162b9648e2834c5203019755208aed3c485)
Trailer here. (http://progressive.stream.aol.com/aol/us/moviefone/movies/2003/elf_014259/elf_trlr_dl.mov)
from the looks of the trailer this will be terrible.
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.
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.
I LOVE the baby and the german intellectual. that is funny shit. mckay rocks!
McKay is also a former member of UCB
Quote from: FishbulbIn 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."
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.
Quote from: Bankyi 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!!!!
A new trailer is up here. (http://www.elfmovie.com/) Click on 'All About Buddy' to find Trailer.
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."
Quote from: Weak2ndActSure, it's kind of corny in a Xmasy, let's have holiday spirit kind of way
Oh God I hate that. It's like baseball movies.
Quote from: Weak2ndActZooey Deschanel is good as always (she sings too, dunno if that means anything to anyone).
Fuck yeah, are you serious!? That's going to be GREAT! I've always wanted to hear her band, she's in this indy girl band. She plays the ukulele (come on, there is a thing called "too cute"). I don't think they've ever released a cd, glad I'll finally get to hear her.
I can't wait to see this. Will Ferrell is brilliant. This one site, I don't remember what it was, maybe it was AICN, this one reviewer called it a christmas classic. I've heard it references that creepy, disturbing, dark (or at least I've always thought so) stop motion Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer movie that I grew up with. I love it but I'm serious when I say it's dark. It covers a lot of subjects. Like the Island of Misfit Toys, that always fucked me up. I have to see that movie again. It scared the hell out of me.
Quote from: ebeamanI've heard it references that creepy, disturbing, dark (or at least I've always thought so) stop motion Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer movie that I grew up with
See: MadTV. :-D
:lol: Hell yes. Old school MadTV.. that, and Clops.
Quote from: tremoloslothI think this movie looks depressingly unfunny
Agreed.
Quote from: Lucinda BryteQuote from: tremoloslothI think this movie looks depressingly unfunny
Agreed.
I don't know, hearing reviews and the new trailer makes me want to see it now, though.
"your car is pretty"
funniest line in a trailer this year
Tied only with "I like to whisper too."
i think this movie is gonna be non stop laughs if you like Will ferrels comedy. i saw a clip on Letterman and it was nothing that has been in the trailers and it was fucking hilarious. I think this movie is gonna be great and im gonna go see it when it comes out.
dont! you have to wait till AFTER thanksgiving, or you'll ruin it! the christmas season, contrary to greedy businesses everywhere does not start till AFTER thanksgiving. seeing christmas movies out of season will likely ruin the experience.
im not seeing it because it is a christmas movie
yeah, but it IS a christmas movie. and meant to be viewed as such. (see: Jon Faverau's thoughts on trying to make a 'lasting' holiday movie by consulting his friend Peter Billingsly of A Christmas Story). let the studio know that you dont want to see a christmas movie in october or early november.
case in point of EVIL: last year on HALLOWEEN disney ran a marathon of christmas cartoons/shows ALL DAY LONG. now, that seems pretty fucking nutty, doesnt it? why did disney do this? OOOOOOOOOH because their big holiday turd The Santa Clause 2 was opening on NOVEMBER FUCKING 1ST!! those sunsabitches, trying to stretch those grosses for as long as they can. and it worked too.
i know that stores have been rolling out the christmas shit since october, but LOOK AWAY! that christmas feeling is not meant to last 3 months or 2 and wont. ONE month, so observe the rules, thank you.
I agree with the one-month rule.
I'd be willing to see Elf under duress (saw Bob Newhart on the daily show last night, clip looked pretty unfunny), but I'm not going out of my way.
go to www.elfmovie.com and check out the new clips. The "Worlds best cup of cofee" line killed me
I FINALLY saw this this evening. And I loved it, of course. Will Ferrell aside, the script is actually a pretty good family Christmas movie, up until the ending, where it just tries too hard to be all Christmas-y. But darn it, something about the Christmas spirit thing always makes me happy. So anyway, on to Will Ferrell, who is, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking this, OSCAR WORTHY. Okay, maybe not quite Oscar worthy, but gee whiz is he great here. You think that World's Best Cup Of Coffee scene is hilarious? Just wait. If he wasn't already a total superstar, this movie would be the one to make him one.
