Friday, April 13, 2012 at 3:50PM Amuse us. Add dialogue or a caption to this new still from Magic Mike.
another new (more strip-tastic) still after the jump...
Channing Tatum, Magic Mike, Matthew McConaughey, Say What? Monday, March 12, 2012 at 7:35PM 
Have you read this New York Times piece on the slow rise of Channing Tatum? It's basic thesis is that Hollywood's star-making system is failing. Pieces like this are always interesting reads as much for what they leave out as what they take in. The article ignores Ryan Gosling's ascent preferring to stick with the thesis that was in place before Gosling. The one that goes "Hollywood can't produce male superstars anymore because mid size dramas and comedies are no longer Hollywood's concerns and that's where stardom happens. Blockbuster franchise don't make stars, they only make franchise-specific stars." It's true in a lot of ways even if it's not the whole picture.
But it gets a lot right about Channing Tatum's particular case.
Relatability — I’m just like you, Middle America — does seem to be one of his strong points. In person Mr. Tatum is surprisingly humble and honest, two qualities that are almost nonexistent in Hollywood. He is self-aware, but also unguarded. “I know I’m not the best actor, but I’m in love with it, and I’m getting better with every movie,” he said.
It's a pretty thorough overview of his career and abilities with not one, not two but three of the most marketable leading man skills: He can sell a joke, he can hold a gun convincingly, and he can romance a girl. I appreciate the article's break down about what great physiques mean to actors and what they don't.
I always forget that Chan was in that Ricky Martin video "She Bangs"
Channing's Chastainy Schedule This Year
Jan 20th. Haywire (reviewed) the experimental actioner though Chan was fairly far down the cast list.
Feb 10th. The Vow a huge romantic hit with Chan front and center. It's actually the second most popular movie of 2012 thus far. Have you seen it?
Mar 16th. 21 Jump Street another lead part, comedy. That's three genres in three months.
June 29th. GI Joe: Retaliation he steps down from lead duties but he's still in it.
June 29th. Magic Mike the stripper drama inspired by his own life. This will be the biggest test of his bankability yet because it's not a pre-sold genre like action films or soggy romances.
Parting Shot...
I've yet to read an article on this star-making problem though that addresses that simple fact that star-making machinery was always faulty. It's just that we only remember the successes. For every Marilyn Monroe weren't there 100 ingenues that didn't work out even in the studio system?
Channing Tatum, Magic Mike, The Vow, music videos Monday, February 6, 2012 at 10:26AM You always win when you a) look this good and b) have this much of a sense of humor about yourself and c) are willing to shuck off your lame franchise* to work with Steven Soderbergh on your semi-biographical male stripper movie**.
P.S. I don't actually ever catch Saturday Night Live. Were there skits worth seeing this time?
P.P.S. * To be fair to G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, it does seem like it might have a sense of humor about its own ridiculousness, which the first film was sorely lacking.
P.P.P.S. ** 144 days until Magic Mike loses his pants for moviegoers everywhere.
Channing Tatum, GI Joe, Magic Mike, SNL Monday, January 30, 2012 at 10:00PM Cats on Film Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) as experience by Jonesy the ginger tom.
New York Observer Good piece on 'the death of camp' and the new Broadway musical TV series "Smash" (which I do mean to write about soon).
Socialite Life teaser for Season 5 of True Blood. Ugh. If it really is about the return of King Russell, I think my love for the show will die. Repetition is so dangerous for good television and the show FINALLY wrestled its way out of the endless Sookie/Bill/Eric loop.
Empire Online has their annual "Done in 60 Seconds" competition. One minute amateur films spoofing on famous movies. Watch some and vote! Film Experience reader Jack made #20 on The King's Speech. Congrats for making the semi-finals, Jack! I haven't had the chance to watch any of this yet but they're 60 seconds long. I can squeeze a few in.
Boy Culture Magic Mike's Matt Bomer and Joseph Mangianello were friends in college (who knew?) and give great advice for male cast bonding.
Serious Film top 10 overlooked performances of the year
Antagony & Ectasy doles out The Antagonists. I live for personal ballots. They're so much more interesting than consensus nominations. Yeah, yeah. I know I need to finish my awardage.
Vulture Best TV news ever? Shirley Maclaine joining the cast of Downton Abbey!
The WOW Report Channing Tatum signin' autographs and looking good
24 Frames Madonna's vote for Best Picture (yes, she's an AMPAS member) sounds like it's going to The Tree of Life. Who knew?
I think it’s a spiritual, deeply profound movie. My mouth was hanging open the entire time I was watching it"
Flavorwire Harvey Weinstein's own take on The Artist. You win no points for predicting that he loves it!
Focus on Women's Filmmakers has a Streep Oscar Chart that plays into all of my biggest pet peeves about awards season including the implict suggestion that it's wrong that she's the only thing ever recognized from her movies (um, what if the movies aren't good?) and including my #1 pet peeve, suggesting that she was the supporting actress in several movies. The modern awards campaign circus has completely destroyed collective understanding of narrative and now if you aren't the movies POV , you suddenly aren't a lead? Soon people will be --- NO, I CAN'T. MUST STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS TOPIC EVERY YEAR. [Breathe, Nathaniel. Breathe]
Guardian Awww, happy face. The original Eponine and Jean Valjean are joining the cast of Les Misérables... albeit not in their starring roles.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 11:11PM Anne Helen Petersen has 5 crotchety excellent questions about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Bad Ass Digest a terrific piece on Margaret & #TeamMargaret, the time between Christmas & New Years and the space between Mess & Masterpiece
Daily Mail Christina Hendricks returning to the 1960s for Bomb a political period piece from sporadic director Sally Potter. The film is about two teens who get involved in the "Ban the Bomb" movement. The film will star Elle Fanning and Alice Englert. Englert is actually the daughter of the great filmmaker Jane Campion though most sites are missing this info since people keep spelling her last name wrong.
Movie|Line interviews Dee Rees on her feature Pariah which is about to open at long last. Go see it!
Black Book interviews the incomparable Sandra Bernhard before her New Year's Eve shows.
Awards Daily Sasha looks back on box office versus Oscar and how drastically things have changed over the years from when Terms of Endearment could end the year at #2 just behind a Star Wars movie. We covered this topic in great detail a few years ago but it's always worth contemplating if crazy depressing. Basically what it boils down to is adults started watching pay cable and left the movie theaters and the industry got really good at making films exactly like television: i.e. your favorite series returns on ____ . Stay tuned!
Oh look! It's one of our first official stills from Soderbergh's stripper drama Magic Mike (2012) with all of the boys four of the boys accounted for: Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, and Mike's leading man Channing Tatum.
top ten bonanza!
Beiber fever caps the Top Grossing Documentaries of 2011 according to IndieWire -- It's interesting to note that the list contains only two of the movies from Oscar's 15-wide finalist list: Buck and Bill Cunningham New York | Our friend Katey Rich delivers her top ten for Cinema Blend and boy has she stayed loyal to Meek's Cutoff | Acid Cinema has a fun snarky preface and an individualistic top ten | Paste Magazine offers up a bizarre top 50 (Happythankyoumoreplease???? Really?) | Guy Lodge at In Contention doubles up for a top twenty with high marks for Weekend and Drive, of course, which he famously offered to have sex with at Cannes last summer | Now Toronto's list reminds us that release dates differ greatly from country to country.
