Will Ferrell stars as Buddy the elf. He was raised by elves at the north pole, but upon discovering that he's a human, he embarks on a journey to New York to find his real father. James Caan plays his unsuspecting father and Zooey Deschanel is a retail worker/love interest. Will Ferrell is lovable and goofy as Buddy. His deer-in-the-headlights, dopey innocence adds extra…
This is what they call the mother of all guilty pleasures. No matter how bad it should be, you just can't help but love it. It's got Arnie as Howard, a shitty father trying to buy his son's love with the hottest toy action figure of the Christmas season. Only problem is that the toy is sold out everywhere as he tries to find…
Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a TV channel executive, in this "modern" retelling of A Christmas Carol. While the story is not unique, it adds enough 80s charm and moves at a fast pace to make it a very enjoyable Christmas movie. Murray is perfect as the self-absorbed yuppy asshole, who is visited by three ghosts to show him the error in his ways. …
Clark W. Griswold is back in this third installment of the Vacation series. This one is a bit different. Instead of going somewhere for a vacation, like Wally World or Europe, the Griswolds stay home for the holidays. Written by John Hughes, the comedy works well due to Chevy Chase's performance of Clark, who pushes every situation to the extreme. From cutting down a massive Christmas…
Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, a divorced businessman who has a strained relationship with this son, Charlie. The movie starts with Scott spending Christmas with Charlie by burning a turkey and then having dinner at a Denny's. In the night, Saint Nick shows up and falls off the roof, which sets in motion the transference rule where Scott assumes the role of the jolly…
In 1978, Raymond Briggs created the classic children's book: The Snowman. It is a unique tale about a boy and his snowman friend told with pictures and no words. In 1982, the half-hour animated TV special became an instant holiday/winter classic. In the same style as the book, the story is told with animation and music only; no dialog. I remember watching this in grade…
It's that time of year again. Break out the nog, fire up the yule log, and try not to be naughty or you'll get a big nugget of "coal" in your stocking. This year, a new tradition of Christmas movie reviews begins. For the first go round, you'll get some of the most beloved Christmas movie classics, but subsequent years will start to showcase…
There's a reason I was putting off reviewing this one. It's a real stinker. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode for the first 10 minutes before Michael kills her. Then we're on to the next part where a group of college students (a.k.a. fresh meat) are going on a reality TV adventure on Halloween. They are told they will be spending a night…
This is one of those movies that starts simple, becomes mysterious, then rapidly moves into WTF territory. The more you peel back the layers, the more interesting it gets. It seemed like the marketing made it out to be a slasher flick on a boat, but it's not at all that. The premise involves a girl named Jess (Melissa George) who goes on a…
