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Arts & Entertainment

Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>Land of the Lost</em> or <em>The Hangover</em>

By

John Del Signore

Published Jun 5, 2009

Modified Jun 5, 2009

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Another weekend, another remake. This time Hollywood returns to the TV well and strips the charm from the distinctly quirky '70s series "Land of the Lost," about a family thrown back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. The movie stars Will Ferrell, and most critics are gleefully derisive, but the Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern is particularly bilious: "General Motors may be in a class by itself when it comes to bankruptcy, but so is the aptly named Land of the Lost. This dramatically, thematically and artistically bankrupt comic fantasy cost something in the neighborhood of $100 million to make and isn’t worth the celluloid it’s printed on... It’s hard to exaggerate the dispiriting vacuousness of the film."Mr. Ferrell deploys the same straight face, flattened affect and faux-candor that has served him well in such previous features as Blades of Glory and Talladega Nights. But those comedies added value to the subjects being parodied; they were clever in their own right. Land of the Lost settles for pitifully little in the way of a plot, characterization or coherence, and seethes with contempt for its audience. Will the audience return the compliment? That would be fitting, though young boys may gladly settle for the movie’s toilet humor and smarmy sex gags"

 

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By

John Del Signore

Published Jun 5, 2009

Modified Jun 5, 2009

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Click on the film stills above for more on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which also include The Hangover, Away We Go, Downloading Nancy, Autumn Ball, The Art of Being Straight, My Life in Ruins, Séraphine, Unmistaken Child, The Great Muppet Caper, The Shining, and Breaking Upwards, a new film which kicks of the 12th Annual Brooklyn International Film Festival.

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John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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