So, today a couple of friends asked if I wanted to join them at the movies to watch 'Choke'. I've been mildly curious about this movie, the re-enaction of Chuck Palahniuk's book of the same name. But, I was mostly interested b/c we were watching it at the Ritz Theaters in Old City, a few blocks from my condo. If you're ever in Philly, you must watch a movie at one of these theaters. Its everything a big impersonal multiplex is not, and therefore makes the movie-going experience a bit more tasteful and aesthetic, which is good for the soul. Well....I guess it depends on what the movie is. But I digress..
Sex, choking, the Messiah. What more could you ask for in a movie?
Well, lets just say this. If you like movies that make you feel pretty damn uncomfortable, then maybe this one's for you.
For me, it was just one wince after another - to the point where it was becoming painfully obvious that 'discomfort' was the baseline theme of the movie. After I'd accepted that, I think I could finally look past the unsettling sex scenes, and never ending innuendos.
The main character Victor Mancini, is pretty sleazy. The type of guy you definitely do not want to bring home to your mother, especially since he's been having a little bit of an Oedipal complex towards his own mother! But, as his character develops through the movie, you can't help but feel a little sorry for the guy. I mean, how can you not, after you realize what he has to do in order to keep his crazy ol' mom committed? OK fine, maybe 'Oedipal complex' was too strong of a judgement. But, what other term is there to describe someone who can't feel love, b/c he learned as a child from his mother to suppress those feelings.....to the point where she is the only one that he actually does love?
He transfers his weird mix of emotions onto any (and every?) female he encounters. Now, this is when things get a bit squirmy and there are some things that you wished you just did not witness. (Lets just say its the same reason I don't enjoy locker rooms at the gym...).
Well, fine - there were some downright funny moments too - again, keep in mind - 'funny' when the baseline is now set at 'uncomfortable' is a league of its own.
Victor's best friend Denny brings some 'voice of reason' in his life - but at times he doesn't want to accept it. Paige, the cute doctor at his mother's mental ward, is his one chance to feel love, but will he?
And the Messiah? Well...that you just need to watch for yourself.
Of course, all this grotesquerie (is that a word..? probably not) is *meant* to bring to life Palahniuk's book. I haven't read the book myself, but from reading other reviews, I don't think anyone is convinced that the movie quite did that. Most other reviewers actually say that the movie should be a LOT darker than it already was to match the book's real voice.
Well...I guess.....but to me, it was dark enough, that I definitely left with a bitter, unsettling, taste in my mouth. Ummm....yea!
I'd be interested to see what you guys think if you've seen it!
Sex, choking, the Messiah. What more could you ask for in a movie?
Well, lets just say this. If you like movies that make you feel pretty damn uncomfortable, then maybe this one's for you.
For me, it was just one wince after another - to the point where it was becoming painfully obvious that 'discomfort' was the baseline theme of the movie. After I'd accepted that, I think I could finally look past the unsettling sex scenes, and never ending innuendos.
The main character Victor Mancini, is pretty sleazy. The type of guy you definitely do not want to bring home to your mother, especially since he's been having a little bit of an Oedipal complex towards his own mother! But, as his character develops through the movie, you can't help but feel a little sorry for the guy. I mean, how can you not, after you realize what he has to do in order to keep his crazy ol' mom committed? OK fine, maybe 'Oedipal complex' was too strong of a judgement. But, what other term is there to describe someone who can't feel love, b/c he learned as a child from his mother to suppress those feelings.....to the point where she is the only one that he actually does love?
He transfers his weird mix of emotions onto any (and every?) female he encounters. Now, this is when things get a bit squirmy and there are some things that you wished you just did not witness. (Lets just say its the same reason I don't enjoy locker rooms at the gym...).
Well, fine - there were some downright funny moments too - again, keep in mind - 'funny' when the baseline is now set at 'uncomfortable' is a league of its own.
Victor's best friend Denny brings some 'voice of reason' in his life - but at times he doesn't want to accept it. Paige, the cute doctor at his mother's mental ward, is his one chance to feel love, but will he?
And the Messiah? Well...that you just need to watch for yourself.
Of course, all this grotesquerie (is that a word..? probably not) is *meant* to bring to life Palahniuk's book. I haven't read the book myself, but from reading other reviews, I don't think anyone is convinced that the movie quite did that. Most other reviewers actually say that the movie should be a LOT darker than it already was to match the book's real voice.
Well...I guess.....but to me, it was dark enough, that I definitely left with a bitter, unsettling, taste in my mouth. Ummm....yea!
I'd be interested to see what you guys think if you've seen it!
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