This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison for the new releases for February 20-22, 2015
By Curt David
February 22, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
For the weekend of February 20th, the new movies in wide release are The DUFF, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and McFarland, USA (and the movie Still Alice expands as well).
| The DUFF | Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | McFarland, USA | WINNER (1 point per category) | |
| Clearest Title | What’s a DUFF? | A sequel. | Is this an address? | Hot Tub Time Machine 2 scores the point for most recognizable title. |
| Best Genre and Rating | Comedy
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual material throughout, some language and teen partying | Sci-fi Comedy
Rated R for crude sexual content and language throughout, graphic nudity, drug use and some violence | Sport Drama
Rated PG for thematic material, some violence and language | Three different ratings, music to my ears. 1/3 point each. |
| Best Plot (in haiku form) | Girl’s in social caste Designated Ugly Friend Finds inner beauty | Time travel again To become rich and famous Hot tubs and humor | A small farming town High school coach starts a track team Youth overcome odds | Three plots I’ve seen before, 1/3 point each. |
| Best Trailer | PROS: Seems like it could have a good message about inner acceptance
CONS: Also seems like a bunch of 30 year olds are playing high school characters | PROS: Some clever and funny moments in the trailer
CONS: If you didn’t like the first film, you probably won’t like this film | PROS: Seems like a sweet inspirational movie
CONS: None if you have a heart | Three trailers that were neither bad or magnificent, another 1/3 point each. |
| Coolest Lead Actor | Mae Whitman from Parenthood (and she was the President’s daughter in Independence Day) | Rob Corddry from Children’s Hospital and Community. | Kevin Costner from Dances with Wolves and Robin Hood. | Kevin Costner wins this point. |
| Best Cast | Ken Jeong (The Hangover) and Allison Janney (The Help) | Craig Robinson (The Office), Clark Duke (Kick-Ass 2), Adam Scott (Parks and Rec), and Chevy Chase (Community) | Maria Bello (A History of Violence) | Hot Tub Time Machine 2 wins this point. |
| Best Street Cred For the Production | Director Ari Sandel also directed an Oscar-winning Best Short Film | Director Steve Pink also directed Accepted and Hot Tub Time Machine. | Director Niki Caro also wrote and directed Whale Rider. | Niki Caro so wins this point. |
So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and McFarland, USA each score 3 points and The DUFF scores 2 points.
You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if don’t want to watch any of these movies, feel free to rent Whale Rider instead. However, if you are still on the fence, please read the following conclusions from the scientific data gathered in this column.
Conclusion 1: On paper, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and McFarland, USA are the best movies to watch this weekend.
Conclusion 2: Each week I give a gold star to the movie with the best tagline, which also serves as a tiebreaker. Hot Tub 2 wins the gold star and the column with the clever tagline “The laws of space and time are about to be violated,” which beat McFarland’s “Champions can come from anywhere,” and The DUFF’s “Every duff has their day.”
Conclusion 3: Speaking of Whale Rider, the writing sample I submitted to BOP to let me write for this fine website was my review of Whale Rider. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, let me share a single sentence from my review, “This movie was a perfect blend of emotional scenes, feel-good moments, and a suspenseful ending.”