Ep. 63: Drinking With...Elf

Happy Holidays! Pour up a 'Buddy's Balanced Breakfast' cocktail and join Steven McCash as he relives this Will Ferrell holiday classic alongside Stoney Keeley and Brandon Vick. Today, we're drinking with...Elf. 

To make Buddy's Balanced Breakfast, you'll need: 

• 1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey
• 3/4 oz Maple Syrup
• 1/4 oz Crème de Cacao
• 3 dashes of chocolate bitters
• Werther's Original Hard Candy
• Christmas Themed Candy Corn
• Candy Cane

Instructions:

• Combine all ingredient in a cocktail mixing glass.
• Stir.
• Pour over glass w/ Werther's candy stuck to bottom.
• Skewer 3 candy corn and serve with a candy cane on the side as a garnish.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
The Sobros Network presents the Movie podcast, breaking down films
and their impact on pop culture as they approach the
legal drinking age.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
This is Drinking With Now Here's your host Steven m.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Cash Seasons, Greetings, happy holidays, everybody. Welcome to Drinking With
the podcast, where we raise a glass to the movies
that have reached the legal drinking age. I'm your host,
Steve mcash with the Sobros Network, and join me as
we embark on a cinematic journey through the classics of yesteryear,
celebrating their twenty first birthdays in style, all from iconic

(00:52):
blockbusters the hidden Gems. Each episode will toast to a
different film that has stood the test of time and
shaped our cultural landscape. So grab your favor beverage or
the one we have curated for this episode especially, and
let's dive into the nostalgia as we explore movies that
are finally old enough to join us for a drink.
There are two men in this world. I can't think

(01:12):
of two better men that will be able to sit
down and stumble out of it and then stumble out
of a bar after a long discussion of movies. First,
as the resident film critic of the Sobros Network, mister
Brandon Vick, who's also a member of the Southeastern Film
Critics Association, a board member of the Music City Films
Critics Association, and most importantly right here at the Sobros Network.

(01:34):
He's the birth giver of the vix Flicks and Cinema
Chronicles podcast. And joining him and myself is the man,
the myth, the legend behind the Sobros Network, the heady
I see the glue of the brand. A jen aficionado,
a cat lover, a husband, a wordsmith of the football variety.
Mister Stony keey Howe, is this holiday season for us

(01:59):
both well?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
I am grateful for such a kind intro, very very
nice of you, mccash, and it is the most wonderful
time of year. And I personally feel like there may
be some issues with the film that we are going
to discuss today, but I still I still consider it
a holiday classic. Watch it every Christmas season.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
It is not my go to, and I know a
lot of people are going to be shocked because I'm
pretty sure it has become everyone's go to. Not that
I don't watch it. I have family that love it,
but that's not. Honestly, it was. It wasn't quite my
thing when I saw it in theaters, and over time

(02:44):
it's it's fine, but I just don't I don't get
too excited about it, like like other folk.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
I think we're all in some form of agreement here
because I just saw this film for the first time
last holiday season and I refuse to rewatch it for
this podcast. WHOA dang, this was not is not for me. Uh,
But we're talking about the holiday staple that it's become

(03:11):
over the last twenty one years. We're talking about Elf,
and Elf is about Buddy, a human who was accidentally
transported to the North Pole as a baby and raised
by elves, and as an adult, Buddy discovers that he
is not actually an elf and decides to travel to
New York City to find his biological father, Walter Hobbes,
who is on Santa's Naughty List. Buddy's innocent and enthusiastic

(03:33):
nature leads to a series of comedic and enduring encounters
as he tries to fit into the human world and
spread Christmas cheer. The that is me And that's probably
about as positive as I'm going to get about this film.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Dang, damn strong thing.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Indeed, we could sit here talking about love actually, but
instead the A We're doing multiple holiday films this year,
so I get we are going to get to love actually,
but we're treating Elf as the Varsity podcast episode, and
we're treating Love Actually as the JV squad. I think

(04:15):
we should have called up Love Actually, but hey, we're
here now. I'm gonna put my bitterness to the side
until we talk about love actually. But this film was
directed by John Favreau, who I adore, I've loved since Swingers,
so and it stars a phenomenal cast. I can't argue this.
You've got Will Ferrell, you got James conn as his

(04:38):
father Walter. You got the lovely, delightful Zoe Deschanel. You
have two comedic legends, and Bob Newhart and Ed Asner.
You got Mary Steinberger Bergen. Excuse me, Peter Dinklic not
playing in Elf. Yeah, you've got Faison Love, who had
a phenomenal supporting role in a film this past year

(05:01):
called Last Stop in You mccounty. Yeah, Amy Sedaris a
comedic legend as well as long as well as Conan
O'Brien's sidekick Andy Richter, Jack black sidekick Kyle Glass from
Tenacious D. It's a it's a great comedic line up there.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, And when you really lay it all out like that,
I don't think you ever really feel I don't think
you ever really feel the full brunt of that lineup
at any point in this film. It kind of feels
like they just you lean on Will Ferrell's buddy character
and the dynamic between he and his father. But I

(05:41):
think some of these names that you mentioned, mcash are
kind of casualties to the how big the film wanted
to play that out.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Yeah, Brandon, I just I mean I agree. I mean,
Bob Newhart's just kind of you know, he's kind of
there at the beginning and at the end, which is fine. Yeah,
I mean I adore him. Ed Asner as Santa Claus
I thought was a nice touch. I love Mary Steinberg
and I I you know, but she had I think

(06:14):
everyone had a better time on Step Brothers because she
also was in that. But yeah, and I'm not but yeah,
it's all it's really about, which I mean, James con
was a great casting choice. And if I'm not mistaken,
and maybe mccash will tell us, but I almost think

(06:34):
he wasn't going to do it, and I think he
also it reminds me of the story of Batman Forever,
where Tommy Lee Jones basically hated Jim Carrey. I think
James Kahn in in a way, especially before they started filming,
acted like Will Ferrell's like was like too dumb, like
too silly. But he did give him. He did give

(06:57):
him as props because he did flowers. He did because
he was like, I don't know what it is, but
it works. But but yeah, they rely really on that
father son dynamic and just the you know, I mean
the Christmas Christmas cheer.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, I think that's the big component of the film.
I also think maybe the beef between Will Ferrell and
James conn is probably the spiciest thing to come out
of this film.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Oh, I agree. Oh yeah, I disagree. There's another beef
that I think is bigger. Oh that's between Will Ferrell
and Jon Favreau. Oh, which we'll touch on as we
get get deeper into the episodes. But on surface, this
is a really sweet film. It's a nice family film.
It is you know, if you got kids, it's definitely

(07:48):
in your rotation for holiday films. Sure, and it being
so sweet, it deserves to have a sweet drink to
go along with it. Honestly, I'm gonna pull back the curtain.
As we've done before. We don't always drink drinks we
come up with because a lot of times we don't
have the ingredients and such. This is one where it's
not about the having the ingredients or not. It's just

(08:09):
the fact that I honestly think it would destroy my
stomach if I tried to drink them. Okay, but today
we're gonna make Buddies balance Breakfast as the drink for
As the drink for ELF, I think you're gonna take. Yeah,
you're gonna take an ounce and a half of Rye whiskey,
three quarters ounce of maple syrup, a quarter ounce of

(08:32):
cream to cocoa, and three dashes of chocolate bitters. You're
also on hand, gonna need some Weather's original hard candy,
some Christmas themed candy corn if you will, and a
candy cane. You're gonna combine all the liquid ingredients into
a cocktail mixing glass with some ice. You're gonna stir
it together. You're gonna pour over ice with the Weather's

