Land of the Lost Review

Land of the Lost Directed by: Brad Silberling Written by: Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas Starring: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone, Ben Best The transition from R to PG-13 is not always an easy one for comedians, particularly ones who base their humour on crass jokes and shock value, but it's a transition that is necessary in order to become a true A-list Hollywood star. When formerly edgy funnymen turn to family-friendly fare (that's a lot of f-words), they typically risk alienating their original audience and watering down their act. However, if they can pull off these films without losing their identity and credibility (ahem... Eddie Murphy), they just may have a long and profitable career ahead of them. Will Ferrell, for his part, has always done a decent job of balancing his career between movies for general audiences (Elf) and the college crowd (Old School, Anchorman). However, he is now dealing with an inevitable backlash due to overexposure, and the prospect of a kid-friendly summer blockbuster based on a campy '70s TV show does not seem to be garnering him a ton of respect. Still, with Ferrell's penchant for the bizarre, and Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, The Foot Fist Way) in a supporting role, is Land of the Lost really as innocent and corny as it might seem? The original TV show Land of the Lost was created by Sid and Marty Krofft (H.R. Pufnstuf), and like many children's programs from the '70s it is known for its low-budget special effects and psychedelic undertones. Will Ferrell stars as Rick Marshall, a quirky scientist who has been exiled from the scientific community due to his study of time warps. When a grad student named Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) offers to be his research assistant, together they set out in search of a dimensional portal with the help of redneck tour guide Will Stanton (Danny McBride). It isn't long before they are sucked into a fantastical world where dinosaurs rub shoulders with giant insects, ape men and reptilian humanoids known as Sleestaks. The trio must survive long enough to recover their lost Tachyon amplifier if they hope to return to their own world and prove to Matt Lauer that Rick Marshall was right all along. While I'm not very familiar with the original show, Land of the Lost seems to maintain a lot of the original concept and characters. That said, this movie is mostly an exercise in absurdity, and it has been entirely repainted as a Will Ferrell vehicle. It reminded me of Starsky & Hutch in the sense that it uses the framework of the original mainly as a set up for laughs (although it's not as much of a direct parody as Starsky & Hutch was), and there's also not a ton of action in the movie either. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the fact that the movie is pretty edgy for something that is rated PG-13... to the point where I could see some parents being a little upset about it. There is plenty of swearing (although only one whispered F-bomb from what I remember), crude sex jokes, a trippy drug scene, and lots of Danny McBride doing what he does best. Admittedly, it did feel like he had to hold back a lot, but it was still funny. Heck, there was even a somewhat risque ethnic joke that kind of came out of nowhere -- certainly not something I would have expected from a movie based on a Saturday morning TV show for kids. Ferrell plays another oblivious man-child, so if you're growing tired of that act, you might want to steer clear. Not everything works -- there are some scenes that go nowhere, jokes that are repeated too often, and some slapstick stuff that is simply forgettable. Jorma Taccone's portrayal of the ape man Cha-Ka can be grating at times. Still, I think that fans of Anchorman or Step Brothers will definitely find enough comedy here to make it worth their while. The look of the movie stays true to the cheap, low budget aesthetic of the TV series, which enhances the goofiness, but also seems like an easy excuse for bad CG work. The Sleestaks are men in rubber suits, while the dinosaurs are computer-generated. Some of the sets use giant, cartoony-looking props, while other backdrops are entirely digital. Perhaps if the art design wasn't so uninspired, they could have meshed the two together well, but as it is they probably should have committed to one or the other. A lot of people are going to question the $100 million budget, but the bottom line is that the movie was not made to wow us with cutting edge FX anyway. What I think ultimately holds this movie back from being a classic is the lack of an appropriate director or a solid script. The movie is written by Chris Henchy (Entourage) and Dennis McNicholas (Saturday Night Live), but it feels like Ferrell and McBride are the ones providing all the laughs through performance and improvisation alone. Director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Casper) clearly knows his way around a family-oriented fantasy film, but he doesn't quite know what to do with Will Ferrell's off-the-wall humour and how to integrate it properly. Land of the Lost is a movie with an identity crisis of sorts, but I do think there is an audience out there who will appreciate it once they find it. Parents expecting another Elf or perhaps something in the vein of Jumanji will obviously not be impressed, but fans of Will Ferrell's other work should be able to dig it, assuming they can get past the campiness and questionable special effects. Unfortunately it looks like this will go down on record as a Will Ferrell bomb, but I don't think it deserves to be viewed as such. It's certainly not his finest work to date, but it's also a far cry from Semi-Pro. -- Sean

Box Office Says Yes to Yes Man. "The Wrestler" posts big numbers.

Jim Carrey enjoyed a top spot at this weekends box office chart with Warner Bros. Pictures Yes Man scoring $18.1 million on its debut.  The Peyton Reed comedy including Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby and Danny Masterson, opened in 3,434 venues at an average of $5,288 per theatre.

This marks the sixth highest opener for Carrey, falling under:

1.       Bruce Almighty ($67.9 million)

2.       Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who ($45 million)

3.       The Truman Show ($31.5 million)

4.       Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events

5.       Me, Myself & Irene

The Grant Nieporte written Seven Pounds starring Will Smith and helmed by The Pursuit of Happyness helmer Gabriele Muccino, finished with a higher per-theatre average than Yes Man. Drama pulled in $16 million from 2,758 venues at an average of $5,801.

