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Years after their first dip in the hot tub time machine Lou, Nick, and Jacob (Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke) are put in the precarious position of needing the tub’s assistance once again. Blasted 10 years into the future, poor life choices and parallel universes have things crossed dramatically once again. Righting wrongs, saving the day, and becoming better people is the goal, time machine or not, is it already too late? Written again by Josh Heald and directed again by Steve Pink this delve in to adult/adolescent humor is just as raunchy and mindless as one would expect with the added zing factor of freestylings from several naturally funny men and women. But how does one quantify humor, such a touchy fickle subject? Hard to say, but, if your inner 13 year old is alive and well, your adult self is probably going to find a modicum of laugh out loud moments, albeit, sometimes the easy blue humor card is chosen, but can we fault the film makers? Nobody seems to be taking anything terribly seriously here anyway. Perhaps more enjoyable than you’d give it credit, a rental later or matinee for the deprived this weekend, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is rated R. Oh, by the way, there is No John Cusack in this gem, so there’s that.

Semi socially introverted Bianca (Mae Whitman) is an intelligent and introspective High School senior tasked with writing the lead article for the school newspaper regarding what Homecoming means to her. Problem is, Bianca doesn’t have a date for the dance and in the social hierarchy she’s more of a supporting member to her more “attractive” friends Casey and Jess (Bianca Santos, Skyler Samuels). Upon this realization, Bianca’s drive for acceptance and social change is driven to the next level. Oh to achieve High School glory, and what about dreamy Toby (Nick Eversman), will Bianca ever find love? Directed by Ari Sandel, this teen angst tale of woe doesn’t exactly break new ground but does build nicely on the fast talking whip smart dialogue we’ve seen in the totally unrelated Juno (2007); therefor raising the bar of this potential “after school special” and creates something with considerably more sass, heart, and charm. Of course the plot goes exactly where expected, but that’s almost okay because we’re excited to hear what Bianca might say next as her “no filter” verbiage spills forward in a torrent of emotion. Matinee or rental for the teen-ish or more audience, The DUFF is rated PG-13.

When a chance encounter brings the bookish Literature Major Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) into the world of a young, handsome, and tormented billionaire named Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), their respective universe’s are both in danger of colliding– a cataclysmic sexual awakening the result, oh the ties that bind. Based on the widely popular and controversial novel by E.L. James and Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the year’s most talked about film is already poised to be a monster hit at the box office regardless of critical review or not, but let’s not let that stand in the way of a discussion eh? With more lip biting and phallic pencil chewing (ooh I get it “symbolism”), let the record stand, what may come across as taboo and steamy to some actually reads as described in Smithsonian Magazine (Feb. 2015) as a “nursery book” in comparison to the writings of the Marquis de Sade some 200 years ago. So, sexual under and overtones being milked again for the sake of entertainment, okay, why not, just realize, this is soft-core porn at best and any 13 year old with a computer has already witnessed more graphic material. That aside, the acting, how’s that? A believable performance from Johnson actually does manage to breathe some life into the skin of Anastasia Steele; however, Dornan’s performance as Grey comes across wooden (pardon the pun), robotic, and frankly, boring. Meanwhile, you’d think that the billionaire who has apparently mastered Japanese Kinbaku (rope bondage) and its appropriate knots would be able to tie his own necktie squarely, after all, proper care of one’s neckwear ensures years of wear and provides for years of enjoyment, ho hum. So, despite the salacious nature and all the build up, a solid shoulder shrug seems to be the result. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, yeah, there are two more books, so yep you guessed it, looks like we’re in store for at least a sequel if not a trilogy– again, how original. Not a total train wreck, but headed in that direction, I’m thinking rental later. Fifty Shades of Grey is rated R (of course).