Elf

In ten-twenty years I think that Buddy the elf will be remembered as one of the iconic characters from this decade.

Elf is an amazing little film. One that I have to watch each and every Christmas, and occasionally even when it’s not the holidays. The single best thing about Elf has got to be the juxtaposition of such an outlandish character as Buddy amidst the utterly normal characters of New York city.

I can’t imagine what it was like to be an actor opposite Will Ferrell in Elf. Everyone is so straight laced and then when you change the camera angle Ferrell will be making a crazy face, eating syrup covered spaghetti, or jumping up and down. On an episode of Dinner for Five James Caan actually talked about how he would have to turn around occasionally to be away from camera and just loose it. Ferrell makes Buddy memorable because of the wild abandon he gives the character, and the direction of Jon Favreau makes the combination of Buddy’s world and harsh New York seamless.

If you haven’t seen Elf I highly recommend that you make sure to see it soon.

Buddy: Actually, I'm a human, but I was raised by elves.
Carolyn: I'm a human... raised by humans.
Buddy: Cool.

MIsery

Paul Sheldon is a romance writer tired of writing his heroine Misery. Annie Wilkes is a former nurse who is Paul’s number one fan. After finishing up his latest non-Misery manuscript in the country he ends up in a car crash during a blizzard and Annie rescues him; Paul is badly injured and bed-ridden and Annie assures him that once the phones are restored or the roads are plowed she will get him help. However, as time wears on it becomes evident that Annie has a psychotic fixation with Paul and when she discovers that he has killed off Misery in his latest novel she holds him hostage while forcing him to write Misery’s resurrection.

Misery is one of the creepiest films I have ever seen anchored by two of the best performances I’ve ever seen. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her depiction of Annie Wilkes and I have to say that the award was earned; Kathy reaches a level of insanity that shouldn’t be possible in a sane member of society and I think that it is up there with the performances of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight or Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - it’s chilling.

James Caan is no slouch either. He has the equally hard task of being the victim in this film and walks between pain, paranoia, gratitude and determination with great aplomb and not a moment feels false. It is incredibly hard to play the straight man to such a irregular character like Annie Wilkes.

One thing I did not expect from Misery was the comedic elements added by the town sheriff and deputy; they are an old married couple who obviously don’t see much action in their area and instead banter like the old couple they are. I feel in love with them immediately and thought they brought a nice relief to the otherwise nail-biting story-line.

I am still in shock that the writer and director behind Misery are the writer and director behind The Princess Bride. While I think that William Goldman and Rob Reiner are immensely talented people there could not be a film more diametrically opposed to The Princess Bride than Misery.

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: William Goldman
Paul Sheldon: James Caan
Annie Wilkes: Kathy Bates
Buster: Richard Farnsworth
Virginia: Frances Sternhagen
Marcia Sindell: Lauren Bacall

Annie: God came to me last night and told me your purpose for being here. I am going to help you write a new book.
Paul: You think I can just whip one out?
Annie: Oh, but I don't think Paul, I know.

New York, I Love You

20501PCN_Johansson
Originally uploaded by FameJournal

New York, I Love You is the second in the Cities of Love series; this is a ongoing film of anthology films that focus on stories of love, love of the romantic kind and love of the city in which they are set. For those not familiar with the definition of an anthology film it is a group of short films, usually based around the same topic. All of these short films have differing directors and writers and are stitched into one movie.

The first in the Cities of Love series was Paris, Je T’aime. While the differences in the “style” of Paris vs. New York are subtle the basic differences are that Paris was much more fanciful, and the Paris installment did not “stitch” together; while I love Paris, Je T’aime very much it did suffer from each vignette feeling separate and cut off from the others. New York, I Love You does not suffer from this; in order to feel more cohesive New York does not simply jump into the next short, instead it segways or transitions to each new story by meandering around the city. Characters even pop in and out of the background of each others stories to further the feeling of a cohesive environment that all these stories are set in.

My favorite story in the entire film probably had to be the segment with Ethan Hawke. He plays a writer who tries to smooth talk a woman outside of a bar.

I know that what I saw of New York, I Love You was a preview screening this appeared to be a fully finished version of the film – titles, credits and all – and yet I remember hearing that New York, I Love You would contain the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson. Scarlett is even listed in the directors credit on IMDB and yet her short film segment is not in the movie. I did enjoy the directorial debut of Natalie Portman though.

This is not a film series that everyone will enjoy. However, if you want to experience a non-typical movie, or just something very fun, beautiful and meaningful this is something you should see. New York, I Love You is not a typical romantic comedy.