Also, when Ebeaman sees Zoe Deschanel singing in the shower, he's going to cream his pants. Twice.
Then he's going to get very angry about how someone twice as old as Zoe, like Ferrell, ends up with her in the end.
Quote from: themodernage02dont! you have to wait till AFTER thanksgiving, or you'll ruin it! the christmas season, contrary to greedy businesses everywhere does not start till AFTER thanksgiving. seeing christmas movies out of season will likely ruin the experience.
I disagree. Now is the time to start getting into the Holiday spirit. It helps it last longer, y'know.
And I'm so looking forward to Elf. "I know him, I know him."
And GB approves, so now I'm super excitied
did I just say "super" excited?
P.S. I think everyone should go to Disneyland around the Holidays. That's when it truly is the happiest place one earth.
Will is so great I cant wait to get back to USA to see this... thank god Revolutions was worldwide release, but for the rest of the movies it takes sometimes many months until they arrive to Argentina
I'll be back on tuesday, watch it, and post
Quote from: The Real PoserI disagree. Now is the time to start getting into the Holiday spirit. It helps it last longer, y'know.
well i disagree again. if you start christmas too early the feeling is artificial and cant last for a full 2 months. you should wait. i urge everyone to wait. otherwise you trample right over thanksgiving. soon we can just move it back to october and forget about halloween to, make way for christmas everyone! the biggest shopping season of the year: buy buy buy! let the studios know you dont want holiday movies till the holidays, and not a month before.
Quote from: themodernage02i urge everyone to wait.
So, can I see "Love Actually"? Or is that not considered a 'holiday' movie?
hmm... well i am very strict in my ways, and there seems like enough christmas going on in the trailers to make me stay away till after thanksgiving. but for that, proceed at your own risk...
modernage--
I could understand your argument if 'Elf' were released in the middle of the summer or something, but this pro-holiday-spirit-late-release thing doesn't make sense. In many parts of the country, it's cold as hell and starting to snow, turkey day's creepin' awfully fast. Why shouldn't they release it now? Good counterprogramming to Revolutions, plus there's so much stuff coming out at the end of the year (Like New Line's Return of the King) that it could have gotten lost in the shuffle. I saw this a couple weeks ago, and it being hot in California certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment. In fact, it was my first jolt of XMAS fever. I really started looking forward to seeing my family for the holidays. I see no reason to call BS and hold out.
And besides, this is all a moot point-- the only thing that really matters is if the movie's any good or not (as I said before, it is).
no, its bullshit. a line must be drawn in the sand. how early is too early? if it continues to creep forward like it has been there will be no end to this mess. like i said, disneys halloween mess last year was sickening. there must be order. i love christmas okay? i LOVE christmas and i love the entire season. but i love it enough to respect that christmas begins after thanksgiving dinner. dont shaft turkey day.
also: another thing that jerks my chain. a few years ago, the tim allen film "joe somebody" was released on or around christmas. it had absolutely zero to do with any holiday, and i think took place in the summer. however, when christmas approached the ads in the paper for the film featured christmas presents stacked up all around allen and co. in the ads. AND the ads on tv featured that wacky nutcracker suite thats in every damn christmas movie. so they were clearly trying to draw on allens recognition as 'santa clause' and trick the public into thinking this was a christmas movie, which it was NOT. it may have been a family movie, which is fine, but purposely misleading people is fucked up. i remember it bothering me then, and i'm reminded now because of the Cat in the Hat. the commercials are clearly also trying to pump in those little "this holiday season..." etc. type stuff. AND when i went to the post office there are pictures of the 'cat' with a bunch of snowflakes and presents on all the posters around the post office. AGAIN! fucking trying to mislead people that THIS is the christmas movie they need to see. okay, THAT IS FUCKED UP. the cat in the hat has absolutely NOTHING to do with christmas, it takes place on a rainy day. the grinch is a christmas story. the cat in the hat, NOT. that really makes me mad.
