Slog - Comments on Insert Choke Pun Here

Comment by max solomon

max solomon — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:15:50 -0800

"Lascivious male viewers will find all the breasts and sex scenes they could ever want in a mainstream American movie."

jeez, guy, your fear &/or hatred of sex comes out of nearly every post. would some generous seattle lady please fuck paul constant?

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:21:54 -0800

Paul Constant has a girlfriend, max, and when she's not giving him action she's fighting crime.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:24:18 -0800

Too young for dementia?

Not really. If it's drug-induced, 40's is not too unusual in some cases, if it's otherwise, some people get Alzheimer's in their 40's (early onset AD). Kind of sad, tho.

Comment by shub-negrorath

shub-negrorath — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:10:41 -0800

All (well, most) reviews should be as short and to the point.

Comment by Bob

Bob — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:50:06 -0800

Pahlaniuk is a stage hipster illiterates go through. Choke was a POS novel. I'm sure the movie will be true to it.

Comment by amy!

amy! — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:15:25 -0800

I read Choke a couple of weeks ago. Was the scene in the beginning describing the sex addicts workshop in some other movie? Maybe Fight Club? Because I'd never touched the book before, but I knew the whole chapter and I couldn't figure out why.

Comment by TheMisanthrope

TheMisanthrope — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:26:46 -0800

I will always describe Palheniuk as the smarmy (and, thus, low-rent) and privileged love-child of Bret Easton Ellis (is that even possible?) and j.g. ballard. I hate his writing style. But, they may make good trranslations, as Fight Club did.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:38:54 -0800

Yes. It's very similar to the group therapy [Jack] attends in Fight Club, up until the bathroom fuck. The entire style of Choke reeked of Fight Club in all the wrong ways.

Comment by stinkbug

stinkbug — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:40:08 -0800

early onset Alzheimer's isn't that uncommon.

Comment by TheMisanthrope

TheMisanthrope — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:07:48 -0800

Paul...

You were far too nice of a reviewer for this movie. Except for the rape scene, the movie is Palahniuk retold with the tone of Garden State. And, at 89 minutes, the time just flew by at the pace of a 5 hour plane ride next to a chronically depressed person who insists on telling you their life story.

Except for the rape scene. That was funny.

Comment by Mr_Friendly

Mr_Friendly — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:58:55 -0800

It wasn't that bad, and I had no problems with the casting. However, the performances were rather listless, and any number of directors could have done a better job with the material. Why this went from a recommended movie in SIFF Notes to the Paul Constant pile-on is beyond me.

But what is up with all the heavy-handed security at the Egyptian last night? Do we really need $8/hour rent-a-cops with binoculars roaming through the crowd and barking at people to turn off their cell phones? If FOX Searchlight is that paranoid about the movie being leaked, maybe it shouldn't be included at SIFF.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:29:04 -0800

@1 - there were lots of breast and sex scenes in La France but that didn't make it better - why should that help with Choke?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:34:14 -0800

@10 - in the 70's or 80's no, not uncommon, but in the 40's yes it is.

Comment by M

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:08:01 -0800

I kind of liked Choke. But it was my first experience with Chuck. After Lullaby, which I also liked, I've had enough of him.