This is ‘Me at the Zoo’, the first video to be posted on youtube.
This was posted by Jawed Karim, one of the co-founders of Youtube, on April 23, 2005.
Running at only 19 seconds long, it marked the start of a long journey into changing how we view our videos today. And in that 7 years, this video has been viewed 8,733,512 times.
It even has its own wiki entry. And like I always say, if its on Wiki, its important.
Director Steven Soderbergh likes to shine a light on a myriad of weird subjects. Some might even say he likes to tell stories of the underdogs of society. Look at his slate of films:
And now we have Magic Mike, a ragtag group of male strippers, each with his own motivations for joining the trade.
I can’t hear you over the definition of my biceps!
Mike Lane is a 30 year old stripper with a plan. His other day jobs include construction, roofing and car detailing, squirelling away money till he has enough to start his own custom furniture gig. He’s the star of the show, with Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) the owner of the strip club, and Ken (Matt Bomer), Tarzan (Kevin Nash, aka WWE’s Diesel), Tito(Adam Rodriguez) and Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello) rounding out up as the rest of the crew.
During one of his construction gigs, Mike bumps into 19 year old slacker Adam (Alex-Number-4-Pettyfer), who dropped out of college and is living with his sister Brooke. He decides to bring Adam into the stripping industry, and after a hasty introduction on stage due to an unforeseen emergency, Adam is quickly taken into the fold, and nicknamed The Kid.
They dance. They strip. They make easy creasy money. They have outrageous drugged out sex.
Its a dream come true for a 19 year old with a raging boner. Actually, its a dream come true for any man any age.
Yet, Mike is left wanting. Somehow, he forms a bond (He’s probably really, really lonely) with Brooke (Cody Horn) after learning that his regular booty call Joanna (hot hot Olivia Munn) is actually engaged to someone with an actual job.
The film charts both The Kid’s initiation into the stripper lifestyle, as well as Mike’s growing dissatisfaction with the stripper lifestyle, and a yearning for a normal life (I know.. that guy is WEIRD).
Its funny, its moving, its also got the moves. Lots of hot bodies on display for the girls, and for the boys, there’s always Olivia Munn’s tits. That alone is worth the admission price.
Rating: 7/10
Channing Matthew Tatum AKA Chan CrawfordÂ
If you didn’t already know, the film Magic Mike is actually loosely based on Channing Tatum’s early experiences as a 19 year old stripper in Tampa.
Yeap, he really was a stripper before he became an MTV background dancer before he became a lead dancer/actor in Step Up before he became bigshot producer/actor in Magic Mike based on his early experiences as a stripper.
Now, how many people can say that?
Channing Tatum: Not just a pretty face.
Oh, just so you know, he also knows kung fu.
And this is his stripper photo from way back when.
I’m doing this now so i can make a movie about doing this in the future and laugh about it and collect. Big time.
Weird thing. Of all the stripper shows i’ve seen, I like the ones featuring male strippers like The Full Monty and Magic Mike. I wonder what that says about me.
Also, if you watch Magic Mike backwards, its actually a movie about a touching and life-defining moment when Channing Tatum decides to dump his girlfriend and a proper career prospect, go into the stripping business, and live happily ever after.