What's Up, Buddy?

I protested for oh so long. For approximately two years I refused to see the movie Elf. It's not the Will Ferrell thing—I quite like him actually. It's not that it's a holiday flick—I got the spirit in me. No, all of those things really should sell me on the movie (plus, I've had a raging crush on Peter Dinklage for years, so there's that). I avoided seeing Elf for one rather humiliating reason: I knew full well it would make me cry. The moment I saw the trailers with the innocent Buddy yelping, "SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM!" with the glee of a 4-year-old followed by a clip of James Caan looking, well, like James Caan, I knew there would be some sort of conflict. (Now I admit I have a tendency to care about the well-being of animals over people in movies, but I apparently also have a weak spot for elves...even really tall, adult ones.) But I finally sucked it up and watched the DVD, and yes, I totally lost it when...well, I'm not going to ruin it for you. Go laugh (and cry) through Elf as the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station offers the It's a Wonderful Life Film Series. Elf screens 5:30 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Future selections include Love, Actually (cried at that one too) and Miracle on 34th Street. Call 214-841-4700 or visit angelikafilmcenter.com.
Sun., Dec. 10, 5:30 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m.