Pleasing A Tough Critic

Tuesday June 9th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL

Sometimes life can be surprising in a good way. I love when that happens. Today I had no plans to see a movie but I ended up seeing ‘Land Of The Lost’ with Will Ferrell. I was in the Gurnee Mills mall getting my broken phone situation taken care of and I decided to take a lap as long as I was there. When I walked past the theatre that movie jumped out.

I remember the TV show when I was a kid and I didn’t really love it but it was a unique premise and they pulled it off long enough to keep it on the air a few years. Sid and Marty Krofft had several shows in the ‘70s that are lodged in the brains of my whole generation.

There’s ‘Sigmund and the Sea Monster’ and ‘H.R. Pufnstuf’ and ‘Banana Splits’ and a talking car show named ‘Wonderbug’ that my cousins used to watch religiously and told me every episode as a kid so I watched it myself just to get them to stop. But I remember it and I’m sure a lot of other people my age do too. I also remember ‘Land Of The Lost.’

The bad guys were known as ‘Sleestaks’ and were pretty intense for kids. I used to have nightmares about those damn things even though they were comical as I got older. It was a guy in a big green lizard suit and huge bug eyes but as a kid they were quite disturbing.

I had heard they were making a movie and I couldn’t picture how they’d pull that off. It wasn’t all that great of a show in the first place and I’ve never been much of a fan of Will Ferrell’s movies but for some reason something inside me told me to go see it. So I did.

There were about six people in the theatre when I walked in and at first it was a red flag but then I realized it was a Tuesday afternoon and I thought of how lucky I was to be able to go see a movie on a Tuesday afternoon if I wanted. My grandfather used to tell me that was what true wealth was - being able to do anything you want at any time. So, I’m rich!

It’s a good thing I am because I needed most of my wealth to mortgage some popcorn. I passed on the soda because I’m trying to at least cut back a little but I also wanted to have enough for rent next month. Four bucks? Now I’m starting to sound like my grandfather.

The movie started and I was totally blown away from start to finish. I loved it. It wasn’t at all like the TV show and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They put all the ingredients in place that movies usually have and it was formulaic in many ways but I still enjoyed it.

Will Ferrell’s character is pretty much the same one he plays in every movie but he had some really funny lines and I thought all the characters fit well together. The effects were spectacular too in my opinion, including the Sleestaks. This whole project was well done.

There were several hilarious scenes and I thought a lot more hits than misses. It was not at all what I expected but I went with it and it made me laugh out loud, even the poop and pee juvenile stuff. I’m not above that if it’s done well and that’s how they did it. If I put a film together that’s probably how I’d do it. I’m a tough critic but I really liked this movie.