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Posts Tagged ‘Channing Tatum’
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
Al Pacino will be replacing Robert De Niro in the crime drama SON OF NO ONE. He’ll be starring alongside everybody’s favorite actor of the moment, Channing Tatum. The film is about a young cop (Tatum) that is assigned to work the neighborhood he grew up in, which leads to an unraveling of his past. Channing Tatum will also be re-teaming with his FIGHTING director, Dito Montiel.
I give Tatum a hard time, but even I have to admit that the guy is pretty charismatic and he has a great screen presence. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro will always be linked in movie history, but for a crime drama like this, I think I would have preferred De Niro. I’m afraid Pacino is going to run around screen yelling all the time like he did in THE RECRUIT.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Tags: Al Pacino, Channing Tatum, Dito Montiel
Posted in News |
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Nicholas Sparks’ novels adapted for the screen make for good romantic fare with no shortage of tear-jerking situations, the jerkiest of which being 2004’s THE NOTEBOOK. His latest, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, is DEAR JOHN with Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried playing the young lovers attempting to overcome the obstacles of the plot. Obstacles in relationships span from situation’s as diverse as the Bard’s “Romeo and Juliet” to Billy Joe Royal’s 1965 song “Down in the Boondocks,” but one thing DEAR JOHN does well that has typically been the death nail for other films is incorporate a post-9/11 military aspect to the story. This is overcome due to our investment in the early stages of the relationship of Seyfried and Tatum. They are likable leads and well acted characters, but years pass in the movie with no explanation and its easy to get lost in the ambiguous timeline. By the time they meet again later in the film, we are confused and less interested due to that confusion. Also, the premise of the film in the title – writing letters – is an antiquated concept in the age of e-mail and IM and what not, even in times of war. Finally, the ending is quickly thrown together and lacks the emotional punch we’d expect from this consummate tear-jerker.
Channing Tatum plays John Tyree, an Army Special Forces sergeant on leave back home in Charleston, surfing to show off his Army body. He meets Seyfried’s Savannah Curtis as she is on a break from college and in their 2 weeks together they develop a sweet relationship that feels real. The story hints at John’s past as a troublemaker but it only manifests in one altercation at a beach party after a fight with Savannah and we never see it again. There are sweet elements involving Savannah’s friends Tim (Henry Thomas) and his autistic son, and a great performance by Richard Jenkins as John’s father. However, as they part and begin their pen pal relationship we become less interested as we simply get a series of montages and voiceovers. The conflict occurs within John after 9/11 when he is torn between getting out of the service to be with Savannah or re-enlisting to fight the war and support his Army unit. Later, there is a nice element of surprise when we find out Savannah has pursued another relationship and in finding out with whom, but then there’s a quickly thrown together story of an illness and a death which takes us away from the romance only to throw it back together again hastily. The ending got to some of the women in the theater, but not all of them, and dry eyes at the end of a Sparks’ movie is not a good sign.
Tatum does well here as the gentle warrior who wins the girl with more than just his physique. He has emotional scenes dealing with his possible re-enlistment after September 11th and a medical condition of his father’s, and it doesn’t feel forced or contrived. When he gets his real “Dear John” letter about Savannah being engaged to someone else, he doesn’t oversell his pain, but makes the smart decision to play it down. As Savannah, Amanda Seyfried is adorable and charming, especially in the sweetness displayed toward Tim’s autistic child and John’s father. I’ve always liked Seyfried and appreciate the diversity of her larger roles as of late (MAMMA MIA!, JENNIFER’S BODY, to this). Richard Jenkins plays the role of John’s father incredibly well, with reserve for most of the film but with a heartbreaking scene of panic befitting an actor of his caliber. Other supporting players play their parts well, but their side stories lead to drastic changes in the plot, but aren’t fully fleshed out.
The problem is not the performances, but rather the second half of the film, so that even when John and Savannah meet up again towards the end, we don’t care as much as we should. As I walked out, I heard some women saying the ending was changed from the ending in the book. Not having read it, I cannot say, but maybe sticking with the original ending would have been a better route to take.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, Lasse Hallstrom, richard jenkins
Posted in Reviews |
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
AVATAR officially passed TITANIC on Tuesday and most analysts predicted it would easily make it eight weekends in a row, but what they couldn’t predict is the appeal of a shirtless Channing Tatum. That, and people love their Nicholas Sparks novels/movies. DEAR JOHN (watch the trailer here) took the top spot at the box office with over $32 million, which was good enough to beat AVATAR’s $23 million. I think when you take into consideration the release date and the continued draw of AVATAR, you have to be pretty impressed by DEAR JOHN’s numbers. But so far, AVATAR has managed over $630 million, putting it $30 million past TITANIC and counting. The other movie opening this weekend was FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, starring a goatee-touting John Travolta. It didn’t fare as well and only managed $8 million. I was halfway expecting THE BLIND SIDE to jump back into the top ten after getting an Oscar nomination, but maybe its time has passed.