(08:54):
candy stuck to the bottom. Of the glass, so it
kind of like I don't know the scientific word that
I'm trying to look for, but nonetheless, and then take
a skewer with three candy corns and serve with a
candy cane on the side as garnish, and that is
Buddy's Balance breakfast. My stomach is churning thinking about all
the sugar that is in that drink.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
It's ten thirty in the morning as we're recording this,
Like you said to peak, take a peek behind the curtain,
and you reading off the ingredients of that. I think,
I'm I'm probably too old to drink that much less
oh yeah, in the morning as we're talking about it.
But I know there are people out there, maybe in
this household that I sit in, that would like a

(09:36):
drink like that.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
Maybe I got diabetes.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well that only leaves one other person.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
So I think if you have a nice little fire going,
and you know it's you, your loved one on the
on the sofa, ready to put on bear skin rug
on the bear skin rug, and you want a nice
like I guess this could be with the maple syrup
and the whiskey. It could be. It'll be a warm drink. Yeah,

(10:03):
for sure, you know that'll that will definitely you know,
layer your your stomach linings. I think it could be
a good drink for you. But tenth thirty in the morning,
like you said, there's no way in hell I'm digesting.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
And and on that bear skin rug you could be
wearing like a candy cane scarf that you could use
to clean up later. Am I right?

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Just a candy cast that's right? That you?

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Oh man, I don't think. I think when everyone watches ELF,
they think about fucking Merry Christmas.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Well you see Mary Steinberg.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
And Bob Newhart get Yeah, I didn't know which one
would be funnier, Bob Newhart or Andy Richter.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
So but I think Bob Newhart's the movie there.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah, because Andy Richter could be in. I mean he could,
he could do some bounding.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (10:53):
I don't think Bob could not anymore.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Which cast member of ELF do you think Fuck's the best?

Speaker 4 (10:59):
I bet you it was James Kahn. Yeah, like then
in two thousand and three, I think he still could
do it.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
No, I'm one hundred percent, So I.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Think that's enough about uh fucking on bearskin rugs.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
James Cohn. You you do you admit.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
James kN gonna grab you by the hips and make
you feel it.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, Well he's dead now, so yeah, but in two
three two three.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
Spirit money, Yeah, I'm I don't want people to think
I'm talking like James conn like Godfather in Physical in
his physical prime. No, I'm talking about two thousand and three.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
Gotcha got you? Well? In two thousand and three, when
this film was made and released? What do we think
it costs to get that movie made?

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say twenty four million.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
I'm gonna say like forty eight.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
Okay, Sonny, I think you're a little on the closer side.
It was thirty three million. Wow, to get Elf made
in two thousand and three.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
I think it made. I don't want to spoiler, spoil
your thing, but I think it made three billion dollars.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
So we'll see what what do you think it really made?
Here in just a second. So it opened November ninth,
two thousand and.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Three, Prime Prime ro State, yep.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
US, Canada, opening weekend. What do we think it made?

Speaker 2 (12:31):
I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say twenty six million.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
Oh no, it's higher than that. I think I kind.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
Of feel like I have vague memories of this being
I don't want to say, like a cult holiday movie,
but I feel like it was one of those films
that didn't really get its legs and establish itself until
a couple weeks in. Like, I don't think I don't
remember going to see this on opening weekend and it

(12:59):
being like a.

Speaker 4 (13:00):
The I and m caash is about to tell me
if I'm wrong or not, but I swear I think
it was a hit immediately and it had legs, like
I think it went through into December. Okay, all right,
you said twenty four. I'm gonna say I know it
was number one, and I swear I feel like it
had a big weekend. So I'm going to go higher
and say I'm gonna say fifty three.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Brandon, You're both of your takes are extremely wrong.

Speaker 4 (13:27):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
Not only did it not make over fifty thousand dollars,
it also wasn't the number one film at the box
office that weekend either.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
Yeah, why what else came out?

Speaker 3 (13:37):
I'm gonna get to that. Did you think it.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
Didn't make over fifty thousand dollars?

Speaker 3 (13:41):
Fifty million?

Speaker 4 (13:42):
Okay? I was about to say, how dare you. I
know it may won fifty grand.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
So it made thirty two point one million dollars opening weekends,
and it was in second place by a mile, to
the forty eight and a half million dollars that the
Matrix Revolutions made open any weekend that weekend.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
Man, I could have sworn it was such a big deal.
But maybe it's because by Christmas it had made so
much money.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, I think that. I think it was one of
those films that you looked up eight weeks later and said,
holy shit.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
I guess in two thousand and three. Listen, in all fairness,
it made its budget back basically in one weekend. I mean,
it's not bad, but I did think it was a
big like a big deal and family friendly. But I
guess with Matrix that does kind of make sense.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
It was like a Snowball film. People went and saw it,
and then they kept going to see it, and then
they were telling their friends what a fun little Christmas
movie it was, and.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
People it again too.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah, I know I did. I went to see it
twice in theaters. But I know, like at the time,
this is when Will Ferrell is kind of starting to
get that's true his star power, and I think I don't.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
Know if the first leading this is his first leading role.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
I was about to say, I don't know if m
cash is going to get to it. But there were
some questions about whether or not Will Ferrell could play
the lead in a film like this, and I know,
like reading some pieces on it from the past, I
can't source them, of course it's been so long. But
there were a lot of people that said, like, you've
got the aid of this being a holiday film released

(15:17):
in November, that is kind of you know, people kind
of felt like that'll be a crutch for Will Ferrell
and you can kind of test the waters and it's
not going to be a catastrophe because people will still
go see it for the holiday charm of it.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
I bet you it made maybe I bet you it
made a billion dollars in DVD sales.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
I don't have that knowledge, but I wouldn't just probably
disagree with you.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I could see that one hundred percent. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, So total US Canada box office was just over
one hundred and seventy eight million dollars, damn. And then
worldwide total it made two hundred and twenty nine million,
So it's like.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
In the Green over two hundred million dollars.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
This is why he got to make semi.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (16:01):
But you would think you would think that kind of
box office success would lead to a sequel, which we
will get to in time, but sadly it never has
come to fruition.

Speaker 4 (16:13):
No, I do know. I'm not gonna real the whole thing,
but I do know it was if a couple of
parties got together, it would have been possible. But I
do know. Will Ferrell has said that they offered him.
I think he got like a twenty million dollar paycheck
if he had done the sequel, and I think part

(16:33):
of the reason is what you're gonna tell us, but
that he basically was like, no, I'm not going back
to do it, so, especially if someone's involved.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
Are you guys surprised that there hasn't been a reboot
of this yet?

Speaker 4 (16:47):
I mean, I don't know, because it's kind of like
it's a wonderful there's some Christmas movies. I guess that's like, Uh,
this is like even even the studios today think it's
probably a bad idea yea, yeah, because one it's not
like it's one that was like forgotten like made in
the fifties. But I feel like these and elf is
has become one of these where it plays all the

(17:09):
time through the holidays. They tend to not be touched
because it's fresh on everyone's mind every year, no matter
how long. That's just I see, but I mean, listen,
they made a sequel to a Christmas story.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
I was about saying one, I see ELF as that
generation's Christmas story. Yeah, from the early two thousand.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's fair.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
It's just on repeat whole Christmas season on some channel.
At some point. You can flick through all the channels
and at some point between Thanksgiving and Christmas you will
find that movie at every point of the day on
some channel somewhere.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, it's like dumb hot Bukas during spooky season.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yep. That's that's another. That's a great comparison. But the
fine folks in Australia were the largest grossing country outside
of North America for ELF, bringing in six point two
million dollars. That helps, hell ya, But the people, the
fine folks in Bolivia were not put in the holiday
spirit by Alfie. The only cashed in a little over

(18:11):
seven thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Out of Siberia or Serbia Serbia that did it win any? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Won any made it.

