After pretty much fast-forwarding through the dreadful 2009 flick "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," I didn't give much thought to newbie sex symbol Channing Tatum.But after watching "Fighting" last night, the gritty rough-and-tumble movie released before that stinker, I cocked a brow. The 28-year-old Tatum was pretty convincing as a New York City street hustler, made more interesting by director Dito Montiel's
portrayal of a current-day NYC closer to its persona in the 1970s: dangerous, dirty and dark. The fight scenes also hold decided homoerotic appeal, as Tatum's character Sean Arthur eyes his foes with a certain "come hither" intensity, before grinding around the floor with them, body parts locked together.
But let's get to the meat of the matter: Tatum's biceps, those pouty lips and dreamy blue eyes. He's not quite at the level of previous Smoking Nun bulls-eyes for Sexiest Man Alive William Levy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kellan Lutz, Edison Nascimento, Chris Pine, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ or Evan Wadle... but he's definitely on the radar now.Next up on Tivo: his "serious" drama/romance with Amanda Seyfried "Dear John," which I suspect is going to return him to the stinker category. At least he spends most of the film with his shirt off.