Next week sees the release of THE WOLFMAN and VALENTINE’S DAY and I’m guessing your view on love will dictate which movie you go see. It would almost be a travesty if a movie called “Valentine’s Day” couldn’t capture the box office on Valentine’s Day weekend. Of course, if you’ve seen the VALENTINE’S DAY trailer, maybe that won’t be such a surprise.
1 Dear John $32,400,000
2 Avatar $23,600,000
3 From Paris with Love $8,120,000
4 Edge of Darkness $7,005,000
5 Tooth Fairy $6,500,000
6 When in Rome $5,504,000
7 The Book of Eli $4,835,000
8 Crazy Heart $3,650,000
9 Legion (2010) $3,400,000
10 Sherlock Holmes $2,630,000
Source: Box Office Mojo
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, james cameron
Posted in News |
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
I’m glad I didn’t make it public, but I really thought Mel Gibson’s EDGE OF DARKNESS was going to dethrone AVATAR. As it turns out, it wasn’t even close. In fact, AVATAR almost doubled Darkness, bringing in another$30 million compared to the $17 million from Darkness. All total, this brings AVATAR’s domestic total to $594 million, about $6 million from TITANIC’s all time record. So that means by Tuesday or Wednesday, AVATAR will be the highest grossing movie of all time. Crazy. The horrible looking WHEN IN ROME was the other movie opening up this past weekend and it managed $12 million, making it clear that America wants a romantic comedy, no matter how bad it may be.
Will AVATAR be able to make it 8 in a row? Well, DEAR JOHN is the only movie opening next week and nothing against Channing Tatum, but…yes. However, I will say that VALENTINE’S DAY, which opens up on February 12th, might have a chance. It has a star-studded cast and a timely opening which will work in its favor.
1 Avatar $30,000,000
2 Edge of Darkness $17,120,000
3 When in Rome $12,065,000
4 The Tooth Fairy $10,000,000
5 The Book of Eli $8,770,000
6 Legion (2010) $6,800,000
7 The Lovely Bones $4,735,000
8 Sherlock Holmes $4,510,000
9 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel $4,000,000
10 It’s Complicated $3,720,000
Source: Box Office Mojo
Tags: Channing Tatum, james cameron, mel gibson
Posted in News |
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
Looks like Dennis Quaid had to drop out of the star-studded fighting movie KNOCKOUT and will be replaced by Bill Paxton. The film is about a soldier (Gina Carano) that is double crossed and running for her life while encountering various situations in which she has to kick some bad guy tail. Bill Paxton will be playing her father, but will most likely be standing in the background with a stupid expression on his face and complaining about something. Just kidding. I don’t hate Paxton, but I do think he makes every movie he’s in a little worse.
The cast is incredible and includes Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender and Mathieu Kassovitz.
Source: Empire Online
Tags: bill paxton, Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, michael douglas
Posted in News |
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Posted b y: Brad Sturdivant
Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland are starring in Kevin Macdonald’s upcoming THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH, coming to theaters next fall. The film is set in 140 A.D. and follows the adventures of Marcus Acquila (Channing Tatum) as he sets out to Rome to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion and to restore his father’s reputation.
I’m actually a pretty big fan of Channing Tatum and I’ve enjoyed him in everything he’s been in. This film, on the surface, looks to be a good time with an interesting plot.
Source: Yahoo Movies
Tags: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Kevin Macdonald
Posted in News |
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
In 1990, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in a film called LIONHEART. In it, he played a man hard up for money who befriends a street hustler that gets him into some underground fights. So before we even get into FIGHTING, know that we’ve seen this exact story before. The only difference this time is that the story is set in New York City and there is less kicking this time around. That’s not to say FIGHTING isn’t an improvement, because it is.
Channing Tatum is Shawn McArthur, a small town boy trying to make it in NYC. After witnessing Shawn in a random street fight, Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard) gets Shawn an underground fight to make some money. The two of them ride Shawn’s success, where it eventually leads Shawn to an epic showdown with reigning champ Evan Hailey (Brian J. White).
When talking about the plot of the film, this is really a tale of two halves. In the first half of the movie, it’s a simple boy-in-the-big-city story of an Alabama kid that gets caught up in underground fighting to make some money. But halfway through, the plot gets away from itself and it turns into a series of strange coincidences that are tough for the audience to swallow. It’s almost as if director and co-writer Dito Montiel went out of his way to complicate things and create some head scratching moments.
One issue is that it just so happens that the “bad guy” in the film has a personal relationship with Shawn dating back to their days in Alabama. The script has it so the audience has to buy that Shawn and Evan meeting like this is pure coincidence. A simple fix to this problem would have been to have Shawn purposely go to NYC to become a fighter and face Evan. But as it was, their back story was a distraction that could have been used as a motivator for Shawn. I also felt a little confused as to why Shawn was even in NYC. He had no plan or purpose and until he met Harvey, he had no reason at all to be there. Again, this could have been explained if he had intended to be a fighter.