Speaker 4 (18:22):
Made like seventy eight million dollars.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
I bet, I bet if people that listened to this
podcast regularly paid it close enough attention, they could they
could put the the the the lines together to see
when certain films, I mean, certain episodes are recorded together.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
Correct, because we just called back to.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
An episode like three months ago we did.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, And I'll tell you how people know is because
any other time I wouldn't remember what we talked about.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
That's so true.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
Let's see if you remember this Rotten Tomatoes. The critics
there were over two hundred reviews of ELF on Rotten Tomatoes.
What do we think the percentage was?

Speaker 2 (19:08):
I'm going to say sixty five.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
I'm gonna say seventy three.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Wow, y'all are not giving the critics any love at all.
It was positive by a rating of eighty six percent. Wow.

Speaker 4 (19:24):
I almost said eighties, says I remember thinking that, and
the audience score were pretty high. But Rotten Tomatoes also
lets people review a movie like two years ago that
came out thirty years ago. True, so they kind of
jamp in the mood there but all right, all right,
that's a solid one.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
Okay. On the audience side, there was over two hundred
and fifty thousand reviews. Jesus, how positive did this movie rate?

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Probably like ninety four.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
I was gonna say ninety five.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, y'all are given the audience more love than you
gave the The audience didn't love it as nearly as
the critics did, at only seventy nine percent.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
That's surprising.

Speaker 4 (20:05):
That is surprising. Yeah, I beg thoughts changed.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
Well, they probably took my review of the film and
gave it a lot of more you know, creed and credits,
and that brought the rating down. Probably.

Speaker 4 (20:18):
Oh so it's your fault, solely your fault.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, take full responsibility for his seventy nine percent rating,
which is still good. It's still good.

Speaker 4 (20:29):
Yeah, still pretty damn good. Uh, Borderlands would like to have.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
That shittiest movie of the year.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
I'm gonna agree, and I never saw it and I
don't have plans on seeing it.

Speaker 4 (20:42):
Good for you, Yeah, yeah, good choice.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
Let's see what the people on letterbox thought here. We
got some reviews here.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
I'm curious, Carson, negative reviews on letterbox say about this film.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
I don't didn't find any. He didn't find a single one.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
No, that were some, but I think I I grab
fairly mostly positive ones. Carston here gives three and a
half stars to Elf and alerts us to look, it's
all fun and games until you realize your diet isn't
that far from buddies.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
That's good.

Speaker 3 (21:18):
That's good and very true. Sadly U Pilot Lantern t
y l o t Lantern gives three stars to Elf
and says it's a nice family movie about Santa Claus
kidnapping a child and forcing him to do child labor
in his workshop.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
That's good. Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 4 (21:38):
That's also not too far off.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
It's not it's not too far not at all.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
It really could have been a movie.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
Maybe that's the real reboot? Is the rated R?

Speaker 4 (21:49):
Very Yeah, the people that do that stupid Pooh, Blood
and Honey, they could do an ELF one. Oh god,
that's that's rateed R.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Those movies are neither dumb or stupid, sir. But I'm
gonna I'm gonna digress and move on because gryffin Newman.

Speaker 4 (22:04):
But fuck Adventures. I guarantee you the title's not that
far off. Whoever does it.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
Look Griffin Newman, Uh kind of kind of feels the
same way we do above all else, a true top
to bottom triumph of casting in every single role.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
Yeah, yeah, that there's no I have no problem with
performances or anything. I just feel like there's you know,
a little.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
I don't. I don't even want to call it lazy
the writing or anything, but it's just it's just didn't
register with me.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's very cookie cutter.

Speaker 4 (22:43):
Yes, it's, and it's and it's and it's very familiar
in many ways. If it wasn't for Will Ferrell, I
think I don't. I don't think you would have. I
just don't think it would be as good. Like, there's nothing,
there's nothing story telling wise, it's like, oh my goodness,
what a what a grand idea? And honestly, I don't

(23:06):
think anybody could play Buddy. I feel like it had
to be Will Ferrell and by and what we were
talking about. It had to be a like a up
and coming Will Ferrell.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, I would. I would give James Kahn his flowers
as well for being such a like polar opposite from
Will Ferrell. Yes, I think it adds to the dynamic.
The father he plays, and I think there there's a
lot of Will Ferrell's Buddy that is enhanced by James
Kahn as that's sort of antagonist.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, now that's true. I do think one. I think
Will Ferrell doesn't really need James Kahn as much as
James Kahn's performance I feel like comes from Buddy. Yeah,
but they do work well off each other. And I
and if anybody thought Will Ferrell and James kNN would
be the perfect duo, you're insane in a membrane.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Sitting down in a Hollywood board meeting. You know what
we need Will Ferrell and James con story.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
And you know what, James Conkin still fuck sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
And then in that board room in two thousand and two,
two thousand and three, they're all going like, who's Will
Ferrell exactly?

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (24:15):
That guy at Roxbury, the guy from old School shakes.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
His heady at SNL. Lastly from Letterbox, Curse Tells asked
the question, We're all thinking, why can't I pull bitches
like Buddy down?

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (24:32):
Damn. He even sneaks in and starts singing in the shower. Yeah,
that's that gets you arrested.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
It's problematic. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, it's it's problematic.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
But you know why. It's because he's so like innocent
and wholesome. It's like, oh, he's not here to exactly.
That's how every pedophile works.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
I think he's a manipulator.

Speaker 4 (24:53):
Yes, yes, exactly. Take her to the Here.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
Here's I'm in the boardroom in Hollywood. Here's my pitch.
What if we get a Buddy Cop movie with Buddy
the Elf and the kid from There's something about Mary
that kept saying, Frank some beans, Frank some beans.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
There we go, that's the reboot.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
We mean, that's that's the other guys too.

Speaker 3 (25:18):
There you go, that's even better the hell with Mark Wahl. Yeah, yeah,
let's talk about food. You know, we have Buddy's Balanced
Breakfast as our drink today, but there's a lot of
food throughout this film, and the scene when Buddy eats
different candies and pastries with the spaghetti noodles had to
be shot twice because Will Ferrell vomited the first time

(25:41):
eating all that food.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
I do it, but yeah I don't. Yeah, that makes
total sense.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
Man, Who was it?

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (25:49):
I hoop a few years ago that did like the
Buddy the Elf pass.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah. Yeah, I think so that just.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Because we're Americans.

Speaker 4 (25:59):
Yeah. The more important question is why does so many
people order it?

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Fair enough? Fair enough?

Speaker 3 (26:07):
Was it so popular American?

Speaker 4 (26:09):
Why is it back this year? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (26:14):
But I can't get him ric rib. What's wrong with
this world? Amen?

Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah? Yeah, damn McDonald's. And they're really suffering.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
While Buddy is in the doctor's office eating the cotton balls.
Those cotton balls were actually cotton candy that were never died.
Oh lucky, Oh so lucky.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
This was nice cotton candy.

Speaker 4 (26:35):
Yes, good for him.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
All this time, I just thought cotton candy was naturally pink.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
I thought that's what came out.

Speaker 4 (26:43):
Then I thought cotton balls tasted like cotton candy.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Cotton balls were made of cotton candy.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
Yeah, yeah, okay, that's why I put them in my ears.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Through your bloodstream? Is that how you're doing it?

