Nobody puts Charlene Yi in a corner: Dirty Dancing revisited

Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

As an entertaining summertime treat, the fine folks over at Mean Magazine have corralled a bunch of offbeat actors to reenact some memorable scenes from classic cult films. This week, comedian Charlene Yi teams up with G.I. Joe action hero Channing Tatum (who proved he's got dancin' feet in Step Up), along with her Paper Heart co-writer and director Nicholas Jasenovec, for a hilarious stab at Dirty Dancing.

What really sells this clip is how committed both stars are to reprising the earnest, overwrought performances of original stars Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. Yi's gulping, breathless histrionics are dead on, and Tatum's hair-tossing sex god poses and "manly" (read: gruff and wooden) line readings replicate Swayze's strong and silent Johnnyisms to a T. They also deserve kudos for creating an awesomely awkward dirty dance routine by splicing together passable versions of the choreographic highlights from throughout the film. And the moment where Tatum rips off Yi's babydoll shirt to reveal... an identical shirt underneath? Priceless.

--Sarah Liss