Even though the plot had some holes and the love interest was completely unnecessary, Channing Tatum was charming enough as Shawn to make the film worthwhile. Tatum has a lot of work to do as far as his acting range, but less talented actors than him have made it without range, so he shouldn’t worry. Montiel, on the other hand, could use some help with his shot selection and editing. He seemed fascinated with the close-up and I had a claustrophobic feeling throughout. It would have also been nice to see some of the fights transpire naturally rather than bounce from close-up to close-up.
The film is called FIGHTING and of course, there’s plenty of fights to keep audiences entertained. Each fight served the purpose of getting Shawn closer to Evan, but due to some poor direction and editing, the fights weren’t as intense as they should have been. I was never concerned that our hero wouldn’t win and it would have been a nice curveball to have him lose in the middle or at least make it close. Oh, and don’t fighters train at all, or is that just in the ROCKY movies?
Tags: Channing Tatum, Dito Montiel, Terrence Howard, Zulay Henao
Posted in Reviews |
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are escorting a new high tech weapon when they get completely overpowered by an ambush led by the uber sexy Baroness (Sienna Miller). I don’t remember her ever being so hot, however, I hadn’t hit puberty when I was first introduced to her. The entire team is wiped out besides our two pre Joe heroes, before a few team members from G.I. Joe show up to save the day. The struggle is basically good and evil fighting over these warheads.
Before I saw the movie I saw the preview… atrocious! One scene is blatantly ripped off, nearly shot for shot from Transformers. Two Autobots are running down the street dodging bullets jumping around transforming. G.I. Joe has two Joes in body armors that make them less human and more like, well an Autobot, running down a street dodging bullets jumping and moving in a super human ways. This seems so far from my memory of my beloved action figures. I loved GI Joe as a kid. I read the comics, watched the cartoons and destroyed the toys in my sandbox. Then into my later years (7 -present), I displayed them neatly, setting them in precise spots as if about to battle. I was a crazy old lady trapped in a seven year olds body and I knew if anyone had touched my ceramic angel babies…er G.I. Joes. These were real American Heroes that had cool weapons and vehicles they were not machines. Why turn them into machines? Why destroy my childhood love?!
So my expectations are low and you know what? The film wasn’t horrible! Those little outfits were not in it so much nor did they overly bother me. The trailer should have chosen other moments. I would like a stab at it; I bet I could make a killer trailer for Joe! However, maybe that was the plan, give everyone low expectations and then be pleasantly surprised.
G.I. Joe has a ton of action, which is traceable and doesn’t over extend itself like another toy-based movie this summer. Some of the shots are poorly done in CGI and the dialogue is cheesy. Sure, some is good cheesy and expected but some of it is painfully forced for the worse of the film. Just leave it in silence and you’ll up your rating. The acting is actually strong for this type of fun action movie. The cast is well formed with just the right amount of notoriety. No one takes themselves too seriously. Dennis Quaid seems to have a fun time as General Hawk and gives that touch of star power that is needed. The rest of the cast is somewhat known as well, without being house hold names yet. I’m a big fan of Joseph Gordon- Levitt and there is no exception here as the doctor who eventually becomes Cobra Commander. He definitely has a commanding presence on screen. Concentrating on six Joe’s was a smart idea. We would not be able to cover all the characters and keep the audience interested. I think they did focus too much on the love story, with bad flash backs between Duke and Baroness, which is a cliché that I never understand. When summer action movies throw “love” in, it immediately deters from the film and gives me a groan moment. Is there any person out there that actually buys into these love stories in this sort of film? Is this to appeal to the female audience that gets dragged by their adolescent boyfriends? Because I have to think they are not being won over with the love story. These “good” moments don’t suit Baroness well at all. She definitely needs to keep her switch turned to evil.
One of the flashback’s that did work for me, were the back-stories on Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. Like most guys, I love ninja fighting and these were a couple of my favorite characters. Both of them received a lot of screen time and I definitely would not be upset if they were given more. I found myself really liking all the villains and their origins. I was a little disappointed with some of the conclusions with Storm Shadow, Baroness and Cobra Commander… HIS MASK!!! What was that? Try to make it somewhat similar! He went through several looks back in the day. Pick any of those! At least color it blue!!
As nostalgic value G.I. Joe holds up pretty well. We get to see our toys as action figures, vehicles and base camps come to life in battles through snow, sand and water. If knowing is half the battle then they reached me just fine. For those of you not in the know, well you probably won’t see it anyway.
Tags: Channing Tatum, marlon wayans, Sienna Miller, Stephen Sommers
Posted in Reviews |
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