In related news for Seven Pounds, Mr. Nieporte was kind enough to email one our writers, praising his review of the film saying Can't thank you enough for the insightful and meaningful review of Seven Pounds.  It meant a lot to me to read your words, the script was a labor of love three years in the making for me.  Read the review by Eric Sloss here.

Universals animated opener The Tale of Despereaux finished off in third position with $10.5 million posted from 3,104 locations. The family adventure based on the Newberry Award-winning book by Kate DiCamillo, features the voice talents of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Ciran Hinds, Robbie Coltrane and Tony Hale.

Foxs revamp The Day the Earth Stood Still dropped a big 67% in its sophomore weekend at play after topping the charts on its debut weekend. Frontlined by Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith, the sci-fi offering ended in a fourth-positioned $10.1 million and has posted over $48 million thus far.

Finishing the top five, Four Christmases, the leader of two weekends, added an additional $7.7 million, pushing its total over the magic $100 million mark in domestic figures.

Most impressive was Golden Globe nominee "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood with a massive $294,980 from a mere 4 venues. That's $52,369 per theatre.

The top film this time last year was National Treasure: Book of Secrets followed by I Am Legend, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Charlie Wilsons War and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

This week sees some of the most anticipated releases including Adam Sandler starrer Bedtime Stories, Lionsgates The Spirit, acclaimed drama Revolutionary Road starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise, Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

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"Land of the Lost" - Video clips and interviews!

EXCLUSIVE: Lemony Snicket Director Brad Silberling Plans To Do Each Film In Different Medium

The Garfield movie got a sequel. The Scooby-Doo movie got a sequel. But Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, which pulled in far more at the box office than either of those wearisome live-action adaptations of childrens entertainment properties, still has not seen a follow-up. And Snicket had Jim Carrey. Not to mention more [...]

"Land of the Lost" - Video clips and interviews!

Brad Silberling on Land of the Lost

The new Land of the Lost updates the original show’s puppet and animated effects with high tech CGI. Director Brad Silberling has done his share of visual effects in Casper and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, but Land of the Lost presented new challenges.

Brad Silberling Remakes Land of the Lost
“Honestly, the most daunting part of it was dealing with the Sleestak,” Silberling said. “That’s not even a joke because they’re so damn slow. I brought it on myself. I really wanted them to be suit performers. I didn’t want to just have them be CG beings. They were like Nascar cars. They had to pull in for pit stops. I mean, they’re blind, poor guys. They’re effectively blind. They’re on platform shoes, already they’re tall. It’s like wearing a wet suit indoors. They had to be hydrated. So, there were like two people for every Sleestak. imagine you’ve got a big set and you’re trying to keep a camera set-up going and then suddenly between takes this army of people come in pulling the eyes out, feeding it, and I had great sympathy to a point and then I was just like, “Oh my God!” That was the only daunting part, honestly. The rest of it, oddly enough, was really what got me excited. to me, the idea of really committing to this sort of adventure stakes with this absurd behavior in the middle of it was really fun to do and maybe more my sense of humor anyway.”

Barry Sonnenfeld to Direct Swift

Columbia Pictures has acquired a pitch from director Barry Sonnenfeld and up-and-coming writer Ben David Grabinski that is described as a reimagining of the Tom Swift adventure novels. The project, titled Swift, is being developed as a Sonnenfeld directing vehicle. The Tom Swift character first appeared in 1910 and has appeared in new titles as recently as 2007. The original books were outlined by Edward Stratemeyer, written by ghostwriters and credited to pseudonym Victor Appleton. The books have been translated into a number of languages and sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Sonnenfeld and Grabinski's version would feature Swift as one-half of a father-son team who are among the greatest inventors of all time. Albie Hecht (Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events), who had been developing a Swift project of his own, will produce the project alongside Sonnenfeld. Though Hollywood has long been intrigued by the boy genius, Tom Swift has yet to make it to the big-screen. Twentieth Century Fox put together an expensive Tom Swift musical in the late 1960s as a Gene Kelly directing vehicle, but it was nixed at the eleventh hour. Another Swift film was planned in the mid-'70s, but it was also cancelled. Sonnenfeld, who most recently helmed the Robin Williams comedy RV, is also attached to direct and produce MGM's action comedy The How-To Guide for Saving the World, which Grabinski scripted.

Brad Silberlings Return To Lemony Snicket Inches Closer To Reality

Earlier this week, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” director Brad Silbering — who also directed next week’s “Land of the Lost” — mentioned that a return trip to author Daniel Handler’s universe has not been forgotten. His comments unfortunately didn’t elaborate any more than that, igniting all sorts of speculation among fans. Now, SCI [...]

Lemony Snicket Sequel to be Stop-Motion?

Director Brad Silberling (Land of the Lost) previously revealed that he is considering making a "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" sequel. He now tells Sci Fi Wire that maybe going down the live-action route is not the best idea.

Lemony Snicket Sequel Could Happen

During the "Land of the Lost" premiere, CineFools got the chance to speak to director Brad Silberling and asked him whether a sequel to "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" could still happen.