Speaker 4 (26:58):
I think that's how they can. Now now I'm starting
to see why I have why I'm a diabetic.

Speaker 3 (27:04):
But uh. Throughout the filming of The of Elf, Will
Ferrell suffered from headaches and insomnia as he had to
actually eat all this sugary food in the Elf food
Pyramid on camera golly, why.

Speaker 4 (27:21):
John Favreau needs to get with it. There's ways you
can get without making that man eat all that junk.
As we've come to find out, John Favreau really likes cooking,
so clearly he could have helped in the food department.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:38):
The lastly, when it came with the food, I don't
know if you know it's not but the elves, instead
of having a picture of coffee in their break room,
it was actually a picture of syrup, like maple syrup.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
Did they really drink it?

Speaker 3 (27:53):
I hope not.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
I bet they did. I bet they did.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
You run a tight ship on this set, I guess.

Speaker 4 (28:00):
I don't want to. Well, you're fired. I'm gonna do
Iron Man next, and I don't care what you want.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
We just got people throwing up left and.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
Right, all these elves, which I don't think. I don't
think any of them are actual elves.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
Maybe maybe they didn't throw up from from all the
candy they were eating. They actually were on set watching
High Tension.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
That's right. They're on set watching.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
Reaction or they're watching James con funk.

Speaker 4 (28:34):
I would make me sick, buddy, all right, So I
don't know who's he doing though, wait a minute, don't Peter.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
Hey, Peter could take it though.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Hell yeah, we've painted quite a picture of the elves
set Will fer corner.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
They don't want to see you all.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
James Cohn, fucking Andy Richter and the other.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
And I don't know if we've given Tom Cruise his
flowers on any episode of this podcast, but he's become
well known.

Speaker 4 (29:14):
I haven't done anything with Tom Cruise.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
We got to fix that. Yeah, yeah, but we all
know he In recent years, he's become really well known
for doing his own stunts.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
In the film, we can't say the same about Will Ferrell.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
God, he didn't jump in front of a taxi.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
He may have. He may have done his physical stunts,
but he didn't do all of his vocal stunts.

Speaker 4 (29:38):
Oh is it singing?

Speaker 3 (29:39):
No, it's belching.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
The long twelve second twelve second belt was supplied not
by Will Ferrell, but by Maurice LaMarsh, who is best
known in the cartoon world as the Brain from Pinking
The Brain.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
That Holy whoa, what a fantastic nugget.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
The what did he get paid?

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (30:05):
Curious?

Speaker 3 (30:06):
I think he got like thirty two million of the
thirty three Well that's.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
A pivotal scene. That is true, gotta have that. That's
one of the more recognizable scenes. That's very Yeah, also
something that plays to children. I didn't find it funny.

Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah. Yeah, it's moreh isn't it.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
There were several minor traffic accidents that occurred during filming,
especially when Will Ferrell walked through the Lincoln Tunnel in
his costume, because people were so surprised and distracted from
their driving to see him wearing an elf costume. Fair
because Will Ferrell's like, what six ' four something.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
Like, Yeah, and I'm pretty sure this is done, Like,
I'm pretty sure they film it like in the spring
or summer, and I don't think it's actually filmed in winter.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
So I'm I'm curious, like what their legal responsibility is.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
Yeah, and why don't they just have a closed set? Yeah,
couldn't afford it only thirty three million dollars.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
I guess, so, yes, so just went out in the wild.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah. And on the final on the final day of
shooting in New York City, it was just director John Favreau,
Will Ferrell, and the cameraman driving around the city looking
for locations to shoot where they would have will jump
out and ask pedestrians. Oh well, Favreau and the cameraman
would jump out and ask pedestrians that they'd be willing
to be extras for some quick cash, while Farrell uh

(31:25):
or will dammit I almost called him Farrell as he
paraded around acting like Buddy or they would let Pharrell
Farrell damnit surprise people and ask their permissions afterwards. So
like when the man Buddy mistakes for Santa, that was
all improved on the spot. You know, the man had

(31:46):
no idea what was going on, wasn't there.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
Do I remember a story where one of the people
like got pissed and like actually like started to try
and fight, yeah, Ferrel, and people had to jump in
and say no, no, no, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:57):
I think it was one where he kind of chased
him a bit and they had let him in on
what was happening.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Uh So much of that montage
when Buddy first arrives in New York City was filmed
on that last day, such as when he is getting
his shoes shine and jumping between traffic.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
I like that approach though. I think it does add
a pretty pretty nice element of natural humor to the film.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
I think it just hit me when we're talking about
like basically, like what do they call it? Like is
it gorilla like gorilla like just like jumping out, running
and stuff. What if else was a film footage movie?

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Oh huh man, there's an idea.

Speaker 4 (32:36):
Right, I swear someone comes up with it.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
There.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
You could do a pretty interesting, fun little found footage
Christmas movie. You need to get that idea out in
the Hollywood board.

Speaker 4 (32:48):
Okay, yeah, I have been focused on James con fucking that.
I haven't really thought about this. I haven't really explored it.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Call the guys from the Winnie the Pooh move and
let's make this happen.

Speaker 4 (33:01):
Hey, you guys will make anything.

Speaker 3 (33:03):
So we talked about the food and like some of
the reactions, Will Ferrell's body had to it. John Favreau
in fact, notes that he went on the Atkins diet
and lost forty pounds after filming his scene as the
doctor because he said at the time that he looked
like a tall ship with a big seal in his
white coat.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
Damn he he's he's he can be a big boy.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
Because of this, Will Ferrell gave Favreau a tall ship
and a bottle as a rat present. Shove it up
your ass, John, So mister Disney. John Ferrell likes the
idea that the film might be watched year after year
by people who have already seen it once before. He
wanted to include several Easter eggs throughout the film for

(33:50):
people to pick up and future viewings, and the shot
of Buddy trampling through Central Park like Bigfoot, is one
of those moments.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yes one, Yes, yeah, I do definitely see the vision
of let's aim for holiday classic with this one.

Speaker 4 (34:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree that when I watch it.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
Maybe more so than let's create a really good story here.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
Yeah. Well, they hit like the setting and of course
New York and stuff. I mean again, it's stuff you've
seen before. But I mean I'm not saying there's not
good parts in it. There are some funny stuff, but yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
Yeah, uh And my one viewing, I did not pick
up on this this connection. But the film is a
lot like big the Tom Hanks movie from nineteen eighty eight.
You know, it's a film about a kid who is
forced to grow up too quickly and learns his way
around the big city. And Jon Favreau likes the comedy
that Will Ferrell brought to the film, but he stated

(34:52):
that if if you don't have a good story and
an emotional aspect of the story, people grow weary of
just one comic bit after the next. I think they
want to see a story that engages them on emotional level.
And though I didn't really care for ELF, I get
exactly his point there, and I think the film did
accomplish that.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
Yeah, And that's the thing that's really kind of where
James con comes in. He brings it, Yeah, he brings
he keeps it grounded because Will Ferrell is gonna is
gonna run wild that emotional thing. I could see that.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
It's the arc.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
It's the arc of from one thing to another, metamorphosis.