Who cares really
I just saw this movie and was surprised how much I liked it. Will Farrell impressed me because he didn't overdue this role. Caan was great as the father too. It was good, clean fun that didn't bore the living daylights out of me. I was highly entertained. I loved the scenes that payed homage to the old Rudolph clay cartoon. Awesome. I think this is proof the christmas season starts as soon as November rolls around.
That whale/unicorn named Norwall or whatever is totally awesome. I don't know what he was or what he was doing there, but his appearance was a stroke of genius.
I loved this movie. Almost every scene was worth smiling over. Will Ferrel was surprisingly, for me, very funny. Zooey Deschanel was the icing on the cake. And her voice when singing............ah love. She puts every over the top beauty queen down to shame.
I loved it a lot as well. I liked all the actors and the movie has plenty of fun with the fact that a human being thinks he's an elf.
Quote from: The Real PoserWho cares really
i do. or didn't i make that clear?
Quote from: GloriaI think this is proof the christmas season starts as soon as November rolls around.
yes, according to idiots all across the globe.
i just wanted to clarify that Gloria is not an idiot. this comment was made out of frustration, (as in mid-november i was not hit with the wave of christmas spirit i am now overcome with), and was not intended to be aimed at Gloria but rather some faceless "John Q Public". sincerest apologies, Mod.
Quote from: themodernage02Quote from: GloriaI think this is proof the christmas season starts as soon as November rolls around.
yes, according to idiots all across the globe.
LAME.
Quote from: themodernage02Quote from: GloriaI think this is proof the christmas season starts as soon as November rolls around.
yes, according to idiots all across the globe.
New Line enjoyed second place with the Will Ferrell comedy Elf, which opened to $32.1 million from 3,337 theaters for a strong average of $9,619 per location.
Quote from: GhostboyThat whale/unicorn named Norwall or whatever is totally awesome. I don't know what he was or what he was doing there, but his appearance was a stroke of genius.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but if it's "Narwhale" (or Narwhal), it's a real animal...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zooish.com%2F_borders%2Fnarwhal2.jpg&hash=e67d981dcc6c7bf393e69c08677fbc273a1ace00)
Okay, now I'm gonna stay out of this thread for a while... I need to see this movie soon before every joke ends up in the trailers.
Quote from: themodernage02Quote from: GloriaI think this is proof the christmas season starts as soon as November rolls around.
yes, according to idiots all across the globe.
I did not mean that in a negative way. :?
Anyways, I'm glad the movie did well on a Matrix weekend.
Saw this movie this evening. I didn't laugh at everything Ferrell did, but as GT pointed out, I was smiling in nearly every scene. The cast was great and I thought James Caan was on the money with every scene. Watch him during scenes with those paper decorations. By the time he was swatting those things down in the bedroom when he was arguing with his wife about him, I was laughing so hard about it. It was such a comical little gag that just got funnier to me for some reason. Peter Dinklage stole the movie with his scene. I won't even get into the joke for the sake of people like RK but that was the funniest scene. Deschanel's final singing scene gave me goosebumps. She was great for the movie.
Did anyone catch the Fargo reference at the end of the snowball fight scene? I loved that.
This was a very lovable Christmas film that I'll probably go and see again in December.
Zooey Deschanel Sings for Santa
The weather outside is frightful, but Zooey Deschanel helps make the climate inside movie theaters delightful in Elf. But it wasn't all cheery holiday fun. The 23-year-old co-star of The Good Girl was required to lighten her brunette hair to play Will Ferrell's love interest, and she insists blondes don't have more fun.
"It is all a lie," Deschanel says emphatically. "I'm never going to be blonde again. I'd much rather be a brunette."
Even if she disliked her makeover, the starlet enjoyed heating up Elf with a toasty rendition of the classic tune, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." And hey, this girl can actually sing! "I started out doing a lot of musicals," she reminds us. "So it was cool that I got to sing in a movie."
