Land of the Lost (2009)

The best actor in “Land of the Lost,” a remake of a cult 1970s TV show I never saw, is Matt Lauer. The pompous newsman spoofs himself as he knocks egos with Rick Marshall, a mentally vacant scientist played by Will Ferrell. Marshall advocates not just time travel, but alternate time lines -- mash-ups of present, past and future -- and, of course, he travels there, hence the title. These book-end scenes provoke a solid laugh, recalling Tom Cruise’s ill-fated visit with Lauer several years ago. As for the rest of this comedy … it’s lost in its own alternate time warp, ruled by screenwriters who still laugh at the mention of the word “breasts” and think groping them is even funnier. Also hilarious: Asking a woman if she is “wet.” In a children's film. Ferrell and second-banana Danny McBride (as a redneck adventurist) riff off each other as if they were co-hosting an unending “Saturday Night Live” skit from 30 years ago, with $100 million special effects and nowhere to go. D