Speaker 4 (35:29):
I don't think Favreau balances out what he's trying to be,
what he thinks the audience will be weary of, because
a lot of it is. Yeah, it's not so much.
The story is just these little bits over and over
and over, but luckily some there's some kind of connection
by the end. But I don't think it's as big
of a one as he is suggesting.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
I would agree with that. I think that's a fair assessment.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
So we're not far removed from Spooky Season, and we're
counting the days down till next year's Spooky season. And
there is a Spooky Season connection to ELF. The filming
in New York was all done in three weeks, and
then some of the indoor sets, like the orphanage, Walter's apartment,
the Grimbles toy department in the jail cell were all
built in an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver. Oh my, oh,

(36:20):
Now that's not the complete connection to Spooky Season. Where
it lies really is That same hospital is where New
Line shot two thousand and three's Freddy Versus Jason.

Speaker 4 (36:32):
Well, how about how another holiday classic?

Speaker 3 (36:36):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Classic?

Speaker 3 (36:37):
And a lot of the crew members later described it
as one of the creepiest buildings they had ever worked in.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah I could, Yeah, I don't blame them. Should be
that makes sense? That checks out.

Speaker 3 (36:50):
So in fact, Will Ferrell turned down twenty nine million
dollars to do the sequel.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Here we go, let's get into some.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
There's there's a lot of like the whys and why
not of why it didn't happen, But Will Ferrell and
John Favreau had frequent disagreements upon the tone of this film.
Ferrell and his frequent collaborator Adam McKay, who we all
know from his hit movies, both of whom did uncredited rewrites,
wanted a more cynical PG thirteen comedy, but Favreau was

(37:20):
set on wanting a more lighthearted and family friendly version.
Farrell's feelings that he and Favreau didn't work well together
is why the proposed sequel never happened, despite this film
being a massive, huge hit.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
So I can definitely see a PG thirteen more cynical
version being a much better film, but probably probably not
as successful a film and probably doesn't have the reputation
I don't. You might not have people rewatching it every
Christmas without the family aspect of it. So what do

(37:55):
you sacrifice? You know, what's your priority here? I think
that's the conversation.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
Favreau went towards the money, and it feels like Pharaoh
and McKay were kind of going more for like the
creative Yeah do something yeah, uh, And I agree, I
don't think it would have been a successful I mean
it's kind of like, are you are you going start
going down the road of like, you know, bad Santa
and stuff You're not getting you're not I.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Was gonna be my comparison.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
Yeahd Sanna's not getting rewatched every year my families.

Speaker 4 (38:27):
No, No, at least I hope.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
So I guess the the heart of the question is
we're talking about like what could have been. I kind
of lean towards I would have liked to have seen
a better movie, but I'm not the one that has
studio pressure to make money, and I don't have the
ambition and vision of making a holiday classic. I just

(38:51):
like the creative aspect of it, to me is much
more interesting and intriguing to say, hey, let's let's try
and make this more. I don't know, like I'm thinking,
like a Larry David influence on a story like this
would be pretty funny, would be pretty cool, and then
I'm probably rewatching it every year, but maybe the families aren't,

(39:13):
and that sort of thing. So I think it's probably
a little more ambitious, and honestly, to put it bluntly,
I think I probably respect that endeavor a lot more
than the approach that Favreau took.

Speaker 4 (39:25):
Yeah, but you look at what Favreau does and that's
kind of what that's kind of his ship. Sure, you know, Yeah,
I will say I rather, I would rather have seen
an Elf sequel than some of the other movies Will
Ferrell's done.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Yeah, we've talked about that before and there was there
was a big fall off oh with Farrell.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
I think we'll get to that, like at the end
when we do our Mount Rushmore question, because I had
some difficulty finding four that I really enjoy and like
watching repeatedly when its.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
Mine was easy.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Mine was pretty easy to and I think there are
four of I would say my favorite comedy films.

Speaker 4 (40:03):
Over yeah, so you shut up over there.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
That's a wrap for this episode.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
Do you just not like Will Ferrell? My cash, That's
just it.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
I'd love Will Ferrell. I just think I liked him
more on SNL.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
Okay, yeah, and you and I'd like it.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
And I think I like him more and supporting roles
than I do as a leading man.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Fair enough, Okay, fair enough. I think I look at
the movies that I listed for my Mount Rushmore and
they're all movies where he's amplified by sharing a screen
with something. Yes, yes, So to that point to say,
I agree.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
Yeah, but you know the success of this film, it
got the Broadway treatment. Elf the musical opened on Broadway.
It opened in November of twenty ten, and then three
months later it quickly closed in January of twenty eleven.
So not as successful as the film because of COVID,
But well, COVID was still nine years away at that. Okay,

(41:00):
oh my god, Yeah, it was definitely because of COVID.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
I like you, you're on the point there, you're ready
for it?

Speaker 3 (41:09):
All right.

Speaker 4 (41:09):
That's when I think I started wearing masks.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Uh. Were they luchador mask or actual? Like you know?

Speaker 4 (41:18):
It was It was a William Shatner one, Okay, but
it wasn't painted white for Michael Mayer. Was just straight
up William Shatner.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Mask, straight up Captain Kirk, I got you, yep.

Speaker 4 (41:28):
And I would only wear it when I would go
grocery shopping.

Speaker 3 (41:31):
Well what if what if Captain Kirk played Walter Buddy's dad?
How would that go?

Speaker 4 (41:37):
Captain Kirk or William Shatner. There are two different people.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
There really are not the two different people.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Just be honest, No, no, no hard pass No I do.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
But you know, we do have some casting we can
talk about.

Speaker 4 (41:50):
All right, Okay, here we go. Uh.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
And this has to do with directors casting all that
good stuff. So the script was originally written in nineteen
ninety three, some ten years before the movie released, and
obviously Will Ferrell was not attached to it at that point,
but another SNL alum was Buddy. The Elf was originally
set to star Chris Farley.

Speaker 4 (42:15):
I knew it, Yeah, I knew it.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
That's interesting. I could have seen it, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
I could. If you're doing it in the nineties and
you want someone that balls to the walls, gonna go
a little bit, I don't. I don't even know if.
But then I think, is it Could it even be
a fame like a like a family movie.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
That's yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
That's the PG thirteen version, the PG Yeah, that's yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
Because there is like a childlike delivery of Will Ferrell's
Buddy that I don't know.

Speaker 4 (42:48):
Chris Farley can't.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
I don't know that Chris Farley could replicate.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
That's true. I tell you somebody who I think I
could could have replicated that at that time frame in
the early to mid nineties would have been a young
Adam Sandler.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
Sure, I don't know. I think you run into the
same issue with a lot of the raunchier stuff. But
that was the other name. If not Chris Farley. My
brain did immediately go to Adam Sandler.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
I think the character canteen boy. He did, and that
by that character's in a sense kind of to me
lines in with Will Ferrell's version of Buddy.

Speaker 4 (43:25):
What about Mike Myers. Wouldn't that have been fun? Eddie Murphy?

Speaker 3 (43:32):
I love if Mike Myers is Buddy. I wanted Phil
Hartman as Walter.

Speaker 4 (43:38):
But Phil, no, no, Phil Hartman got jingle all the
way later.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
That's true.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
So no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Look, I'm gonna I would have taken Phil Hartman in
any movie, in every movie back in the nineties.

Speaker 4 (43:52):
What if Arnold Swarzenegger played Buddy?