In fact, Deschanel keeps her vocal cords up to snuff by performing in the Los Angeles area with her cabaret act, If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies. "We perform like twice a month when I am home," she enthuses. "It is really fun, and we do old standards and we dance and sing. I'll go back and forth — I'll focus on [the cabaret act], and then, I'm psyched when I go off to do a movie, because I've been working on this other thing."
Seems unlikely that Deschanel will have a chance to get bored any time soon, as she gets plenty of variety in her film offers. While receiving critical acclaim for her work in indie films like All the Real Girls and Manic, she's also happy to do a big-budget studio comedy like Elf. "I love Christmas movies," she says, probably thinking of the tidy deposit she just made to her Christmas Club account. "I love the idea of a movie that could come back year after year, and that people would watch again on Christmas. It might hopefully get them in the Christmas spirit."
Just saw it and loved it... this guy gets better every time... I though I wasnt going to like it but I did... a lot
I saw this last night and I have to say i loved it too. Then again im a huge Will Ferrell fan...
"You sit in a throne of lies!"
Call me a Scrooge, but I thought it was just alright; cute, but not particularly laugh-out loud funny or cheery. Maybe it was because all the jokes were in the trailer that I've seen numerous times so I knew what was going to happen in and how the scene would end. Deschanel was radiant, and what Buddy saw in her came clearly across. Guess I'm on the Naughty list.
i thought it was perfectly okay, too. the scenes without ferrell were annoying, particularly the "save christmas" ending. but he was hilarious, i just love him. just like pta to john c. reilly, i could stare at ferrells face all fucking day, he kills me. i loved the north pole scenes though, they were brilliantly designed. and i still laugh out loud everytime i think of "owww, SON OF A NUTCRACKER!".......yeah lol it was okay
HOLY shit ELF made 27 million this weekend. It made like 32 mill last weekend. That shit is amazing. Wil Ferrel's stock, as if it isnt high enough, is going to go way up. I cant beleive Revolutions only made 16 mill. You know somebody at WB is getting fired.
Quote from: BankyHOLY shit ELF made 27 million this weekend. It made like 32 mill last weekend. That shit is amazing. Wil Ferrel's stock, as if it isnt high enough, is going to go way up. I cant beleive Revolutions only made 16 mill. You know somebody at WB is getting fired.
That seriously just made my day.
Mine too.
your happy the matrix failed?
I am.
Quote from: BankyYou know somebody at WB is getting fired.
It has nothing to do with Warner Bros. They did a great job of marketing it. Judging my the audience reactions I've heard and the critics not exactly praising it, I'm not surprised. Hell, even our discussion thread has died.
Quote from: Bankyyour happy the matrix failed?
I loved Matrix Revolutions, and I wish people had been more receptive to it -- but I'm really, really glad that Elf is doing so well. I think it totally deserves it.
Quote from: BankyYou know somebody at WB is getting fired.
Well, New Line and WB are owned by Time Warner, so I'm sure they don't mind having 2 of the top 3 movies. And Revolutions is already pure profit, they made enough for both movies after Reloaded.
I'm amused that the two solutions to beating the Matrix are elves and aussie pirates.
Saw it last night, loved it more than I ever thought I would, hilarious, best scene was the one with the Miles Finch guy (the writer) and the little black idea book, Ferrell rocked, I might edit and elaborate later but it's pretty obvious who else I thought was amazing and what I think of the movie. Finally there's a modern christmas movie to revisit each christmas.
Quote from: Weak2ndActWell, New Line and WB are owned by Time Warner, so I'm sure they don't mind having 2 of the top 3 movies. And Revolutions is already pure profit, they made enough for both movies after Reloaded.
you're not thinking like a studio exec. doesnt matter that revolutions is pure profit, because they always want MORE money. there is never enough. and a big drop in money they expected to be coming in suddenly not is probably still getting peoples freaking out.
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At first, Jon Favreau may seem a curious choice to direct a movie like Elf, a Christmas story about a precocious kid who crawls into Santa's sack and grows up at the North Pole. Such wholesome family fare might seem a little out of character for Favreau after the mobsters-in-training comedy Made (his only other big-screen directing credit) and Swingers, the L.A. singles classic he starred in and wrote.
