Elf

One of my favorite modern Christmas movies if Elf from 2003, starring Will Ferrell (b. 1967) as Buddy.  I don't particularly like Will Ferrell, but he pulled this one off well.

I do like most of the rest of the cast.  Who doesn't like Bob Newhart?  Zooey Deschanel (b. 1980) is always quirky, but she is endearing in Elf.  Plus, I like her as a blond!  Mary Steenbergen (b. 1953) is the perfect wife to James Caan (b. 1940), as she shows him that its OK to care about others.

In the smaller parts; Ed Asner (b. 1929) plays Santa.  I mentioned Faizon Love (b. 1968), who played the store manager, in one of my posts a few months ago.  His 45 roles will keep growing. 

Elf was the second movie for Daniel Tay (b. 1991) who played the son.  He was born in New York, so his accent was easy to come by.  He now has seven titles on IMDb, and today, Dec. 17, is his birthday.  Now he is 19, and I hope he uses his acting skills to create a long career. 

Peter Dinklage (b. 1969) stands 4' 5" and played a high-power writer, who is insulted by Buddy the Elf.  His size may limit the roles he is offered, but he has talent.  He can use that talent to create a character for himself.  He has 45 titles already on IMDb, so it must be working.

Let's not miss Ray Harryhausen (b. 1920) who was the voice of a polar bear cub in the animation.  Harryhausen is a well known name in classic fantasy film circles as the animator who made the stop-action sequences for the Sinbad movies in the 1960s.  One famous sword fight scene with skeletons was filmed at the rate of 13 frames (one half second of film) per DAY!

And finally, Leon Redbone (b. 1949) was the voice of Leon the Snowman.  Redbone has been popular for many years as a very stylish pop singer.  He has only worked in two movies, but in this one he is perfect.  Under the credits, he can be heard signing Baby its Cold Outside with co-star Zooey Deschanel.  Deschanel has a second career as a wonderful jazz singer.

See Elf again this year!

Blue Crush

I know...Blue Crush (2002) will never be a classic, except maybe for teenage boys.  Young girls in bikinis are all that is necessary for most teenage boys to like a movie.

Regardless of the reputation of Blue Crush, there must be more to it than just hot bods on the beach.  There actually was a story, and that required actors and actresses, including Bit Actors.  It is funny how all the posters that advertised the movie showed hot bods on the beach.

We won't talk about Kate Bosworth (b. 1983).  She is doing fine in her 24 titles on IMDb. 

Blue Crush was the fifth film for Michelle Rodriguez (b. 1978), who was previously in The Fast and the Furious (2001) and Resident Evil in 2002.  She reprises her role as Letty in 2009's Fast & Furious and then scores a big role in Avatar the same year.  Not bad.  She now has 24 roles listed.

Mika Boorem (b. 1987) was about 14 when she made Crush, but it was her 20th role and her ninth movie.  Before Crush she was in Mighty Joe Young (1998) and The Patriot (2000).  She now sports 36 roles on IMDb.  At only 23 years old, she has more acting experience per year than any other Blue Crush cast member.

Faizon Love (b. 1968) is a bit older than the stars in this movie and now has 44 titles to his credit.  He played the toy department manager in Elf (2003) and was in Couples Retreat in 2009.

After looking through most of the cast list, the names above are the only members who have more than 10 titles listed on IMDb.  Of course there were quite a few talented surfers to fill in the scenes and to populate the surfing contest, so they wouldn't have many other screen credits, but it seems almost everyone was simply chosen on location, most likely because they fit the surfing lifestyle profile.

Am I making sense?  Was Blue Crush a hit movie, or did it just have great advertising with hot bods on the beach?  The worldwide gross so far is over $52,000,000.