Speaker 2 (43:56):
No, no, okay, I'm not green lighting the rust willis Yes,
now we're talking.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
At the film's premiere, yeah, sorry, go ahead. We we
kind of touched on this at the beginning. At the
film's premiere, James conn approached Will and said he felt
Ferrell's performance in the film was over the top, to
over the top in fact, but while they were shooting
the film. But however, when Kahn saw the finished film,
he later said he understood the energy Will needed to

(44:28):
put into his performance, and later praised him saying he
gave a good performance, he gave his flowers, he came around.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah. But there were there were stories about him being
like so annoyed by Will Ferrell on set that they
like people would have to keep them apart.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
One of the stories I know is when he grabs him, yeah,
by the shirt, and Will Ferrell has said that he's
like I he he puts some force behind it because
he had done something to him right before they shot
that scene, so when he did. But I I think
it's the same way Carrie has talked about Tommy Lee Jones,
is that these guys get off on just pushing their
buttons and so and it does it it comes across

(45:08):
and and I know specifically that scene where he thought
like he was going to punch me, he thought he
was really about to take him out.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
So uh uh. Faison Love, who played the manager of
at Gimbals the retail store, was originally set to be
playd by comedian Wanda Sykes. I think that would have
been that would have been a good fit for her.

Speaker 4 (45:34):
And there's a thing where and I don't know if
that's her character what, but his name tag in the
movie says Debbie says Wanda, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
He purposely, he purposely kept the name tag and assisted
on wearing it.

Speaker 4 (45:48):
That's what it was. I thought that was funny.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
That was pretty funny.

Speaker 5 (45:52):
Yeah, we got uh some brotherly love in this film
when Will Ferrell's brother Patrick plays one of the security
guards when Buddy is being thrown out of the Empire
State Building.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
Neither, but that is that is a fun little.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
Uh. The lovely Zoey Deschanel was not the first choice
to play Jovi, and we're not even cast at first.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
We haven't talked about her at all.

Speaker 4 (46:26):
Except for that creepy moment.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
Yeah. I don't like her as a blonde, and she's
not a natural blonde. But the reason why she is
a blonde is she had just wrapped production on a
film that was never released and still to this day
hasn't been released. And then when she auditioned for the role,
she was a blonde, and the producers and director wanted

(46:52):
her to continue being a blonde because that's what they
had originally saw.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
Her captivated them at the beginning.

Speaker 3 (47:00):
Yuh, But there was another blonde, non blonde rather, that
was first approach for the role of Jovi. And that's
the one the former missus Tom Cruise Katie Holmes.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Oh no, thanks, no, thanks, Yeah, I think I think
Zoey Deschanel's charm is part of what makes the role.

Speaker 4 (47:19):
Now who could have played her part in nineteen ninety three.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
Alicia silversnowe Alsa, I don't think.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
God, no, I would never watch that.

Speaker 4 (47:32):
Joan.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
There we go. Now we're talking, and you know you
know what she does?

Speaker 4 (47:37):
Now?

Speaker 2 (47:38):
No I don't.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
She's the stunt double for her brother.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Oh, I thought you meant Zoe.

Speaker 4 (47:43):
I don't even show what she's only what Joe doing.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
Zoe is about to marry one of the property brothers.

Speaker 4 (47:49):
Oh yeah, she is with one of them.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
Wild. Yeah, she's a boat. Okay, she and him. Yes,
I've seen them several times live. They're great. So during
during the UH the casting process, o d Chanel was
selected because she could sing. Director John Fabreau even states

(48:12):
on the auto audio commentary to ELF that much more
music was added after they heard her singing voice. And
he likes how quirky but dras she is in her performance,
something else that Will Ferrell was able to bounce off
of in his performance very well. And I think that's
Will where Will Ferrell's at his best when he has
a good dance back.

Speaker 4 (48:31):
Yep, he's got that ensemble.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, bounce off a bunch of different personalities, bounce.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Off exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2 (48:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Well, speaking of James Kahn, he was on a radio
show in Cleveland some years ago talking about Elf and
he's like, we were going to do a sequel, and
I thought, oh my god, I finally got a franchise movie.
I could make some money, let my kids do what
the hell they want to do. And the director and
Will didn't get along very well. So Will wanted to
do it. He didn't want the director, and he had

(49:05):
it in his contract. It was one of those things
he says.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Damn, So it was. There was some bad blood there.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
They must have really not liked I guess the process
of it.

Speaker 2 (49:16):
Yeah, I wonder have they collaborated on anything since that
you guys can think of? Off the top, I would say no, Yeah,
it sounds because I mean this sounds like like a
twenty year grudge.

Speaker 4 (49:26):
Fat Avro jumped in Disney. It ain't been out since.

Speaker 3 (49:29):
So I ain't sweating Will Ferrell at all. Will Ferrell,
you know, his DJ and at his son's like yeah,
fraternity parties.

Speaker 4 (49:38):
Yeah, and he did another US. He did another Christmas
movie that was dumb.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
With Ryan Reynolds.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
Was terrible, terrible movie. He's done a lot, He's done
a lot of questionable stuff in the last Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:55):
Well, you know, him and Adam McKay broke up. Yeah,
and so now him, Will Ferrell and somebody else because
they used to have Gary Sanchez Productions. Now it's Glorious
Sanchez Productions. And I know some of it became where
Adam McKay wanted to produce and do these other things,
like kind of starting with like the oh man, I

(50:16):
just the big uh oh gosh, what is that? Where
he ended up getting Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, the stock Yeah,
the Big Short, And so he started kind of, you know,
gearing up towards that stuff. And I think Will Ferrell
didn't want to produce as much as he is Adam McKay.
So I know they broke up. And then there's also

(50:39):
supposedly Adam McKay did that winning season. Yeah, the Lakers won,
and apparently Will Ferrell was going to play what John
c Riley played, which it's the.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Coach, right, Yeah, Phil Jackson, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (50:51):
And so anyway, so it seems like it's kind of
funny as we kind of go through some of what
I would consider Will Ferrell's best and how like a
lots changed career wise, and just who he collaborates with
these days.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Yeah, fair enough, fair to question.

Speaker 3 (51:08):
All right, let's get into some casting stuff. James con
was not the original person selected to play the role
of Walter, a fake late night television host from the
nineties or maybe even early two thousands as well, was
offered the role at first. He's no longer with Gary.

(51:31):
Gary Shanley turned down the role of Walter.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
That's a whole different movie, right there.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:38):
I like Gary. I liked him, but yeah, that's a
whole another movie.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
When it came to Peter Dinklich's role of Miles, there
was a mountain of a man that was considered originally
for the role before it went to Peter. And that's
your recent Oscar winner, Brandon Fraser.

Speaker 4 (51:58):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
That that's kind of wild.

Speaker 4 (52:01):
That is that's that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
No, No, I don't think it's uh, I don't think
the scene in the boardroom plays out the same way.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
No, no, it definitely does not.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
Then we have some directing uh choices as well. So
before Jon Favreau came on the board, came into the
director's chair, there were several several directors offered the role
that eventually turned it down, one being Terry Swigoff, who
I didn't know by name, but he was offered to
direct Elf, but turned it down to direct another Christmas

(52:37):
movie that year, Bad Santa.

Speaker 2 (52:39):
Oh okay, I've.

Speaker 3 (52:42):
Never heard so if he would have heard of it, yeah,
I think if he had taken on Elf, we might
have gotten Will Ferrell's version instead to Bet.

Speaker 4 (52:52):
Yeah, be a lot of pounded in that if.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
But two other directors that were offered the role that
turned it down would not have had any of the
pounding in it as well. That's the one Steven Spielberg
and Ron Howard Howe.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
And is that because he did The Grinch. So they
were like, here, here's this, here's another Christmas movie you bump.

Speaker 3 (53:19):
All right, So we got the roll of Santa Claus. Uh.
It was offered before eventually went to Ed Asner. Uh.
We been talking about.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
Him fucking huh Jesus.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
Well instead of picturing him fucking imagine these three actors
trousers are down, James Gardner okay, spooch, Gary Marshall boo
and Steve Bessie.

