PG | 1h 37min | Adventure, Comedy, Family | 7 November 2003 (USA) Unlike the films of the 1940s and ’50s, most of the more modern Hollywood Christmas movies tend to have a pervading sense of cynicism and are sometimes even mean-spirited, the opposite of what the venerated holiday is all about. However, a few recent attempts convey the festive nature of Christmas, with director Jon Favreau’s (of Marvel film fame) 2003 “Elf” being one such effort. The main protagonist is an oddball named Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell), who just doesn’t fit in with the other elves of the North Pole. For one thing, he’s massively larger than the typical elf, and he also stinks at making toys. Thirty years prior, Santa Claus (Edward Asner) was making his rounds in an orphanage. One of the orphans, Buddy, a baby at the time, who had been put up for adoption …