Elf: A Christmas tradition (2010)

I'm pulling this one out of the "underrated" pile because it's getting a ton of buzz lately. Americans and Brits are already gearing up to show it in Christmas cinema settings... and who knows, maybe we'll see it pop up here too eventually.

Anyway...

If you've ever wondered where Santa Claus actually comes from or if he's even real, this movie might have some answers for you. lol. "Elf: A Christmas tradition" is an action-fantasy comedy from French / Swedish co-production director and writer Jalmari Helander. It’s actually based on his short films Rare Exports Inc. from 2003 and The official Rare Exports Inc. Safety Instructions from 2005. Jalmari Helander directed and wrote both of those as well. Judging by the trailers, though, it feels more like a tense, creepy horror flick. The budget is nearly $2 million, and the US premiere is set for December 3rd, 2010.



IMDB

Official site

TEASER 1
TEASER 2
TRAILER
TRAILER 2

PLOT

teaser 1 teaser 2 trailer trailer 2 plot Quote : in the depths of the mountains, 486 meters down, lies the most closely guarded secret of Christmas. It's time to dig it up!

IMAGES

Got some updates for you...

First up, a pretty solid positive review...

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/rare-...-movie-review/

“Elf” really is one of the very few films to attain this kind of near perfect balance, being hilarious, thrilling, frightening and awe-inspiring all in the same breath. Sadly, the only thing standing in the way of its yuletide world box office domination may be the fact that it is subtitled – though such is its quality and the sheer amount of crazed, exuberant fun that the talented Tim Burton delivers, that it may well be able to overcome even this notoriously difficult hurdle to deserved mass consumption and adoration.

Next, here’s the USA official page, the US poster, and some new stills...

Official site USA

A new American poster with a little personal shoutout to Tim Burton, haha...

First local review...

http://www.horrorhr.com/rare-exports...mas-tale-2010/

...With a budget around $2 million, this thing looks amazing visually. The scenery is gorgeous, and the whole vibe only gets slightly tripped up by some minor CGI moments. The cast killed it, too—you really feel for these kids dealing with their messy lives and this weird situation involving a mysterious guy with a beard. It starts off slow, and things don't really pick up speed until you're past the halfway mark, but the script is solid enough that I never felt bored. That last half hour? Absolute perfection.
I've sat through plenty of holiday genre flicks, but HorrorHR : “ Rare Exports is definitely setting a new bar.

Santa Claus, Santa Claus, Santa Claus, looks like we finally have a topic! 😁

Repost : IMDb trailer Ebert


IMDb
Trailer
Roger Ebert: 'This is a superior horror film'
HorrorHR : “ Elf has definitely raised the bar

Deep within a mountain in the North Pole, a massive Christmas secret lies hidden. Under the guise of geological research, a wealthy businessman starts digging into the mountain to fulfill a childhood dream—finding Santa Claus. While work ramps up on the mountain, the locals in a nearby village are busy preparing for deer hunting season. One night, they stumble upon something truly shocking while checking their wolf traps.



What a movie, honestly. Forget those typical Hollywood Christmas productions (you know, the recent CGI garbage, right? Tim Allen and Will Ferrell drive me absolutely insane in those PG-13 fairy tales), or the stuff Coca-Cola spits out during the holidays (Bad Santa is basically the only exception that proves the rule), Elf is easily one of the best genre pieces ever made about the holiday season, featuring that incredibly irritating, stout, bearded character played by Julia Roberts. It’s not just "one of" the best—it sits comfortably on the winner's podium above a drunken My fuck stick Billy Bob Thornton.

A cult Christmas classic. Amen!

Definitely worth a watch.

SPOILER!

Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary! The Finns completely wrecked the Americans (🤣, too bad Roger Ebert didn't write anything about that). That torture scene in the slaughterhouse ('Where's the money?!' 🤣) belongs straight in an anthology, and then those bearded characters find—get this—an American passport! 🤣

The ending is perfect, just that subtle Nobody is screwing us Finns over in our own backyard strike against Americans. 😍

I’m pretty happy with what I saw here.
Maybe things moved a little too fast for my liking—it didn't quite hit that perfect sweet spot for me—but overall, it was an engaging and fun watch.
The kid was especially great... he maintains this almost detached, phlegmatic vibe throughout the whole movie, right up until the moment he finally loses his cool and decides to take matters into his own hands... 🙂

7/10