But Favreau's a versatile guy with great comedy instincts, and family entertainment seems to come as naturally to him as, well, entertainment. Give him a chance to talk about the movies that have influenced him, and his choices reflect the way he has developed as a writer, director and actor (he's played significant parts in Rudy, Very Bad Things and Daredevil). Give him a chance to pay tribute to some of those films in the form of a new holiday classic like Elf, and he shows how those different parts of his personality shape his approach to the material. Here, in Favreau's own words, are five films that inspire him.
It's a Wonderful Life
(1946; dir: Frank Capra, starring: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed)
It's a Wonderful Life is a movie about loneliness and not feeling like part of something, which Swingers and Elf both share. That movie really influenced me because it's a very definitive American story made by an immigrant -- which is an exciting notion, the outsider's view of what America is -- and that movie then defined our view of our own culture. I think having that outsider's perspective is a big part of making movies. It gives you a very focused view, more than if you grow up around something. With Swingers, I wrote about Hollywood a year after I moved there, and I had a very clear perspective of it because I didn't fit in there. It's a Wonderful Life was not considered an exceptional movie when it came out. It didn't do a lot of business, but it really stood the test of time as people watched it year after year, and it has become a cultural reference that we return to. Nowadays, for a movie to really have resonance, it has to be something that doesn't just wash away in the hundreds of films that come out every year. It has to be something that stands up. I've only been involved with a few movies like that, and it's a very rewarding feeling to know that you've affected people's lives, and movies like Swingers and Rudy really have done that.
Cinema Paradiso
(1989; dir: Giuseppe Tornatore, starring: Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio)
Cinema Paradiso was a big movie for me. I really like the relationship between the child and the man. It reminds me a lot of my relationship with my grandfather. It's not overtly loving, and it's sort of born out of conflict, but a tremendous amount of love and influence comes out of that mentorship. That movie really captures the magic of movies and what people get from them. Even though I'm not from Italy, and I don't know that particular environment, I was exposed to movies from a young age by going to the old big vaudeville houses-turned-movie theaters in Queens, New York, before they were torn down (like the RKO Keith's, where I was an usher). In that job, I finally got to hang out in the production booth at the top of the stairs in that old landmark building. There is a certain bug that has to bite you to want to be involved with movies, and Cinema Paradiso really captures that.
The Bad News Bears
(1974, dir: Michael Ritchie, starring: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal)
I would call that a perfect movie. The Bad News Bears is a wonderful story about coming together. It really works on every level, even though it breaks every rule of making a studio movie today: The team loses at the end. The kids are cursing and yelling racial epithets, and yet for some reason, it's not seen as offensive. The main character is a man who's abusive towards children -- he drinks and drives and makes them clean his pool -- and yet you really believe the relationship between them, even though he seems like an extremely insensitive, unlikable character on paper. Instead, it's real and insightful. As a kid, I really related to it, and as an adult, I think it stands the test of time. With every movie I do, I try to have that element of losing the challenge you think the movie is about but winning something larger. In Swingers, that happens when he doesn't end up with the girlfriend you think he wants to end up with, but instead, he gains his own independence. In Elf, there's a similar aspect in a much different movie. He doesn't necessarily accomplish what you think he will, but then something better happens. The same thing with It's a Wonderful Life: You think it's about the money he loses (he never gets that money back), but it's his relationship with the community that ends up saving him.
The Seven Samurai
(1954, dir: Akira Kurosawa, starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune)
There's so much to like about it: The use of an ensemble cast, the archetypical characters, the minimalism in the storytelling, the pacing. The movie's over three hours long, and it never feels slow. The cinematography was groundbreaking. I love the camerawork, the use of horses, the use of rain, the coming-of-age story and the Joseph Campbell "Hero with a Thousand Faces" aspect of it. The characters and community are a microcosm for the whole world, for man's relationship with nature and the different stations in life. These samurai are people whose time has passed, dinosaurs who no longer belong to this earth. It's the same thing with The Magnificent Seven [a western remake of the same story], where these gunfighters no longer live in a world that accepts them, and they must face the desperation and the loneliness that comes from that. All the movies I mentioned deal with man feeling alone in the world and seeking love and acceptance as an antithesis to that. When you are in love, whether it's with an individual or by an entire community, you feel a part of something, and it overcomes that loneliness.
