Weekend Movie Alert: “Land Of The Lost” and “The Hangover”

By Akela Talamasca on June 5th, 2009

lolandhandgover Hey, it’s Friday, which means it’s time for another look at the hot movies coming out this weekend. First up, “Land of the Lost”, featuring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride.

Based on the popular tv show of the 70’s, “Land of the Lost” tells the story of Rick Marshall, a second-rate scientist who unwittingly creates a time machine that displaces him and two others in both time and space. Giant bugs, dinosaurs, and sleestaks happen; Will Ferrell shouts a lot; hilarity ensues.

So, here’s the thing I always wonder whenever someone tries to cash in on nostalgia: are they fans of the original? Because if they are, then why are they doing this? Nobody ever gets it right; there’s always some weird disconnect, like trying to “update” the characters to fit modern sensibilities, or coming up with character designs “if they really did exist” (*cough* Transformers *cough*). Obviously, the main features are here: Grumpy, sleestaks, the weird monkeyboy, but other than that, the whole movie’s essentially just another vehicle for Ferrell to do his over-confident-yet-stupid schtick. Are people who enjoyed the original really going to come out of this movie saying “Wow, they really did justice to the original”? And if they did, is that a good thing? Judge for yourself with the trailer below.

Next up, “The Hangover”, a movie about a wild night and the inevitable next morning, featuring a cast of “those guys”. You may not know their names, but you’ve seen that one guy before on the Daily Show, and hey! That dude with the beard does comedy or something!

As far as screwball comedies go, this one looks right up there with “Van Wilder” and “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle”. Movies in which weird things just kind of happen are either your cup of tea or not, but there’s guaranteed to be at least three scenes that will make you laugh out loud. There’s even a sort of mystery element to this movie: what the hell happened last night? Whose baby is this? And finally, WTF, seriously? Mike Tyson? Check out the trailer below!