Elf Finds The Joy In Both Christmas And Humanity

Welcome to 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Elf is a prime example of a movie that shouldn't, under any circumstances, work. A comedian mugging it in a family movie? That always works out well. A sequence where the main character spies on a woman in the ladies locker room? Creep central. A lead character so optimistic and spunky should be aggravating. Instead, it's a treat of film, one of the very best features centered around the holiday of Christmas.

Box Office Predictions: Guardians of The Galaxy Will Stay Above November Man

Well, here we are. The final weekend of the summer. Two new wide releases will try to squeeze some last minute cash from your wallet, but they'll likely be ineffective at taking down Rocket Raccoon and the gang from the top spot. Let's get to predicting the box office shall we?

Box Office Analysis: Small But Mighty! The Status of Indie Movies This Summer

Jon Favreaus film Chef has been one of the many indie movies this summer
to drum up big business

 It's actually been a pretty great summer for movies. 22 Jump Street was hilarious, Godzilla lived up to expectations and them some, and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes somehow improved on its predecessor to create one of the best movies in recent years. There's also been several movies debuting in art house cinemas that the major moviegoing public might not be aware of, but definitely deserve some recognition for their box office achievements. Without further ado, let's take a look at how the numerous smaller releases have done so far this summer.

Chef Review

It must be said that Jon Favreau has probably has had the most unexpected career trajectory in Hollywood except for maybe Neil Patrick Harris. Who would have thought the dude who played a recurring character on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command would end up directing the best Christmas (Elf) and Superhero (Iron Man) movies of all-time? Of course, he's had his struggles, with him squaring off against Marvel Studios over the direction of Iron Man 2 and Cowboys and Aliens becoming a major financial failure.

Box Office Predictions: Can Tom Cruise Conquer The Stars?

In Box Office Predictions, I take a look at the forthcoming weekend and see how new releases and holdovers will fare.

As late as 10 years ago, a summertime Tom Cruise tentpole could be guaranteed to be one of the biggest films of not just the season, but also the year. Since those days, he's been extremely more hit and miss, with his only $100 million features coming from Mission Impossible and a (hilarious I might add) cameo in a Ben Stiller film. Edge of Tomorrow has been dogged by both the press and audience members ever since it's first trailer came out, but extremely positive reviews seem to be turning the tide for the movie. I doubt it can all of a sudden churn even an Oblivion sized opening, but I'll be daring and say this thing just barely cracks $30 million.