Early summer comedies!

Land Of The Lost (2009): Starring Will Ferell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone, Matt Lauer
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" For shame, Will Ferell... Five years ago, when Hollywood came a'knocking at your door with a boatload of cash and the script for "Bewitched", how could you be expected to know what a gigantic turd you were about to create? Granted, the Hollywood trend of turning old T.V. shows into movies is 99.9% FAIL, but maybe, still riding high on Anchorman success, you thought you could turn your turds into Hollywood gold. Well Will, the movie-going public is a fickle mistress, and their shunning of your film perhaps left you a little hurt, but still wiser. So why then, did you make Land of the Lost? It's the same boatload of cash from the same Hollywood handing you another "movie based on a TV show" turd of a script in different wrapping. It's the same kind of movie Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler have been slowly destroying their careers with for the last decade. And when they brought in Danny McBride to do his "Larry the Cable Guy" knock-off character, did you think "Oh good, this'll help the movie appeal to the blue collar comedy crowd"? As you were shooting the scenes, did it slowly dawn on you that there was just one bad idea after another taking place, or did you just, all of a sudden get struck by this observation? But seriously Will, Danny McBride? He was the death of every frame of film he appeared in. And between the over-sexed Chaka/thing and getting pooped out by a dinosaur, there is a movie that one can, at best, tolerate. Please, the next time a script like this comes to your door, think of your fans first, and forward it to Adam Sandler or Ben Stiller, because Land of the Lost would've been the exact same movie with either of those actors in your role. And that's not something you want your starring vehicle/summer blockbuster to be able to boast.
** out of *****

The Hangover (2009): starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong
A group of friends have a wild bachelor party in Vegas, only to wake up the next day with the groom missing and no recollection of the previous night's events. So goes the plot of The Hangover (and many other comedies for that matter). However, what The Hangover lacks in originality, it makes up for with it's willingness to go the extra mile over the line of good taste. Zach Galifiankis' deadpanned character in particular, stands out as some sort of sub-human, mentally unbalanced pedophile (but in a loveable way?), upping the "Bluto from Animal House" ante. Bradley Cooper continues his string of roles in which he plays a douchebag, and Ed Helms essentially brings his character from the Office over to this movie. The Hangover, while not a college movie, is filled with typical fratboy humor that should go over well with the Harold and Kumar crowd, even dropping in a random celebrity appearance (only here it's Mike Tyson rather than Neil Patrick Harris). The Hangover is a funny movie to be sure, but strangely, just a few days after seeing it, I'm having trouble recalling any of the jokes.
*** out of *****