AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME. Directed by Jay Roach. Written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Behave? Not on your lava lamp, baby. In “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” Dr. Evil returns to steal Austin Powers’ mojo, a setup that includes a never-ending barrage of raunchy jokes that constantly refer to the plumbing behind one’s mojo.

The good news here is that the film’s mojo works: Most of the jokes are funny, some even hilarious and witty, in spite of feeling a bit recycled and shopworn.

The film does drag in places, particularly in the first hour, and the plot is a convoluted mess, but Myers is always up to the challenge, adding new characters and wisely focusing this new story on the pinkie-sucking Dr. Evil.

Grade: B

ELECTION. Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta. Running time: 104 minutes. Rated R.

On the surface, Alexander Payne’s “Election” may appear to be just another high school film about high school students living high school lives, but director Payne wanted more — much more — and he got it.

So far, “Election” ranks as one of the year’s best films.

In it, greed and deceit, failure and sabotage, lust and hypocrisy come together in the wicked form of Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), a driven blond bombshell whose willingness to do anything, absolutely anything, to win a high school election sets the tone for a film that brilliantly mirrors society.

At once a satire and a tragedy, “Election” is always smart, never falls victim to cliche, and features Matthew Broderick in a winning role as Tracy’s nemesis schoolteacher. Don’t miss it.

Grade: A

Christopher Smith’s “The Week in Rewind” appears each Thursday in the scene. Tuesday on WLBZ’s “News Center 5:30 Today” and “News Center Tonight,” he appears in Cinema