Choke (2008)

Review & Summary :

After watching Choke, it occurred to me that the association with Fight Club may do more to harm the viewer’s experience than help. Although I can’t argue with the logic that it will help bring audiences into the theaters if they know that Choke is based on a novel written by the same author, Chuck Palahniuk, fans may come without the realization that Choke is a simpler and often more understated story. This is the very reason actor Clark Gregg was able to make this his directorial debut, using the same socially satirical sense-of-humor as the previous Palahniuk adaptation, but this time on a much smaller scale. Fight Club was an ambitious visual achievement for known perfectionist David Fincher once he had reached a higher level of success with Se7en, whereas Choke provided the opportunity for Gregg to start a career with a promising independent film.

Gregg adapted the story to screenplay and also acts in his film, but wisely gives himself a supporting role. In the leading role of Victor Mancini, a man with many identity issues after a rough childhood being kidnapped by his mother from foster homes, Sam Rockwell fits perfectly. In order to keep his negligent mother (Anjelica Huston) in a top-care facility during her last days battling Alzheimer’s, Victor working days as a historical re-enactor at a Colonial Williamsburg theme park, but when that isn’t enough he finds a brilliant scam where he pretends to choke while eating in public. Not only do the people that rescue him send him money in birthday cards, he also finds himself addicted to the feeling of being saved.

Being comforted and supported by strangers isn’t Victor’s only addiction, attending sex addicts meetings each week if only to sleep with the nymphomaniac he is a sponsor to. Random strangers are Victor’s preference, although he finds himself unable to sleep with a woman he actually begins to care about. When one of his mother’s doctors, Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald) tries to exploit Victor’s reputation by insisting he impregnate her before she will translate his mother’s diary from Italian to English, Victor is unable to perform for the first time. Victor believes that the diary will give him the answers to his childhood, but he is unprepared for the shocking truth that is translated to him from the secret diary.

Palahniuk’s novels are nearly all filled with internal dialogue and commentary, which was transferred to film with a unique style and voice that separates it from the film version of Fight Club. Palahniuk has such a rich prose, as well as a gift for matching social and human issues with particularly warped or disillusioned protagonists, and while reading his books I am always struck by how visually lush the stories become in my imagination. As easily as the world is created by Palahniuk’s words I usually tend to find the idea of a film version nearly insurmountable, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find that Clark Gregg’s Choke brings the story to life in an understated way that allows the story to retain and even enhance some of the more poignant elements.

The cast is pitch perfect and immediately following the film I had the urge to return to the novel to read it again with the actor’s faces in mind, which in my mind is the perfect marriage of mediums. Countless times I have debated whether to read a novel when I know that it is being made into a film certain that seeing the film will be disappointing if I have already read the source material. Although there is something to be said for Palahniuk’s distinct literary voice, even he has declared satisfaction with this latest adaptation.

Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway (2008)

Review & Summary :

Set in New York City’s gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera RENT tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. “Measuring their lives in love,” these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic. RENT is Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical, one of the longest running shows on Broadway.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2008)

Theatrical Release
9/19/2008

Director	Credit
Wayne Wang	Director
Cast	Credit
Henry O	Mr. Shi
Rick Ehrenstrasser	- Cast
Pavel Lychnikoff	Boris
Yu Feihong	- Cast
Vida Ghahremani	Madame
Wes Deitrick	Antique Store Owner
Lonny Waddle	- Cast
Faye Yu	Yilan
Production Credits	Credit
Rich Cowan	Producer
Yasushi Kotani	Executive Producer
Yukie Kito	Producer
Lee Joo-ick	Executive Producer
Taizo Son	Executive Producer
Wayne Wang	Producer
Production Companies	Credit
North By Northwest Productions	Production Company
Entertainment Farm	Production Company
Boram Entertainment	Production Company
Good Prayers	Production Company
Distribution Companies	Credit
KarmaFilms (Spain)	Foreign Theatrical Distributor
Mikado Film	Foreign Theatrical Distributor (Italy)
Magnolia Pictures	Domestic Theatrical Distributor
Locations
Spokane, Washington, USA
Writer	Credit
Yiyun Li	Screenplay
Yiyun Li	Source Material
Art Department	Credit
Dan Beyer	Set Decorator
Amber Grunte	Set Dresser
Vincent DeFelice	Production Designer
Casting	Credit
Todd Thaler	Casting Director
Philip Huffman	Casting Director
Film Camera	Credit
Patrick Lindenmaier	Director of Photography
Film Sales Financing	Credit
The Match Factory GmbH	Distribution Sales International Sales
Music	Credit
Deva Anderson	Music Supervisor
Lesley Barber	Music
Delphine Robertson	Music Supervisor
Production Management	Credit
Rich Cowan	Assistant Director
Cheryl Cowan	Script Supervisor
Sound	Credit
Tom Taylor	Sound Mixer
Lewis Goldstein	Rerecording Mixer
Lewis Goldstein	Supervising Sound Editor
Wardrobe Hair Makeup	Credit
Lisa Caryl	Costume Designer
Trista Jordan	Makeup Artist
Traci Van Leuven	Makeup Artist

Hounddog (2007)

Review Summary

A precocious but troubled young girl living in 1950s-era Alabama seeks solace in the music of Elvis Presley in director Deborah Kampmeier’s controversial tale of childhood trauma and musical healing. War of the Worlds star Dakota Fanning takes the lead for a period drama that made its debut at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Fraulein (2007)