Speaker 4 (53:52):
Oh Steves, Jimmy is he crazy eyes? James Gardner, My god,
I wish, oh, my goodness. He then because he was
in The Notebook which came out.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
The next year, and then he passed up there. Yeah,
not that Ed.

Speaker 4 (54:12):
Spring Chicken.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
Yeah, or Bob new or uh, Bob Newhart or Bob Hope,
Bob Newhart, Bob Newhart. Yeah. But my last casting thing
and really note for the for the film is uh,
you had some other actors in line to play Walter
before James conn agreed to play the role. Both of
them are Saturday Night Live alums as well, and pictured

(54:37):
dan Ackroyd as Buddy's father.

Speaker 4 (54:41):
I'm not totally against that. I I think, again, different movie,
but I've I feel like he's he more fits what
you would imagine, Like how can I put this that
I would believe that Buddy's dad is dan Ackroyd and

(55:02):
not like the you know, the macho, tough guy.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
I agree with that, but I think it's part of
the machismo that yes, with James Constant, you instantly know
the line between the two, and.

Speaker 4 (55:16):
I'm I mean, honestly, you look at Kahn's work and
I'm just thrown out the Godfather because I know that's
I mean, that sits on one of the highest pedals
of cinema that follows his He has a reputation.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
And that's probably what gets all the dads in on
ELF in two thousands down. Godfather is in it, that's right, Godfather.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
Well, if without picturing Khan or dan Aykroyd, picture this
last SNL alum legend Bill Murray as Walter.

Speaker 4 (55:49):
I ain't about it.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Yeah I am.

Speaker 3 (55:51):
I'm all for it.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
Yeah, I feel like that's a.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
I don't know, space jam. It's too it's too loony.

Speaker 4 (56:01):
I honestly, and this is nothing against dan Aykroyd, but
Bill Murray is more of probably a comedic genius legend. Yes,
in the eyes of just the movies He's done, absolutely,
and I think Bill Murray would outshine anyone else. Yeah,
it wouldn't be I feel like Bill Murray would be

(56:23):
the first name on the poster.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Yeah, so fair.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
So Yeah, Well that pretty much wraps up all I
have for ELF, unless you guys got some things add
to it. But what I would like to do. And
we haven't done this like on every episode because some
episodes really don't warranted it. But some of the favorite
quotes from Elf, I've got a few, if you've guys,
got any to chime in with.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
I Santa, I know him, Bye buddy, hope you find
your dad. Yeah, I find myself quoting every holiday season
that bye buddy. Well buy.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
One of my favorites is you sit on a Throne
of lies.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Iconic, iconic, iconic.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
And then uh, there's a lot of emphasis on two
words in this one. But son of a Nutcracker had
one eye. Yeah, that's a great one. And the one
I use a lot because I'm such a dog person
and I volunteer for a dog rescue group here in
Memphis as good news, I saw a dog today.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
That's that's a good one. Brandon, You're you're really struggling
over here, I can see.

Speaker 4 (57:36):
That's most of That's most of mine. I'm I like
the like Santons screaming, and then the bye Buddy. That's
probably my favorite one. Yeah, I like that one, and
of course the the back and forth between Farrell and
Peter Dinklidge. Oh he's an angry yelh say it one

(57:56):
more time. Oh he's an Yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
I do feel like this is a highly quotable film.

Speaker 4 (58:04):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
Which I think a lot of Will Ferrell movies are
sure that's true.

Speaker 4 (58:11):
The early years, Yeah, the ones that were good that
people actually watched.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
And and and with that said, let's dive into our
our wrap up question. Here are our mount rushmore of
Will Ferrell movies. Who wants to take it?

Speaker 2 (58:25):
It's easy. It's easier for me. I go Old School, Anchorman,
Step Brothers and the other guys. And it's not even
really close for me as far as that fifth one.
I mean, I like Talladega Knights and semi Pro, but
you get to a point with his filmography where a
lot of the stuff is the same and just a
different costume.

Speaker 4 (58:44):
Yep, mine was tough only because of the last the
last one. But I would probably switch out, and I
guess it's mainly because I'm thinking of like headlining Will Ferrell.
I would probably switch out Old School for Talladega Knights,
but I would still do Anchorman, Step Brothers and the
other guys. Those would be my four And honestly, if

(59:09):
I could, I actually quite enjoyed him, and uh, Emma
Thompson and Dustin Hoffman and stranger.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Fiction, stranger than fiction.

Speaker 4 (59:19):
Strange, I'm sorry, stranger than fiction.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
You're right, but which we thought at the school, He's
gonna he's gonna.

Speaker 4 (59:25):
Turn, and he did Everything Must Go? Which is a
good little movie.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Is that the one with Julia Dreyfus.

Speaker 4 (59:34):
It might be, but I think it's like where he's
like selling stuff on his lawn.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Oh no, no, Julia Lewis, Oh no, that movie is horrible.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Yeah, well there's a the original one is better and
it's actually not a comedy at all. Well say, some
would say this one wasn't either, but yeah, no, those
would be my four too.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
Yeah, my four are are quite different. I got to
old school Talladega Knights, I think are my two favorite
of his at all. I really never enjoyed Anchorman or
step Brothers, so I'm out on both of them. So
I went Superstar, and then instead of the other guys,

(01:00:16):
I went a different mock Wahlberg movie, and I went
with Daddy's Home as my fourth.

Speaker 4 (01:00:23):
Hmm. I think the way you feel about telling about
step Brothers and Anchorman is how I feel about.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Do have a controversial opinion here. I think Daddy's Home
two is a better Will Ferrell Christmas movie than ELF.
I I like Daddy's Home two. Daddy's Home the first one,
I thought it was fine.

Speaker 4 (01:00:44):
It's fine. But I'm gonna tell you John Lithgow and
Mel Gibson being the dads that Thermostat joke is real.
It's a real thing, and that made me. It made
me really laugh.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
But to me, Daddy's Home two, I watch watch that
more eagerly than I watch else.

Speaker 4 (01:01:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. But Superstar God, I don't
think I've seen that in a long time. I thought
somebody was gonna say Zoolander.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
No, I thought somebody might say Barbie.

Speaker 3 (01:01:16):
I thought about it. Yeah, is bigger than you would
think in that movie. Uh, but I just couldn't pull
the trigger on Barbie.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:01:25):
I love Barbie. But I guess my thinking is like,
that's not a wolf, like anybody could have played. Will
Ferrell's probably been fine. Just like Lego movie, I don't
really need. I don't need Will Ferrell in those.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
I mean, I'm like, literally, well, you know what.

Speaker 4 (01:01:40):
The campaign was good, it was funny, but then that
wasn't even kind of mediocre but semi pro Blades of Glory.
They were all just I don't know, it just seemed
like it was starting to become the same old thing.
It was one outlandish character set in a different sport,
and that's what we did.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
And then like I don't know, like he goes on
that run after after the campaign where it's Watson Holmes,
he does like, oh.

Speaker 4 (01:02:10):
Yeah, that got crapped on. That was one of the
last movies I think he was in in theaters.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Get Hard was like the same old Will Ferrell. The House.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
No one saw that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
No one saw that, and then he did do Holmes
and Watson like that's a run of some pretty.

Speaker 4 (01:02:26):
Those were big flops and that's why he didn't He
didn't really do anything.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
I did like Eurovision Song Contests.

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
I never saw that one.

