*** Official LAND OF THE LOST Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Tyler Gagnon]

Count me as one of the people that HATE! (Maybe a little harsh, buuuuut) Wil ferrel, I did not ever once think he was funny on SNL. And there is not a single movie i will see as long as he is in it. But then agian i did not think Chris farrley was funny. Just watched animal house to the other day could not understand john belushi's claim to fame either.

 

[Diallo B]

you can not be serious.

 

[Corey3rd]

Universal is claiming $19.5 for the weekend for Land of the Lost. Speed Racer made $18.5. By the time the numbers get to actuals, it might be a draw between these two films.

Guess this means we won't be seeing Ben Stiller's Lidsville next summer.

 

[Will_B]

The guy who played Chaka was really good, but I confess that the thought occurred that Chaka would have been really good if played by Ben Stiller, too.

Probably would have been rough on Stiller's back though, with all that crouching, so the choice of the younger actor probably made more sense.

As for Will Ferrel, I thought he was absolutely horrible in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, but he was solid in Stranger Than Fiction and Old School, and of course, that movie about race cars. So, I can understand why some people hate him, but, sometimes he's perfect for a role and sometimes he isn't. I think in Land of the Lost, he isn't suited to the role.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Maybe I didn't understand it, but I completely thought this was marketed as a children's movie?

 

[RobertR]

That's not the impression I got. It looked like a Farrell gross-out comedy.

 

[Corey3rd]

and they might have lured people into the theater thinking it was family fun like the Brady Bunch movie - except Will kept showing the clip where he covers himself in urine. That's when parents realize that it's not a good Saturday matinee choice.

 

[TravisR]

Looking at the ads, I thought that it was a movie made only for elementary school age kids (and their parents would just have to suffer through it). The only thing that made me realize that it wasn't a little kids' movie was that it's rated PG-13.

 

[Tino]

Sorry Edwin, but I'm not trying to get a rise out of anyone. As much as I hated Land Of The Lost, it at least made me chuckle a few times. Speed Racer on the other hand was a complete nightmarish mess that gave me a headache..

And yes , Im serious .

 

[Nathan Eddy]

. I felt sorry for her kids. I wonder what else she won't allow them to see because it hints that humans are sexual beings.)

 

[Nathan Eddy]

[I moved this post from the review thread, since it's turning into a discussion between myself and Tony J Case. See that thread for his post. Here's my response.]

Tony, what about Will Ferrell + LOTL made you expect all that? There wasn't a single trailer that failed to make clear this was a Will Ferrell comedy. I can understand if you don't like Will. But expecting a faithful remake? I don't see how anyone could have expected that. The movie was EXACTLY what I was expecting. Perhaps you missed all the marketing for this movie, and went in on the name alone. But Will's name should have been a clue that this wasn't a faithful (or even respectful) remake of the original. If you can provide some evidence that the marketing for this movie tricked you into thinking it would be intelligent or respectful to the original, then you might have a case to be so annoyed and disappointed. But they were pretty up front about it. The clips Will brought to the talk shows made this even more clear.

I thought the urine dump was a funny parody of the Jurassic Park III dinosaur escape strategy, and thus it was poking fun of the unrealistic idea that a small boy could survive alone on a dinosaur island for weeks. Considering this second level of humor, I thought it was anything but a stupid gag. Kind of like Tropic Thunder's opening sequence that made fun of Eddie Murphey's Nutty Professor. And they continued this gag, making fun of other stupid T-Rex escapes, like the first Jurassic Park theory that they can't detect motion, so they can't see you if you stand still.

I like a the stylistic choice of letting a gag continue past the point where you're "supposed" to laugh. It's as if the movie were self-consciously making fun of its own stupidity, which (again) is a second level of humor over and above the pee. It's a joke about a joke, not about a bodily function. But if pee was all you saw in it, well, I can understand thinking that's not funny.

Well, damn, I guess I don't fall into a marketing "demographic." I actually prefer movies where you can't immediately tell it's a product of a marketing strategy targeting a specfic group of people, as if we're all reducable to marketing categories. "Will Ferrell meets Land of the Lost" is one of the best Hollywood ideas I've heard in a long time, precisely because you think, "WTF? What are they thinking? That will never work!" I enjoyed the intentional juxtaposition of two things that obviously do not go together. I think the fact that it upsets people like you is exactly what is so funny about the whole thing. The original series was just begging to be made fun of; yes, I watched it as a child, too. But I can't believe anyone would ever call themselves a *fan.* I think that's funny, too, that there are actually people out there who are big enough fans of the original cheesy show who took this remake seriously enough to be annoyed that someone dared make fun of something they liked as a child. I like that subversive quality to the movie.

 

[Matthew_V]

[wrong thread. sorry]

 

[RaveenaJust]

A human being is part of the whole called by us the Universe

 

[Radioman970]

Just wanted to say they changed their mind. This is coming within a few weeks to my theater. Woo hoo!

I guess they got enough complaints. Me and a co-worker both complained. My co-worker had the smarts to complain on behalf of listeners to give it some muscle. However, he didn't get a free pass like I did.

A note: the remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth didn't come here at all to my knowledge. So I guess somebody doesn't like adventure stuff except for the can't miss, like King Kong.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

As soon as I heard Will Ferrell was involved all interest in seeing this was lost. No marketing promos were needed.

To bad too. The original concept is interesting enough to warrant a straight on movie adaptation. Something that is highly unlikely to happen now.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I liked parts of this movie but the dumbed down humor is what killed it for me. Will Ferrel should not have been in this movie.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by Nathan Eddy

I can't believe anyone would ever call themselves a *fan.*

I could say the same thing about people who like Will Ferrell. It seems that liking this movie boils down to just that--liking Ferrell and his act.