Daily Loaf

You idiots,

You waited through the first three acts: host Chris Matson, the disaster that was Robin Savage, and the spastic comedy of Jackie Kashian, and then you left?

Did you not know what you were paying $14 to see? Do you have the luxury of throwing away that kind of money, like so much gaff tape, in the middle of a crippling recession? Shame on you.

And more importantly, you walked out on Maria Bamford? Have you no taste? Have you no appreciation for CatDog, Word Girl, and Comedy Central’s “Top Ten Comics to Watch”?

She won “Best of the Web” on Salon.com. She was on “Comedy Central Presents,” twice and, like, four different late night shows, multiple times! She was one quarter of “Comedians of Comedy.” What the hell is wrong with you?

Not to mention, she’s fucking funny.

But you wouldn’t know that, because Read the rest of this entry »

For more news and reviews of the summer’s biggest movies, go to the CL Movies & Television site.

In what is shaping up to be the first big upset at the summer movie box office, the R-rated comedy The Hangover is currently in first place for the weekend, besting Disney’s strong, kid-friendly Up and the Will Ferrell comedy Land of the Lost. This according to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood:

Some of the fun of summer box office reporting is that, every now and then, a sleeper comes out of nowhere and captures the No. 1 film crown during a weekend. “I guess there’s no reason to do this if sometimes crazy things don’t happen,” marveled one rival studio exec last night. Because early domestic box office numbers from Friday show that Warner Bros’ well reviewed Bachelor Party-gone-wrong comedy The Hangover opened for at least $16.5M from 3,269 theaters for probably close to a $50M weekend. That’s without stars, too. Instead, credit a hot R-rated high concept (directed by Old School helmer Todd Phillips) and marketing plan.

Moe surprising is that Land of the Lost looks to be a bomb, on pace for $20 million against a reported cost of $100 million. This puts added pressure on Ferrell’s August 14 release, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. If that one tanks too, there will be grumbling that the comedian has lost his appeal.

For more on Land of the Lost, check out our Reel Projections Podcast or my Land of the Lost review.

[Ed. note: Each week I'll be breaking down the big summer blockbuster movie releases. If you're curious about what's coming out in future weeks, be sure to check out the Summer Movie Preview. For more info on this week's releases, please check out our full length reviews of Land of the Lost, The Hangover and Every Little Step. And for all things film, please visit our movie site.]

FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH
Box office Gold: Land of the Lost
Worth seeing? Only if you’re a big Will Ferrell fan, or if you fondly remember catching episodes of the early ’70s TV version of Land of the Lost produced by puppet-masters Sid and Marty Krofft. The show was ambitious in scope but low in budget, while the big-screen edition sports star power (Ferrell, up-and-comer Danny McBride), an experienced director (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Brad Silberling) and mountains of pricy CGI. Despite the glossy exterior, the most endearing elements of the TV show — rampaging dinosaurs, monkey people, the alien-looking Sleestaks, even the white-water rafting intro — have made it into the movie. With much of the draw of the 1970s TV show wrapped up in its no-budget production values, it’ll be interesting to see if this high-tech reboot manages to retain the charm of the original.
Counter-programming: If Land of the Lost is a little too goofy or kid-targeted for your sensibilities, there’s also Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss and Rachel Dratch in the set-in-Greece romantic comedy My Life in Ruins. If that’s not bangin’ your baklava, perhaps you’ll like The Hangover, the latest from Road Trip director Todd Philips about three guys retracing their steps after a Vegas bachelor party gone wrong ends with the groom M.I.A. And there’s always Every Little Step at the Tampa Theatre. Step is like crack for theater geeks, but it’s also a damn fine movie for anyone who’s ever dreamed of something better for themselves.

Previews after the break.

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