Speaker 4 (01:02:35):
I kind of lean more towards with Rachel McAdams and
Dan Stevens than Will Ferrell. But yeah, it's not bad.
I will tell you one if if I could put
it up there, it would be if it was a
TV the one that he's in with Paul Wood, I
would that would be up there.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
What is that called drink next Door?

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
Yeah, yeah, I would put I would put that up there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
I think that might be his best I.

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
Think it's one of his I think it's some of
his best work as far as like acting, just acting
in general. Yeah, I totally agree by the way him
and they're both tremendous in that. If you haven't seen it,
I think it's Apple.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
Yeah, it was Apple.

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
Paul Rudd can do no wrong. But one movie I
completely overlooked that I might have included was Get Hard
with him and Kevin Hart.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
I didn't think Get Hard was bad, but I felt
like we got to a point in Will Ferrell's career
where it was like he couldn't get away from all
the silly shtick stuff. And I felt like that was
about the time period for me when I started to say, like, Okay,
we're kinda I kind of want to see him do

(01:03:46):
some different stuff. And I mean, I don't know, we've
talked about Will Ferrell being kind of an interesting case
study in the past before, where like these comedic actors
that try to branch off and do other things, it
never really worked for him, And then I think the
bit kind of wore on people a little bit, and

(01:04:08):
he kind of got to this point where I think.
I don't know if audiences were fatigued or if they
just came to expect, like, oh, another Will Ferrell movie,
this time he's in prison with Kevin Hart, Like, well,
they didn't go see it, and it just didn't feel
like he was trying to push the boundary and do
anything new.

Speaker 4 (01:04:29):
I still haven't seen Holmes in Watson in the House.

Speaker 3 (01:04:31):
Oh I paid to see that in a damn theater
which one Holmes and Watson.

Speaker 4 (01:04:37):
Oh man, And it came out during Christmas, and.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
What I've never been so angry at a film.

Speaker 2 (01:04:42):
Yeah, but I did. I did enjoy get hard for
for what it was. It just to me kind of
felt like, oh, you put this in the in the
box with all the other movies right.

Speaker 4 (01:04:52):
Well, and you notice there's a certain point where he's
not headlining anymore. He's either sharing it with like Kevin Hart,
who I mean, you know he's another guy.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
Well at the time Kevin Hart was he was.

Speaker 4 (01:05:03):
No, no, yeah he was, and a lot of people still.
I mean, he's still very much popular, but like Spirited,
it's him and Ryan Reynolds. Well, obviously Ryan Reynolds is
probably the bigger star of these days. Yeah, so, you know,
but that's the thing, and that's why I think The
Street next Door is what I thought Will Ferrell like,
clearly he's capable of it, but he's not. I mean,
he's also producing his own stuff, so he's also picking

(01:05:25):
this shit.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
I mean, he's got a credit on Succession.

Speaker 4 (01:05:28):
Yeah, so, I mean, I maybe he is just trying
to get away from some of it and does others,
but I know he is. I mean, he's still making stuff.
But you know, he shows up in Barbie and it's
fine and it's kind of fun that he's in it,
but you know it's not. I mean, it's it's like
with everybody else. When's the last time an Adam Sandler
movie came out in theaters? When's the last time a

(01:05:49):
Will Ferrell movie actually came out in theater?

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
I mean, well last year with Strays.

Speaker 4 (01:05:55):
Oh yeah, you didn't see him, You didn't see but yeah,
that's true.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
He's also in Quiz Lady. I never watched Quiz Lady,
but I think.

Speaker 4 (01:06:02):
Oh, yeah, that's on Hulu. It had Sandra O and Aquafina. Yeah, yeah,
that was okay.

Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
I'm curious to see how this documentary that Will and
Harper that we got to see. I'm curious to see
what we think of the film. Yeah, we got to
see at the Nashville Film Festival in September. Curious to
see where that goes.

Speaker 4 (01:06:27):
Yeah, I am. I mean, I you know, I think
he is a smart guy in the fact that it's
anybody that can that kind of just doesn't put all
their eggs in one basket about this is what I'm
gonna do. I'm gonna act, I'm gonna do these movies
and no one's ever gonna get tired of it. The
fact he's produced his stuff and it's not just his

(01:06:47):
own stuff. Yeah, I think is a is a smart choice.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
Yeah, for sure, I would agree.

Speaker 4 (01:06:52):
It'll keep his career going and still get some parts.
But you know, we're not going to ever get that
Anchorman's step Brothers, Talladega Knights, We're not going to get
that again.

Speaker 2 (01:07:05):
I feel like he had a run of a few
years where he was just in my opinion.

Speaker 4 (01:07:10):
It was a big deal on top of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I agree.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
And you only have doesn't have the fastball anymore. I
think those things, you know, it is kind of similar
to like an aging pitcher or an aging like Athlete
where it's just not the same oop.

Speaker 4 (01:07:28):
But you know, I kind of feel like like growing
up like Jim Carrey, Sandler and stuff. They all it
happens to them all.

Speaker 2 (01:07:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:35):
I think a great part of that is the audience
you do those movies with grow over time and kind
of mature where they don't really want.

Speaker 2 (01:07:45):
The same point fair point right.

Speaker 4 (01:07:47):
Yeah, that's true because during his heyday we were high
school college Yeah, perfect, perfect Will Ferrell humor.

Speaker 2 (01:07:55):
We were the target demo.

Speaker 4 (01:07:57):
Yep, boy did he get us?

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
Got it's good.

Speaker 4 (01:08:01):
And you got my cash too, even Holmes and Watson
brought him.

Speaker 3 (01:08:04):
Yeah. Just remember if you're not first your last, shake
it back, shake it. And I think that's a good
a good segue to get out of here. So we
got some. We got presence of still wrap to put
under the tree. Uh and then doing so, Please check
out Sobrosnetwork dot com, where you can find all of
our work and most importantly, subscribe to Drinking With wherever

(01:08:26):
you get your podcast fixed. Leave us a rating and
review so we know what you think about the show
and let us know what movies that's turning twenty one
soon that you would like us discuss.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
Hey, yeah, I'll say this. We haven't done a Tom
Cruise movie yet. We've we've talked about Collateral next year
two thousand and four is Collateral.

Speaker 3 (01:08:44):
Oh yes, yes, the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Christmas.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
That's a callback. Now that is a deep and I
know that one. Yeah, Drinking with listeners So yeah that
and Brandon, you weren't even on that episode exactly.

Speaker 4 (01:09:00):
Boy did I dodge a bullet?

Speaker 2 (01:09:02):
Yep?

Speaker 3 (01:09:04):
Uh. Before we get out of here, Stody Brandon, Telly's
fine folks. How they can find you on the internet.

Speaker 2 (01:09:09):
At Stony Keeley on Twitter, at Sobros Network on all
major social media platforms.

Speaker 4 (01:09:15):
And at Sir Brandon V on Twitter, Sir Brandon on Letterboxed, and.

Speaker 3 (01:09:21):
You can find me on Twitter at MC underscore Cast
seventy five and cheers to another episode of Drinking With
where we've explored the films that have come of age
just like a fine wine. As we raise our glasses
to movies turning twenty one, we've laughed, reminisced, and maybe
shed a tear two over the timeless classics. So until
next time, mayor drinks be cold. Your conversation is lively

(01:09:41):
and your movie night's unforgettable. Get that bearskin rug out,
and get the fucking drink.

Speaker 4 (01:09:46):
Responsive James constyle.

Speaker 3 (01:09:49):
Yep, drink responsibly. Remember age is just a number, but
great films or forever. We'll see you next time, because
I have to return some videotapes