Welcome to Screen Gems, Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.
The Aphrodisiac: Magic Mike
Why did it take Hollywood so long to figure out that audiences enjoy seeing naked men as much as naked women? In 2012, they finally cracked the cipher. Magic Mike takes some of Tinseltown’s best-looking men–Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello, to name a few–and casts them as a group of strippers with big dreams. Loosely based on Tatum’s own humble beginnings as a stripper, Magic Mike explores the hedonistic crowd at Xquisite, an all-male strip club in Tampa. Much like Hustlers would later do for women, Magic Mike exalts the hard-working and wild life of an exotic dancer, even as it condemns the corrupt businesses that often support them. Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh gets excellent performances out of his cast, and the dance sequences have all the glitz and energy of a musical production number. Witty, gritty and always flirtatious, we think it’s a fine way to spend a couple hours. We also have a few suggestions for after…but we’ll leave that to the imagination.
Streams on Netflix, VUDU, iTunes, Amazon and YouTube.
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MacAdvisor
A friend of mine saw this on a trip to Vegas and was shocked at how good the film was and, even more shocking, the quality of Tatum’s acting. There is a scene when he is upset and trying to explain himself that is a masterpiece. He sounds so real and like he is speaking from his very soul. I have recommended the movie and everyone thinks I am crazy. Please, see it. It is fun and touching.
dhmonarch89
seriously? I wanted to gouge my eyes out an hour in….
Jack Meoff
Yeah it’s right up there with Gone With the Wind
dhmonarch89
his playing a Ken doll in that film was the most appropriate/spot on thing he’s ever done- totally plastic.
DarkZephyr
Almost like your personality.
startenout
This was such a fun and sexy movie. Definitely worth watching again. The sequel… not so much.
missvamp
bs- in part 2 joe magenello is everything! the scene in the convenience store & his big scene to nine inch nails. omfg!
justgeo
But where the F)(K is Matt and his HOT ASS in the clip?
bgeorge59
The acting was bad..this movie sucked
CityguyUSA
For the type of movie this was I thought they did a good job with it. It wasn’t all just gratuitous flesh. Queerty does worse on a daily basis.
Hdtex
Yet here you are, whining day after day.
Theweatherman
Magic Mike was unwatchable.
Mattster
Movie was surprisingly good (and a hit) but Bomer was criminally underutilized IMO. And he’s barely in the clip, despite the headline.
winemaker
This kind of reminds me of Chippendales, the male strip club on Overland Avenue in Los Angeles in the 1970’s 1980’s. This male strip club allowed only women as they presumably didn’t want gay guys ogling the dancers. I’d recently come out and was going to a nearby gym, ‘World for Men’ and a couple of the ‘Chippendale dancers worked out at this gym. One nice thing, you could check out the guys in the showers unlike at the strip club, where they stripped down to a thong only, so much for decency laws in Los Angeles in the 70’s – 80’s.
ShowMeGuy
Magic Mike was a fun moment of escape. Lighten up; queens, it was never intended to be Oscar worthy.
Now, Magic Mike XXL was a dumpster fire. Let’s take every complaint anyone in the industry had about the film and add the textbook solution for said complaint into the storyline of the sequel. Yeah, that worked out well.
May I suggest a viewing of Chocolate City for a different take on the “male stripper” movie genre or the sequel which is equally as bad as Magic Mike XXL ….. Chocolate City: Vegas Strip.
To borrow from the phrases about fishing, sex, or pizza….
“…even a bad movie about men getting naked is better than a good day at work”.
lord.krath
Magic Mike was a good movie. As with all things, you have to consider the message. I feel it was very on-point delivering a perspective. I still wonder about so many things and how living [that kind of life] must be. So it is with many professions and callings people kind of fall into and can’t seem to escape.