Photo courtesy of UNIVERSAL PICTURES/TIPPETT STUDIO
John (Mark Wahlberg) hangs out with his best friend, Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane), in the live action/CG-animated comedy "Ted."
A number of new movies will hit theaters this week, including the following films opening in wide release:
Magic Mike Genre: Comedy and drama Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Mangianello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias Director: Steven Soderbergh Rated: R
Mike (Channing Tatum) is an entrepreneur.
A man of many talents and loads of charm, he spends his days pursuing the American dream from as many angles as he can handle: from roofing houses and detailing cars to designing furniture from his Tampa beach condo.
But at night ... he's just magic.
The hot headliner in an all-male revue, Magic Mike has been rocking the stage at Club Xquisite for years with his original style and over-the-top dance moves. The more the ladies love him, the more they spend, and the happier that makes club owner Dallas (Matthew McConaughey).
Seeing potential in a guy he calls the Kid (Alex Pettyfer), Mike takes the 19-year-old under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of dancing, partying, picking up women and making easy money. It's not long before the club's newest act has fans of his own, as the summer opens up to a world of fun, friendship and good times.
Meanwhile, Mike meets the Kid's captivating sister, Brooke (Cody Horn). She's definitely someone he'd like to know a lot better, and it looks like he has a chance ... until his lifestyle gets in the way.
People Like Us Genre: Comedy and drama Cast: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Michael Hall D'Addario, Philip Baker Hall, Mark Duplass, Michelle Pfeiffer Director: Alex Kurtzman Rated: PG-13
From DreamWorks Pictures comes "People Like Us," a drama/comedy about family, inspired by true events, starring Chris Pine as Sam, a 20-something, fast-talking salesman, whose latest deal collapses on the day he learns that his father has suddenly died.
Against his wishes, Sam is called home, where he must put his father's estate in order and reconnect with his estranged family. In the course of fulfilling his father's last wishes, Sam uncovers a startling secret that turns his entire world upside down: He has a 30-year-old sister Frankie whom he never knew about (Elizabeth Banks). As their relationship develops, Sam is forced to rethink everything he thought he knew about his family - and re-examine his own life choices in the process.
Ted Genre: Comedy Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel McHale, Seth MacFarlane, Patrick Warburton, Jessica Stroup and Laura Vandervoort Director: Seth MacFarlane Rated: R
"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of "Ted."
In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish ... and has refused to leave his side ever since.
Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection Genre: Comedy Cast: Tyler Perry, Eugene Levy, Doris Roberts, Tom Arnold, Denise Richards, Danielle Campbell, Devan Leos, Romeo, John Amos and Marla Gibbs Director: Tyler Perry Rated: PG-13
Tyler Perry returns as America's favorite brash, no-holds-barred grandma in Lionsgate's "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," an outrageous culture clash comedy that also stars Eugene Levy, Denise Richards and Doris Roberts.
For years, George Needleman (Levy), the gentle CFO of a Wall Street investment bank, has been living with his head in the clouds. His frustrated second wife, Kate (Richards), has reached her limit taking care of his senile mother, Barbara (Roberts). His teenage daughter, Cindy (Danielle Campbell), is spoiled beyond hope and his 7-year-old son, Howie (Devan Leos), wishes his father were around more. But George is finally forced to wake up when he learns that his firm, Lockwise Industries, has been operating a mob-backed Ponzi scheme - and that he's been set up as the fall guy.
Facing criminal charges and death threats from the mob, George and his entire family are put under witness protection in the safest place that Brian (Perry), a federal prosecutor from Atlanta, can think of ...
His Aunt Madea's house down South.
As a result, Madea and her live-in brother, Uncle Joe (Perry), find themselves managing a completely dysfunctional family from Connecticut. But as George tries to solve the mystery behind Lockwise's finances, Madea whips the Needlemans into shape using her hilarious brand of tough love. And together, they realize they just might have what it takes to unite George's family, outsmart the mob and change everyone's lives for the better.
The following will open in limited release. It may be several weeks before these films appear in local movie theaters.
Neil Young Journeys Genre: Documentary Cast: Neil Young Director: Jonathan Demme
In May of 2011, Neil Young drove a 1956 Crown Victoria from his idyllic hometown of Omemee, Ontario to downtown Toronto's iconic Massey Hall where he intimately performed the last two nights of his solo world tour.
Along the drive, Young recounted insightful and introspective stories from his youth to filmmaker Jonathan Demme.
Demme, a long-time fan and collaborator, captured these tales of Young's childhood and masterfully weaved them together with his mesmerizing music including songs from the 2010 album "Le Noise" and powerful renditions of classics including "Ohio," "Hey Hey, My My," "I Believe in You" and previously unreleased songs "Leia" and "You Never Call."
Through the tunes and the tales, Demme portrays a personal, retrospective look into the heart and soul of the artist.
In "Neil Young Journeys," Young's intense performances are presented in full, along with passages from the funny and sometimes wistful ride into town. Demme and Young previously collaborated on two other documentaries, "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," which chronicled Young performing in Nashville, the year after he survived a brain aneurysm and "Neil Young Trunk Show," which memorialized a Pennsylvania concert during Young's "Chrome Dreams II" tour.
Take This Waltz Genre: Drama Cast: Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman, Luke Kirby, Aaron Abrams, Jennifer Podemiski and Vanessa Coelho Director: Sarah Polley Rated: R
When Margot (Michelle Williams), 28, meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), their chemistry is intense and immediate.
But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction; she is happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a cookbook writer. When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, "Take this Waltz" leads us, laughing, through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.
Beasts of the Southern Wild Genre: Drama Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Director: Benh Zeitlin Rated: PG-13
In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a 6-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood.
Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.
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