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Actor Will Ferrell returns as one of his most beloved characters, Buddy the Elf, but sadly it’s not in a sequel. Instead, the Barbie star took the Christmas icon out into the real world, slipping into his yellow and green elf outfit while attending the LA Kings ice hockey game over the weekend. While fans will no doubt have sighed with disappointment that the return of Buddy is not in Elf 2, it will surely please everyone to see the elf looking grumpy, disheveled, and with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Which is not exactly how we imagined the cheerful elf after all these years.

It has now been more than 20 years since director Jon Favreau and writer David Berenbaum gave audiences a modern Christmas classic with Elf. Led by Will Ferrell alongside the likes of James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Asner and Bob Newhart, Elf tells the story of Buddy,...

With the holiday season in full swing, people are watching their favorite Christmas classics, like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street, Die Hard, and others. A more recent classic is Elf, the unexpected 2003 hit film starring Will Ferrell and directed by Jon Favreau. It's a highly quotable movie and full of fun and memorable scenes. One was supposed to be a quick, one-liner moment that ended up becoming a fan favorite. But Favreau had to fight to keep the scene in after the producers wanted to cut it.

The scene in question is when Buddy Elf (Ferrell) is sent to the mailroom by his biological father, Walter (played memorably by James Caan) to essentially get out of the way. While there, Buddy meets the way-older-than-he-looks "Mailroom Guy," played by character actor Mark Acheson. The moment between Buddy and Mailroom Guy was supposed to be short, but it grew into a hilarious,...

If you were as disappointed in Watchmen as I am, you might have felt inclined to avoid any of its permutations trickling out to DVD. Say, this Tales of the Black Freighter release. Especially since Zack Snyder is planning on releasing a big ultimate cut on DVD down the line that would have the Watchmen movie intercut with the animated Tales of the Black Freighter, bookended by scenes of the two Bernies (fans of the book would know who they are) that are missing from both the theatrical version and this DVD. If you do so, however, you’ll miss out on the real treat of this DVD release.

The disc contains two features: the 25-minute Black Freighter and the 40-minute mockumentary Under the Hood. I’m not sure why Black Freighter gets the first billing on the cover, because Under the Hood is easily the better feature and the...

If you were as disappointed in Watchmen as I am, you might have felt inclined to avoid any of its permutations trickling out to DVD. Say, this Tales of the Black Freighter release. Especially since Zack Snyder is planning on releasing a big ultimate cut on DVD down the line that would have the Watchmen movie intercut with the animated Tales of the Black Freighter, bookended by scenes of the two Bernies (fans of the book would know who they are) that are missing from both the theatrical version and this DVD. If you do so, however, you’ll miss out on the real treat of this DVD release.

The disc contains two features: the 25-minute Black Freighter and the 40-minute mockumentary Under the Hood. I’m not sure why Black Freighter gets the first billing on the cover, because Under the Hood is easily the better feature and the...