This Weekend, Watch This

A comparison for the new releases for February 20-22, 2015

By Curt David

February 22, 2015

The guy in green is more interested in the rock-paper-scissors championship.

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New movies are released into theaters every weekend. How do you decide which movie to watch? I’ll save you the hassle of researching every movie by comparing the new releases for each weekend in this column. Then, I’ll tell you which movie you should watch in the theaters.

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 DUFFHot Tub Time Machine 2McFarland, USAWINNER
(1 point per category)
Clearest TitleWhat’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 TrailerPROS: 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 ActorMae 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 CastKen 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 FilmDirector 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.”




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