Directors: Faith Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Sunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Scarlett Johnasson, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Martson, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, Andrei Zvyagintsev & Randall Balsmeyer
Maggie: Jacinda Barrett
Molly: Rachel Bilson
David: Orlando Bloom
Mr. Riccoli: James Caan
Johnny: Hayden Christensen
Isabelle: Julie Christie
Gus: Bradley Cooper
Alex: Chris Cooper
Lydia: Drea de Matteo
Garry: Andy Garcia
Writer: Ethan Hawke
Jacob: Shia LaBeouf
Mitzie: Cloris Leachman
Ex-Girlfriend: Blake Lively
Rifka: Natalie Portman
Hooker: Maggie Q
Camille: Christina Ricci
Abe: Eli Wallach
Anna: Robin Wright Penn
Prom Boy: Anton Yelchin

Elf

elf (2)
Originally uploaded by ebaycoach

The more I watch Elf the more I realize how much I genuinely love this movie. I really think it is one of my favorite Christmas movies ever made. As integral a part as Will Ferrell, James Caan and the rest of the cast is to the magic that makes Elf I truly believe that Jon Favreau is the glue that makes Elf work.

After the disappointment that was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I was astounded to realize that Jon Favreau did with Iron Man what I expected Spielberg to do with Indiana Jones - Favreau made a Spielberg-esque film that delighted and enraptured on every level and brought you into the characters so that you identified with them all. Iron Man reminded me of something I never realized before; Jon Favreau is a damn good director. Looking back at Elf I would venture to say that he is one of the best directors of his generation.

You may want to disagree with me saying this about Favreau but you need to stop and look at the evidence. The mark of a good director is very obvious traits that should appear very subtlety because they need to fit the film the director is composing – compare a good film to a bad film and you will see it – you may not be able to identify it but you will be able to tell there is a difference. That difference is the hand and mind of a good director. A good director will have a beautiful film where the visuals fit the world they are trying to create, every shot works to build pieces of the puzzle and more than anything a good director draws you into the story and the characters in such a way that the two are indelibly connected and you empathize with the characters and want to watch them on their plight.

Elf like Iron Man has all of this and the common trait between the two films is the man at the helm – Jon Favreau. If Elf was handled by a different director it would have been an entirely different film. Chris Columbus for example would have been static in his shots, used little to no background action except where absolutely necessary and in the end you would have walked away laughing at Ferrell and not remembering much else about the film; if someone like Tyler Perry had directed Elf the jokes would have been heavy handed, the look of the film far too exuberant and characters would have paused at the end of jokes waiting for reactions.

The point is that while a good director doesn’t want to be noticed, once you start paying attention you should be able to see the marks of a good director all over their film. Jon Favreau is a good director and because of his handling of Elf his film has been added to the Christmas must-see list of countless fans world wide.

Buddy: Did you have to borrow a reindeer to get down here?
Miles Finch: Hey, jackweed, I get more action in a week than you've had in your entire life. I've got houses in L.A., Paris and Vail. In each one, a 70 inch plasma screen. So I suggest you wipe that stupid smile off your face before I come over there and SMACK it off! You feeling strong, my friend? Call me elf one more time.
Buddy:He's an angry elf.

Elf

Elf
Originally uploaded by dustinmew

Alright, alright. I know it’s not really appropriate to be excited about Christmas yet, but for some reason for the first time in forever I really am stoked about the holidays. I’m making a Halloween costume and I felt like watching Elf (though I can kind of blame that one on my Iron Man obsession). Elf is a great holiday movie, and just a genuinely good comedy. I really do think it’s a modern classic.

Elf is the story of Buddy who wiggles his way into Santa’s sack when Santa visits his orphanage and Santa doesn’t know until baby Buddy crawls back out of his sack at the North Pole. Papa Elf always wanted children so Santa lets him raise buddy as his own and so he grows up believing he is an elf until one day he overhears a few of the other elves discussing how sad it is that Buddy doesn’t know he’s a bad Elf because he’s actually a human. This leads Buddy onto the journey of his life as he goes to New York to find his real father and discovers the wonders of the real world. When Buddy enters New York everyone assumes he is crazy as he so fiercely believes he is an elf, but with his persistence he infects everyone around him with a joy and innocence they had long forgotten.

While I am not a giant Will Ferrell fan, I don’t dislike him; I genuinely think that no one else could have played Buddy. Job Favreau knew what he was doing when he cast the actors in this film. Ferrell stands out in sharp contrast to everyone else because of the goofiness he is capable of exuding while still being committed to the genuine goals of the character.

Watching this movie makes me realize even more that I truly am a fan of Jon Favreau as a director. Elf is yet another example of how Favreau is incredibly capable to put together a good, worthwhile movie and make it one that is not dated, or tired after repeat viewings. He knows how to cast a movie, how to compose shots, and just how to make you care about a character.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: David Berenbaum
Buddy: Will Ferrell
Walter: James Caan
Papa Elf: Bob Newhart
Santa: Ed Asner
Emily: Mary Steenburgen
Jovie: Zooey Deschanel
Michael: Daniel Tay
Gimbel’s Manager: Faizon Love
Miles Finch: Peter Drinklage
Deb: Amy Sedaris

Santa: That's another thing... Buddy you should know that your father... he's on the naughty list.
Buddy: Nooooo!