Saturday, November 30, 2013

Plan your own Channing Tatum Personal Film Festival

I have completed viewing all the films credited to Channing Tatum on IMDB [that are not short films].  Or, as I refer to it, 


The Channing Tatum Personal Film Festival.  

Or, given the quality of some of the films, 


I watched them so you don’t have to.  

For your convenience, I have categorized the films for those of you who want to plan your own Channing Tatum Film Festival.



Movies where CT has a major part:
  • 21 Jump Street
  • 22 Jump Street
  • Dear John
  • Fighting
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
  • Magic Mike
  • She’s the Man
  • Step Up
  • Stop-Loss
  • The Eagle
  • The Son of No One
  • The Vow
  • White House Down

Movies where CT is not the main focus. 
Or: Only watch these films if you are interested in the movie. 
His role may range from a cameo to a bit part that doesn’t have much screen time. 
  • 10 Years—This is an ensemble and he’s in it as much as the other actors.
  • A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints—Plays the angry friend of the main character.  He doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but is rather feral, which is rare.
  • Battle in Seattle—Ensemble cast.  He has a lesser amount of screen time than others in the ensemble.
  • Coach Carter—one of the many basketball players.  But figures greatly in the turning point.
  • Don Jon—Plays an actor in a cheesy romantic comedy.  Total screen time: approximately 30 seconds
  • G.I. Joe: Retaliation—Very short-lived character.
  • Havoc—Dude in the background who has maybe three lines.
  • Haywire—Secondary character, but his first appearance was perhaps my favorite scene in the entire movie.
  • Public Enemies—Pretty Boy Floyd is not long for the world.  Maybe 30 seconds.
  • Side Effects—Isn’t around as much as one would think from the poster.
  • Step Up 2: The Streets—He doesn’t make a huge appearance, but he does dance.
  • Supercross—Plays a minor character with perhaps 5-10 minutes of screen time.
  • The Dilemma—Secondary character in a tremendously unfunny film.  However, he’s at his funniest here, but sadly, the rest of the movie is a hideous ball of crap.
  • This is the End—Tiny cameo, but funny


Perhaps you would like to tackle the list by genre?

CT Movies divided by category:
(Major roles in bold font)

Action/Adventure
  • G.I. Joe: Retaliation
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
  • Haywire
  • Supercross
  • The Eagle
  • White House Down


Comedy

  • 21 Jump Street
  • 22 Jump Street
  • She’s the Man
  • The Dilemma
  • This is the End

  
Drama

  • 10 Years
  • A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
  • Battle in Seattle
  • Coach Carter
  • Fighting
  • Havoc
  • Magic Mike
  • Public Enemies
  • Side Effects
  • Stop-Loss
  • The Son of No One


Dramedy

  • Don Jon


Romance

  • Dear John
  • Step Up
  • Step Up 2: The Streets
  • The Vow


Movies I most enjoyed.  

Or: Maybe you just want me to tell you which ones I liked.
Major roles in bold font
  • 10 Years—Great ensemble cast examining where they are 10 years after high school.
  • 21 Jump Street—Generally very funny, especially if you watched the original TV series.
  • 22 Jump Street--If you liked the first one, you will like this one.
  • A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints—Uneven 80s NYC friendship drama that stuck with me.
  • Battle in Seattle—Interesting period piece.
  • Coach Carter—I’m a sucker for a good sports film.
  • Dear John—I was prepared to hate it, got sucked in and loved it.
  • Don Jon—Uncomfortable, but interesting.
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra—I was ready to grit my teeth through the whole thing, but it was a fun movie.
  • Haywire—Holy crap there are some good fight scenes in this.
  • Magic MikeThe movie that got me started.  Also, it’s much darker and deeper film than the previews would have you believe. Go Soderbergh!
  • She’s the Man—Funny adaption of Twelfth Night.
  • Side Effects—The less you know about this, the more you will enjoy it.
  • Step Up—I’m a sucker for a good dance movie and CT can move.
  • Stop-Loss—Solid returning soldier drama.
  • The Eagle—Made me wonder why there aren’t more movies set in Roman times.  Plus!  Jaime Bell.
  • The Vow—Surprisingly well done and a great story.
  • This is the End—Hilarious.  But you have to be ready for boy humor.
  • White House Down—This had horrible reviews, but I thought it was great fun.


For Die Hard Complete-ists.  

Or:  Movies I don’t recommend you watch.
  • Fighting—Not very interesting, but with fighting.
  • G.I. Joe: Retaliation—Maybe I was just mad I had nothing to look at but Adrianne Palicki, but this movie was not very entertaining.
  • Havoc—This movie disturbed me.
  • Public Enemies—So boring, despite its population of actors I usually love.
  • Supercross—Also not very interesting, but with no fighting.
  • The Dilemma—One of the worst movies I’ve seen in the last decade. 
  • The Son of No One—Kind of a mess, structurally.


And last but not least, links to all my reviews.

This is also the list in order of release date.

7 comments:

  1. This is very comprehensive. Thanks for summing it all up! I put "Magic Mike" on hold last week based on your glowing review. I believe its delivery has been delayed by our Icepocalypse.

    Funny, I don't remember Channing Tatum being in "Stop-Loss." But then, I totally forgot that the main character was played by Ryan Phillipe. All I remember is JGL. Maybe I need to do a JGL film festival. :)

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  2. Well done and comprehensive. I love that you have given us so many categories and options for our own CT viewing. I am wondering when you might have a female centered movie fest? There are a few fine actresses that might rate??!

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  3. Magic Mike is great! And I enjoyed Haywire, as well. I'm kind of intrigued by Steven Soderbergh's interest in Channing Tatum; I feel like he is some sort of muse for Soderbergh. I'm always interested in muses. Anyway. I need to watch more of these! I didn't like The Vow, but 21 Jump Street is on my list for sure.

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  4. I started on a Jessica Chastain film festival, but I got walloped with the hideousness of Jolene and then Zero Dark Thirty has torture throughout (and I DON'T do torture, I have to leave the theater) so I gave up on that quest. It's harder with women because 1) not so much of an infatuation/attraction so I'm not as compulsive but also 2) (and more to the point,) women don't really get a lot of good roles. I mean, do I really want to plow through 25 movies where 20 of them the female lead plays the same girlfriend character? Not so much. With guys as the focus I can just ignore the inherent sexism of Hollywood. With females it's front and center and infuriates me.

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  5. H--the muse thing is why I'm kind of sad Soderbergh isn't going to make any more films. Plus, with CT in films with a "good" director he gets more cred.

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  6. I would do a Sarah Polley Personal Film Festival. I love her and she has sidestepped (not by accident, I'm sure) the girlfriend trap. And she's been directing in recent years too.

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  7. Also, just occurred to me: a Tilda Swinton Personal Film Festival. For something more lighthearted I would go with Scarlett Johansson. She is awesome.

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