Will Ferrell steps in a giant dinosaur-sized turd while trying to make his first family comedy.  Just how big is the stink?  Let’s find out with this blog version of Movie Math!

#1

Ah, a comeback is sweet but revenge is even sweeter!  Todd Phillips scored his first #1 hit as The Hangover debuted with $45 million.  Judd Apatow’s got to be a little nervous now about his Funny People which hits theaters next month, perhaps even second guessing his decision to turn himself into James L. Brooks rather than play it safe with another boy-on-boy raunch-fest.  THIS raunch-fest reminded many of 2005’s Wedding Crashers, but The Hangover turns out to be more profitable than the party as Wedding Crashers debuted with “just” $34 million. That’s quite a ride for Bradley Cooper who played a supporting role in Wedding Crashers but, only four years later, has graduated to leading man.  Plus look for a slew of Zach Galifianakis movies to be coming your way as he challenges Seth Rogen for the title of cuddliest raunchy comedian.  And since Wedding Crashers went on to make $209 million overall at the box office, look for The Hangover to post similar numbers.  I bet Captain Kirk and company are gonna be pretty surprised to look over their shoulder and see this trio on their heels…

#2

And Pixar’s Up continues to soar as it comes in at #2, falling just 35%.  With $137 million in just two weeks, Pixar can rest easy that their box office batting average will be upheld.  In fact, it looks like it’ll be clear sailing all the way to Oscar season…

#3

Conspicuously occupying the #3 spot is Will Ferrell, with $19 million all he has to show for his opening weekend.  In fact Ferrell seems to be developing a disturbing pattern: hit then flop.  While Step Brothers ($30 million opening), Blades of Glory ($33 million opening) and Talladega Nights ($47 million opening) were comedy hits, Semi-Pro ($15 million opening) and Stranger Than Fiction ($13 million opening) were undoubtedly flops.  Savvy directors working with Ferrell should take note of this pattern when scheduling their shooting dates.  But Ferrell doesn’t have to be too worried because this pattern also proves without a doubt that his fans always come back.  In fact his next film is an action comedy with Mark Wahlberg and there’s no way I’m going to miss that team-up, no matter how much Land of the Lost sucked.  But not everyone thought Land of The Lost sucked.  I asked you to rate the movie on a 1 to 10, and you were very divided resulting in a final score of 7.  That’s the same score audiences gave the movie on Friday’s episode of Beyond The Trailer. 

Now for the One Sentence Review Challenge results:

5th Place - "thejewmatt" - It's like Jurassic Park meets Talladega Nights without a racecar, but with Matt Lauer that includes an awesome rendition of the old Land of The Lost theme.

4th Place - "TomChatalbash" - Land of the Lost, which is based on the very cheesy television series, provides a few chuckles from Ferrell and McBride here and there, but ultimately fails to be entertaining family adventure due to the poorly conceived script, vulgar humor, over the top acting, and eye rolling special effects.

3rd Place - "SonOfADeathBed" - The Will Ferrell train makes another summer stop and I want to get off!

2nd Place - "pacerocks1" - This dramatically, thematically and artistically bankrupt comic fantasy cost something in the neighborhood of $100 million to make and isn't worth the celluloid it's printed on.

1st Place and winner of the two free AMC movie tickets - "Checker222" - Land of the Lost is the kind of movie that proves Hollywood has run out of ideas.

Elsewhere in the BoxOffice

My Life In Ruins might as well be Nia Vardalos’s career in ruins as it debuted at #9 with just $3 million.  Coupled with the poor performance of Connie and Carla, which also opened with $3 million and went on to make just $11 million worldwide, it becomes pretty clear that audiences simply aren’t interested in this Greek Jane Doe.  In the specialty market, Away We Go opened in four theaters and sported an impressive per screen average of $32,000 – that means plenty of sold out shows over the weekend.  But as Away We Go expands over the next few weeks, we’ll find out if audiences are interested in seeing two television actors even if they are walking to the beat of Sam Mendes’ art house drum.

Movie Reviews

Being that I am away on vacation – so to speak – I saw two movies this weekend!

The Hangover

Was this the FUNNIEST movie I’ve ever seen?  No.  In fact, I warn everyone not to let the hype overwhelm them because, quite frankly, it would be hard for any movie to live up to the levels of hype this movie is getting.  That said, I certainly enjoyed it and it made me miss Las Vegas.  Actually, this movie is a great ad for Vegas and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sin City saw an increase in visitors thanks to this movie – which they desperately need by the way as the bad economy is killing the convention business.  But good news!  Last I checked Vegas hotel rates are rock bottom so you can have your own hangover for a lot less than the $4,000+ they shelled out in the movie.  All the actors here did a nice job and nobody stole the show, although Zach Galifianakis came close.  Justin Bartha also did a nice job with a thankless role.  So overall I think you should definitely see The Hangover, but Star Trek is still my favorite movie of the summer.

Away We Go

A friend of mine really wanted to check it out so, considering Land of the Lost only got a 7 on Beyond The Trailer, I happily agreed.  This is a very zen movie – a solid character study of a couple trying to find their way, seeing all the missteps and/or misfortune that have befallen other couples.  I was impressed that John Krasinski was able to make me NOT see Jim from The Office, but maybe that was the result of his beard and glasses instead of his acting.  However, if he plays his cards right I could see him being the next Tom Hanks.  Maya Rudolph also did a nice job, but her role was very subtle and made little use of her comedic talents.  Maggie Gyllenhaal also had a fun cameo as a train wreck of a hippie mom, and it was great to see the film deal with her frankly rather than with the reverence usually reserved for the so-called “enlightened”.  Therefore I say check out Away We Go, but if you waited for it to come out on DVD it wouldn’t be a crime.

And finally, thanks for reading Movie Math this week!  I'll be back with a brand new episode next Sunday, and I'll see you first on Friday as Beyond The Trailer covers The Taking Of Pelham 123, Imagine That, and Moon!  I'm Grace Randolph and we just did some Movie Math! :)