Animal House
(1978, dir: John Landis, starring: Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst)
Let me throw in Animal House. It was a broad comedy with topless women and people spitting food on each other, but there was a certain intelligence to it. You really cared about the characters, and you believed the emotional journeys they were going through. You really understood their vulnerabilities because of the circumstances. You really cared about Boone and Katie's relationship when that breaks up after Donald Sutherland is found sleeping with her. You really care about Pinto and Flounder fitting in. You really care about the frat house not being taken away, and you're jumping out of your seats when the Deathmobile shows up. You could tell Animal House was a very personal film that these filmmakers had obviously really related to because it wasn't condescending. And it was a comment on the times as well, but never to the sacrifice of the comedy. I caught it at the beginning of my adolescence, and watching John Belushi in that movie really made me want to start being a performer. He's part of the reason I moved to Chicago. Him, Bill Murray and that whole crop of Second City alumni was a big reason I relocated to Chicago from New York and started studying improv with Del Close. A lot of the lessons that made me a good filmmaker came from my improv training in Chicago.
i wonder why mac didn't cover this one.. or zucker, and jordan.
oh sure, avoid my question. :shock:
ps. also robert benton.Quote from: SoNowThenMac, thanks for posting these Top 5 Lists.
19.1 million. Im really happy its doing so well.
Did anyone catch what I thought was a Fargo reference in the film?
what is it?
the guy in the woodchipper?
I think I mentioned it in one of my earlier posts about Elf, maybe not. But the part when one of the kids gets away in the snowball fight. Ferrell hitting the runaway kid in the snow looked like a direct reference/homage to Stormare (or even McDormand) shooting down the runaway person.
Quote from: CinephileI think I mentioned it in one of my earlier posts about Elf, maybe not. But the part when one of the kids gets away in the snowball fight. Ferrell hitting the runaway kid in the snow looked like a direct reference/homage to Stormare (or even McDormand) shooting down the runaway person.
Hmm, don't really see that one. They both feel different. Man, was that Jovie chick hot or what?
Quote from: Gamblor the ManwhoreMan, was that Jovie chick hot or what?
welcome to the club
Quote from: P(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.actressarchives.com%2Fzooey%2Ftn_zooey99.jpg&hash=40c41e15f339ed33823ee3dd81632638c3d0504e)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.actressarchives.com%2Fzooey%2Ftn_zooey7.jpg&hash=57b8fd9db520791f0c50ed075ff71e229ef70597)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.actressarchives.com%2Fzooey%2Ftn_zooey576.jpg&hash=c49892efaca1994d18d292fe9b7edc5856ad5e2f)(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.actressarchives.com%2Fzooey%2Ftn_zooey544.jpg&hash=4a2e02c181aeeb6002778dd22faae35f6aafabbb)
Finally caught this one yesterday. Will Ferrell could stare in the camera for 2 minutes completely silent, and just the thought of the guy would make me laugh, so in that aspect it was a treat.
Zooey was great, too. Caan and Steenburgen. Excellent choices.
What I want to know is why nobody as mentioned the hilarious midget children's writer. His character and one scene were golden!
Overall not as funny as I had hoped, but certainly no disappointment.
Quote from: XIXAX
What I want to know is why nobody as mentioned the hilarious midget children's writer. His character and one scene were golden!
Check out The Station Agent (currently expanding to a theater near you). He's the star. And it's a wonderful movie.
Quote from: XIXAXWhat I want to know is why nobody as mentioned the hilarious midget children's writer. His character and one scene were golden!
Quote from: CinephilePeter Dinklage stole the movie with his scene. I won't even get into the joke for the sake of people like RK but that was the funniest scene.
...And that's how I missed it the first time.
