Have you seen the "Elf" billboards? (1 Viewer)

[Gary->dee]

Holy cow they're bad. I mean embarrassingly bad. They make Will Ferrell look like a putz. And then there's the small writing below the title "with James Caan". Wow. I guess they're trying to make the movie look cute but... maybe it's just me but I cringe when I see these billboards around town.

 

[Adam_S]

I cring everytime I see a billboard or poster up for Elf. The movie looks appallingly bad (though I suppose it could be good, just the way it's being sold is an instant turn off for me [the trailer is almost as bad as the Cat in the Hat one]). Right now it looks like they took a mishmash of all the major christmas movies and just stuck them in a blender and out popped this Will Farrell film. :p

 

[Gary->dee]

Maybe they should have just called the movie "Cringe".

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Impressive that you guys can tell how bad it is without seeing the film!

But brace yourselves: Elf is a damn good movie, and one I expect to become an annual favorite for Xmas-time viewing.

Yes, seriously.

 

[BertFalasco]

I want to see Elf, I thought the trailer was hilarious.

 

[Jean-Michel]

They make Will Ferrell look like a putz.

Well, that's not very har......

No, sorry, it's just too obvious.

 

[Ricardo C]

The trailer looks good, I'll check it out in theaters, which I rarely do. Haven't seen the billboards, though. Gary, could you describe them?

 

[Tony-B]

I have not seen the billboards either.

 

[Malcolm R]

The trailer stinks, IMO. I've seen it twice.

Then again, a film starring Will Ferrell...expectations have to be very low anyway.

 

[Adam_S]

I'm not saying it can't be good, but just the way it's being sold makes me shy away in horror (and usually family oriented trailers don't have that affect, but this one and Cat in the Hat both did). Something just makes me go ugghh at the advertising for this movie. But both you and Dave Poland have said Elf is really good, so now I'm starting to wonder...

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Adam!

Incidentally I was just driving home and I saw one of those big, bright "bus stop" ads of Ferrell's huge form wedged in all silly-like.

Based on that wacky-looking thing, I'd agree that it's not the finest advertising campaign.

The first trailer is rather weak, too. Hey, it's the old "small feral rodent/housepet attacking someone's face/groin" schpiel. Not funny.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I thought the trailer was in the so utterly dumb that it's good category. The person I saw it with wanted to vomit, though, so I guess opinions could differ.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Meh. It's a Will Ferrell movie.

 

[Gary->dee]

Haven't seen the billboards, though. Gary, could you describe them?

I've seen 2 of them. One is in the style of Tim Allen's The Santa Clause in that it has Will lying down across the length of the billboard in his elf suit. It immediately yelled out The Santa Clause to me because I remember those ads. Will has this putzy look on his face, not even sure that's his body. Looks like it could be just his head photoshopped on someone else wearing the elf suit.

The other version of the billboard has him hunched over, facing forward with what looks like the exact same head from the other billboard except in this case he has his hands open and spread apart in what almost looks like a "don't shoot I'll give you my wallet" position. And again his head with the body doesn't seem like it's the original picture of him taken. It looks lifted.

To me they both look extremely corny. I like Will Ferrell and I'm a big fan of his SNL days but it looks like they're selling this movie to 5 year-olds.

 

[Christian Behrens]

Actually, the trailer before "Intolerable Cruelty" looked remarkably funnier than the one I saw months ago. So who knows...

-Christian