As the summer season is now in full gear it seems like every weekend there are a ton of high profile movies coming out in theaters. For the times when you’re not at the beach this weekend you might want to check one of those out, but with so many new films to choose from, how do you decide? Well let’s look at the prospects!

Magic Mike

First up is the stripper-biopic ‘Magic Mike’ starring a slew of Hollywood hunks. Everyone from Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and more will not just be featured in the film, but showing a lot of flesh. Judging by the red-band trailer and the hard R-rating for some graphic nudity it looks like audiences will be getting quite a lot to look at with this film. Now most people might just shrug this film off as a waste of time and just an excuse for gratuitous male nudity, but according to critics out there – this film is actually good! In fact, as of now it is the best reviewed film coming out this weekend (according to Rotten Tomatoes). Even famed critic Roger Ebert states, “Magic Mike” starts as fun and grows steadily darker; Soderbergh and cast tell a realistic, vivid story.” Looks like audiences will be getting more than just male flesh with this one!

Ted

Next up is the Seth MacFarlane comedy ‘Ted’ starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlane himself voicing the cute little teddy bear ‘Ted.’ Except this is not a “cute” film, it is a hard raunchy R-rated comedy. What else would you expect from the creator of ‘Family Guy’? When I first read the synopsis of this film: As the result of a childhood wish, John Bennett’s teddy bear, Ted, came to life and has been by John’s side ever since – a friendship that’s tested when Lori, John’s girlfriend of four years, wants more from their relationship…I thought to myself, you gotta be kidding me! But after checking out the red band trailer this looks like it could be the funniest movie of the year. Not far behind ‘Magic Mike’ in reviews, ‘Ted’ is receiving mostly positive reviews with Peter Travers from The Rolling Stones saying, “Seth MacFarlane’s debut as a feature director hits all the sweet spots that irritate prudes. Ted is hysterically, gut-bustingly funny.”

People Like Us

And lastly we have the family-friendly film of the weekend, ‘People Like Us’ starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, and Michelle Pfieffer. It tells the story of a salesman who while settling his recently deceased father’s estate, discovers he has a sister whom he never knew about, leading both siblings to re-examine their perceptions about family and life choices. Doesn’t exactly sound like my kind of movie, and it is also the lowest rated film of the weekend. Although, Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter says, “As overcranked as it is — the film is directed as if it were an action drama, with two or three times more cuts than necessary — People Like Us has a persuasive emotional pull at its heart that’s hard to deny.”

So there you have it Banters. And even though I would love to direct you readers to a specific film this weekend, this just isn’t the case because it looks like there are three very different and solid films coming to a theater near you. And keep in mind, despite ‘People Like Us’ being the worst reviewed of the bunch, all 3 of these films are receiving more positive reviews than negative so that’s promising. If I had to guess, I’d say ‘Magic Mike’ will make the most money this weekend, with ‘Ted’ and ‘People Like Us’ closely behind it. And men, if you find your girlfriends dragging you to the theaters to see ‘Magic Mike’ or ‘People Like Us’ this weekend, you can always sneak out when no one’s looking and check out ‘Ted’ in the next theater!

Let us know what movie you’re most looking forward to! Have a great weekend Banters.