Ah, understood. :wink:
Where are we finding these "Take Five" articles? I love them, I want to find them all and print them out and read them 50 times. I've tried to google it like 100 times, it never works.
Quote from: ebeamanWhere are we finding these "Take Five" articles? I love them, I want to find them all and print them out and read them 50 times. I've tried to google it like 100 times, it never works.
www.moviefone.com
okay i saw elf finally. (how old news is that?) and i liked it, but there were big big problems. i thought the movie was really funny as will ferrell is hilarious. i also really liked the little touches like the way the north pole was designed and how they had a few little rankin/bass lookin' stop-motion creatures and the sort of fable like quality of the beginning. the opening credits were also nice. buuuuut, the movie was actually pretty badly written OR my theory is that it actually does make sense, but there's another 30 minutes of elf out there that gives the characters believable arcs, unfortunately they made the movie too long, and the scenes probably werent as funny. so in the name of brevity/hilarity they were cut. i didnt feel like this movie knew what it wanted to be. i mean, what WAS the main story arc anyway? the elf adjusting to life in the city and reconciling with his dad? or getting his mieser father to believe in christmas and be nicer to his son? or falling in love with zooey? or saving his fathers company and then saving christmas? i mean, WHAT THE HELL was going on here? they were just trying to cram in TOO MANY plot lines. and the movie suffers heavily for it. also, the ending finale with the 'rangers' or whatever was pretty bad. james caan also seemed to be badly miscast. the role needed someone who 1) could've been more scroogelike, in order to have a better turnaround at the end, 2) could've been a little more i dunno, interesting to watch, and 3) just someone with a little comedic timing so even through the meanness, the part would've been worth watching. had the part of his dad been played by someone like bill murray, the movie with the rest of its flaws would've been tons better. but they really didnt spend enough time on ANY of the storylines to make any ONE of the character arcs/relationships very believable. and above all, somehow the movie, for me, just didnt have that 'christmas spirit' which all great christmas movies must have. and its hard to describe but you know it if its not there. hell, even some crappy christmas movies still capture the feeling, but elf misses the mark there. oh well. so, some funny moments, but really sloppy thrown-together storytelling from favreau.
also: if that was really zooey singing, she is really good.
I think you've just expressed what I didn't like about this film.
I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly not a bland, average christmas movie. Maybe it's just that I'm not ten years old anymore.
Just because the movie was aimed at kids, doesn't mean effort couldn't have been made by expanding the characters a little bit more. It was the case of Will Ferrel being the only remotely funny/likeable character and the rest being fill-ins.
When there was a scene with Buddy's dad struggling at work, I just thought "Who cares?". I think the best plot-line to take might have been the whole "save christmas" thing, but even that was a little lame.
The scenes at the north pole, well I found them disturbing, but maybe I'm just a little claustrophobic. At least it developed a bit of original style there, but sadly didn't follow through. The story was kind of 'wacky' as it was, so why not have the whole movie at the north pole?
Why have to go running to NYC?
Hmm, just read over the last few pages of what everyone thought, most people liked it.
And I can see why, I mean I certainly did laugh alot (mostly during ferrel's routines). Maybe it was too American for me, and I couldn't relate.
Another reason may have been that my friends decided to sit 4 rows from the front so I was craning my neck and got the worst view of the picture - I just don't think I was in a good mood for it.
One of last year's biggest hits, the $176-million grossing comedy Elf will at last hit DVD on November 16th. The latest in New Line Home Entertainment's Infinifilm line, this two-disc set will presented in anamorphic widescreen with DTS and Dolby Digital tracks and plenty of extras. Goodies include separate audio commentary tracks with director Jon Favreau and star Will Ferrell, a subtitle Fact Track, no less than nine making-of featurettes (both "All Access Pass" and Inifinifilm-exclusive "Beyond the Movie" varieties), deleted scenes, a soundtrack music cue index, theatrical trailers, and ROM exclusives including a Script Viewer and more to be announced. Expect a list price of $29.95.
atleast they have the decency to wait till november, IM TALKING TO YOU BADDER SANTA!