Channing Tatum (29) used to be called Chan Crawford when he was a male stripper. Tatum used to dance in a Chippendales-style revue called Male Encounter in 1999 when he was 18 years-old in a now defunct Florida nightclub. The owner of the dance troupe London Steele said:

"He was shy at first, but he really knew how to work the stage. Tatum lip-synched in the act and earned $50 a night, plus tips, during his year-long stint."

"The women went crazy for him!"

Currently Tatum married his Step Up costar Jenna Dewan on July 11, and he has a lead role in G.I. Joe. As I said in my review of G.I. Joe, Tatum’s acting was weak, and now it’s clear why he was in the movie at all, his appeal with the ladies. The poor acting turned me, and probably a lot of other movie goers, off.

I saw G.I. Joe – The Rise of Cobra Sunday, and it was really good. Well worth seeing it at the theater, and much better than the critics said it would be. Critics gave G.I. Joe a D, but I gave it a B. The critics really got it wrong on this movie.

First the bad news. Channing Tatum, who plays Duke, gave a very weak acting performance. It’s no wonder the author of a book about a real hired killer broke off a movie deal because Tatum was picked to play the lead. The author said Tatum wasn’t tough enough, and wanted Mickey Rourke. The author was so right.

The good news is that everyone else, even Sienna Miller, who played the Baroness, gave really good performances.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to play a lead role in the sequel, since he becomes the Cobra Commander.

Not only was this an unexpectedly good movie, but I will see the sequel.

The video above is meant to be humorous. It’s called The Ballad of G.I. Joe.