Left to his own devices Lee Daniels makes films that are eccentric and sometimes just way the hell out there. (The Paperboy) But he has called his newest film, The Butler, “a big compromise” and explained that the film might be “the closest I will come to as a work-for-hire.” Does that mean that, on the relative scale of whackadoo films, The Butler will be far closer to “normal” than anything else he’s made?
Hard to say at this point, but the first trailer suggests that there’s some weird stuff going on here. There’s the parade of cameo players appearing as a string of US Presidents. Among them is John Cusack‘s turn as Richard Nixon, which is… interesting. Then there’s Alex Pettyfer playing an uber-douchebag cotton farm overseer, and the digital effects and makeup that shave a few decades off lead Forest Whitaker in some scenes.
Whitaker plays Cecil Gaines, who served several different President as the White House butler, and the trailer suggests the film traces his entire life story, using it to frame the sweep of the civil rights movement. It’s a good story, but this trailer looks a lot like a parody that might show up on SNL. So we’ll see — maybe The Butler will be just as crazy as the rest of Daniels’ work. Read More »
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For another perspective on Magic Mike, check out Angie’s review.
There is no need to see Magic Mike for its plot. The moment things start to spiral out of control, it becomes quickly apparent that you already know how this cautionary tale of glitz and glamour ends. Boy meets world. World enraptures boy. Boy loses himself to world.
But Boogie Nights this is not. This is a Steven Soderbergh film, which means it lacks the sort of seedy sensationalism that characterized that film’s porn underworld. Magic Mike is a more observational, subtle affair, joyfully capturing the narcissistic pleasure of flaunting your body to a room full of howling women and then softly exposing the limitations of that pleasure.
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Posted on Friday, June 29th, 2012 by Angie Han
The one and only time my non-cinephile girlfriends have ever seemed truly jealous of my job is when I mentioned in passing that I’d reviewing Magic Mike. “The male stripper movie!” they exclaimed. “Oh my God, I can’t wait to see that.” The appeal was obvious: Magic Mike promised to dish out cheese, sleaze, and glitter a-plenty, not to mention a hot, heaping dose of mostly naked men (among them Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, and Joe Mangianello) busting out their best dance moves.
Unfortunately for them, it turns out that Magic Mike is not that movie. Or rather, it is, but only intermittently. The rest of the time, Magic Mike is a Steven Soderbergh drama that just so happens to be set in the world of male stripping. That mostly turns out to be a good thing, although I suspect the guys and gals who come looking for a “male Showgirls,” as one of my pals put it, won’t necessarily agree.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 by Angie Han
These days, it’s no longer enough for a movie to just succeed by itself on the big screen — if there’s a movie spin-off, theme park attraction, board game, or stage adaptation to possibly be made of it, someone, somewhere is already working on it. Such is the case with Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh‘s male stripper pic based on the real-life experiences of star Channing Tatum. Although the film itself won’t open for another few days, screenwriter and producer Reid Carolin says they’ve already been cooking up plans for a Broadway run. Hit the jump for details.
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At this point I don’t think Steven Soderbergh‘s new film Magic Mike needs a whole lot of introduction. For those just catching up, the film is based on Channing Tatum‘s late-teens experience as a male exotic dancer, and features Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, and more beefy guys as the dancers in a Florida club.
We’ve seen a couple trailers and clips for the film that suggest it has some real comic heart in addition to the obvious selling point of ripped guys taking off their shirts.
But as this new (and rather short) red-band clip shows, the guys also take off their pants. This is pretty tame as red-band clips go, but if you’re put off by the sight of muscled guys in thongs, probably best not to click through. Read More »
Posted on Friday, May 18th, 2012 by Angie Han
Now this is what I’m talking about. Whereas the first U.S. trailer for Steven Soderbergh‘s male stripper flick Magic Mike took pains to frame Mike (Channing Tatum) as just a sensitive furniture maker searching for something more than the seedy life of an exotic dancer, the new U.K. trailer plays up the sheer entertainment value of watching these guys get down and dirty. And along the way, it even reveals a bit more about the mentor-protege relationship between Mike and The Kid (Alex Pettyfer) that comprises the main storyline. Watch it after the jump.
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When Steven Soderbergh announced that he would make a film based on experiences Channing Tatum had in his youth as a male stripper, there was some collective eye-rolling and giggling. But Tatum’s image has changed a lot in the last few months thanks to 21 Jump Street. We knew the guy had beefcake dance moves (thanks to Step Up) and that he could act (Stop Loss), but films like Dear John kept many from really taking to him.After his effective comic work in 21 Jump Street, however, I think this trailer for Magic Mike will go over a lot better.
Here we see Tatum as a confident guy who knows how to work the stage, but has his ambitions outside the club as well. There isn’t much time given to Alex Pettyfer, who plays a protege of Tatum; rather we see his developing romance with a young woman played by relative newcomer Cody Horn.
The good news is: the trailer makes the film look entertaining. It is recognizably in Soderbergh’s style, but the sort of work he’s been doing lately seems to lend itself well to this story. Check out the footage below. Read More »
Posted on Monday, December 26th, 2011 by Angie Han
Love him or hate him, you’ll be seeing a lot of Channing Tatum in 2012: Shooting at things in Steven Soderbergh‘s Haywire, romancing Rachel McAdams in The Vow, going to the prom with Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street, fighting Cobra in G.I. Joe Retaliation, and possibly getting killed by Steve Carell in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher. But if I’m being honest, the one I’m really curious about is Soderbergh’s Magic Mike, which stars Tatum as an experienced stripper who takes a newbie (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing.
It’s not just the idea of near-naked men parading around, I promise — I’m intrigued by the unusual premise and the interesting cast, and am hoping to see a bit of Soderbergh’s sly sense of humor. But yeah, the promise of buff, shirtless dudes helps too.
After the jump, check out the first image, featuring Tatum, Pettyfer, and Joe Manganiello in military-themed costumes, while Matthew McConaughey, who plays the owner of the club, takes charge as a shirtless Uncle Sam. More details after the jump.
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