The Hangover, Land of the Lost
The Hangover
I very muchly enjoyed this. I hadn't been too impressed with the trailer, but the massive amount of buzz it was receiving in the days leading up to its release upped its priority over Land of the Lost. And that buzz was mostly well deserved.
It wasn't a perfect comedy by any means. It took about half of the movie for me to be able to tolerate Zach Galifianakis's character, Alan. I think they tried too hard trying to write him as off the wall strange. Likewise, there were some story elements that were also a bit too forced, trying to be unpredictable and instead left with unfunny (Yeah weak adjective, but the only "un" I could think of). Also, a lot of good jokes were spoiled by the trailer. There were several moments where the theater would be roaring with laughter, but I was at a disadvantage by already knowing what the joke was gonna be.
That said, there were moments of sheer brilliance. And while I was able to figure out where certain plotlines were gonna end up, I wasn't able to solve the central mystery of "Where's Doug" until the characters figured it out. And yes, the whole I-cant-remember-what-happened-last-night comedy has been done before (Dude, Where's My Car? being the first example that comes to mind), but the details of what happened last night were fresh. Also, perfect end credit sequence for this film.
Loved Bradley Cooper, mostly just cause he's pretty. Also moderately impressed with Ed Helms. Granted, nerdy types tend to win automatic bonus points from me, but Stu was prolly my favorite member of the quartet.
Overall, good bet for a comedy movie. 'Specially for a buddy comedy. I think I woulda enjoyed it even more if I wasn't flying solo this time around.
Land of the Lost
A tidbit of a review I read for this film said that while Will Ferrell wasn't quite phoning it in, he was at the very least twittering it in. Gotta say I agree. This year for Christmas, Im going to ask Santa to bring Will Ferrell more roles like what he had in Stranger Than Fiction. That man is brilliant, but he just needs to challenge himself.
Granted, the movie wasn't bad...but it wasnt exactly good either. It was mostly unremarkable. I can't even think of much to say one way or the other about it. Oh okay, my favorite element of the flick was Jorma Taccone as Cha-ka. I kinda did fall in love with that character.
While we're talking about cast, Anna Friel was quite lovely in her role as Holly. Although something didnt quite seem right. I think she was a bit too sincere compared to the guys. Not sure if thats points against her or the boys. Im still a bit undecided in general how I feel about Danny McBride. I think I like him, but that could just be cause I recognize him now. Sometimes he picks good ones (see Tropic Thunder) and sometimes he picks bad ones (dont see Observe and Report). He was pretty much the same through this whole thing, which makes me think that maybe he should stick with the bit roles a while longer, before stepping up to major supporting character.
Ummmm, yeah unless you got some sorta free ticket, wait for the DVD.
I very muchly enjoyed this. I hadn't been too impressed with the trailer, but the massive amount of buzz it was receiving in the days leading up to its release upped its priority over Land of the Lost. And that buzz was mostly well deserved.
It wasn't a perfect comedy by any means. It took about half of the movie for me to be able to tolerate Zach Galifianakis's character, Alan. I think they tried too hard trying to write him as off the wall strange. Likewise, there were some story elements that were also a bit too forced, trying to be unpredictable and instead left with unfunny (Yeah weak adjective, but the only "un" I could think of). Also, a lot of good jokes were spoiled by the trailer. There were several moments where the theater would be roaring with laughter, but I was at a disadvantage by already knowing what the joke was gonna be.
That said, there were moments of sheer brilliance. And while I was able to figure out where certain plotlines were gonna end up, I wasn't able to solve the central mystery of "Where's Doug" until the characters figured it out. And yes, the whole I-cant-remember-what-happened-last-night comedy has been done before (Dude, Where's My Car? being the first example that comes to mind), but the details of what happened last night were fresh. Also, perfect end credit sequence for this film.
Loved Bradley Cooper, mostly just cause he's pretty. Also moderately impressed with Ed Helms. Granted, nerdy types tend to win automatic bonus points from me, but Stu was prolly my favorite member of the quartet.
Overall, good bet for a comedy movie. 'Specially for a buddy comedy. I think I woulda enjoyed it even more if I wasn't flying solo this time around.
Land of the Lost
A tidbit of a review I read for this film said that while Will Ferrell wasn't quite phoning it in, he was at the very least twittering it in. Gotta say I agree. This year for Christmas, Im going to ask Santa to bring Will Ferrell more roles like what he had in Stranger Than Fiction. That man is brilliant, but he just needs to challenge himself.
Granted, the movie wasn't bad...but it wasnt exactly good either. It was mostly unremarkable. I can't even think of much to say one way or the other about it. Oh okay, my favorite element of the flick was Jorma Taccone as Cha-ka. I kinda did fall in love with that character.
While we're talking about cast, Anna Friel was quite lovely in her role as Holly. Although something didnt quite seem right. I think she was a bit too sincere compared to the guys. Not sure if thats points against her or the boys. Im still a bit undecided in general how I feel about Danny McBride. I think I like him, but that could just be cause I recognize him now. Sometimes he picks good ones (see Tropic Thunder) and sometimes he picks bad ones (dont see Observe and Report). He was pretty much the same through this whole thing, which makes me think that maybe he should stick with the bit roles a while longer, before stepping up to major supporting character.
Ummmm, yeah unless you got some sorta free ticket, wait for the DVD.