dynamicthreads I don't even know where to begin... The entire movie screams "Art Student final project" - right down to the boom mic making several guest appearances. The entire tone of the book was lost from the opening scene to the credits...The novel itself highlights several key scenes between the protagonist and his "best friend"... There are subtle, yet key scenes that the Director/Screenplay writer completely ignored between the two that culminated into a sincere and ironic ending in the book, yet were suspiciously absent from the film. Clark Gregg refused to focus on the human aspect of almost every single character, instead revealing himself to be the immature 15-year old in a 50-year old man's body that he is: All he focused on was the sex addiction of the protagonist, Victor. All choking scenes were slap-stick in the film, again, the tone of the book completely ignored...The colonial village was an afterthought, yet another tool to portray the sex-addiction and not to relate the friendship between Victor and Denny. Denny consistently ends up in shackles for breaking character, and Victor always approaches him with a handkerchief, simply saying "Dude, blow" so Denny can clear the dripping mucous from his face. Why is this important? The entire climax is built around this one line in the book. After being stoned to near-death, and the anal-bead being dis-lodged from his anus, victor lies in a puddle of his own excrement, presumably left for dead... Until Denny approaches him with a handkerchief and simply holds it to his face and says: "Dude, blow". Showing that at the end of the day, life goes on and your true friends stand by your side no matter how terrible of a person you are.I could go on but anyone who has good reading comprehension can understand why this film completely missed the mark.

SnoopyStyle Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict trying to recover and failing. He's in a group with Nico (Paz de la Huerta) and best friend Denny (Brad William Henke). He works at a colonial theme park with Denny, arrogant Lord High Charlie (Clark Gregg), and sexy Ursula the milkmaid (Bijou Phillips). He pretends to choke on food to scam his saviors. His grifter mother Ida (Anjelica Huston) is in long term care with Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald) as her new doctor. Beth (Gillian Jacobs) is stripper Cherry Daiquiri. Marshall suggests an illegal treatment which requires an unusual donation from Victor.This is based on Chuck Palahniuk's book who also wrote Fight Club. Clark Gregg adapted it and is the director. I really love Rockwell and his weird manic energy. The story is a little weird and takes some strange turns. It does lose me after a couple of turns. It's weird but it doesn't get to be wacky fun. I don't think Clark Gregg has a hold of a compelling consistent tone.

OneEightNine Media Choke is a mildly entertaining film about a sex addicted trying to find himself while dealing with his mother's journey towards death. The problem with this movie is that it does not know what it wants to be. It tries too hard to be a drama with a twist of hard humour but doesn't deliver. If they tried it the other way around, making it a dark comedy with a bit of drama, then it could have worked. The story, and movie just try too hard to be as hip as Fight Club, this film is based on a book from the same author as Fight Club; I learned that during the end credits. I'm also just learning that Clark Gregg directed this film and this was his first time directing and I'm guessing he tried too hard to stay faithful to the novel. Whatever the case, the movie doesn't work. It is boring at times and drags on. It has no real conclusion, even though the characters do show growth during each of their journeys. I'm just giving this film a 6 out of 10 because the story itself isn't bad, just the execution ultimately ends up sinking the film.

sol- Informed that his senile mother is dying, a con artist reflects on his life and the disruptive childhood that may have led to him having satyriasis issues in this directional debut from 'What Lies Beneath' screenwriter Clark Gregg. The most intriguing name attached to the film though is novelist Chuck Palahniuk of 'Fight Club' fame and strong parallels can initially be found between the two films, from the witty voice over narration to presence of support groups. Things only get more interesting as our hero then divulges a scheme he has devised to con rich restaurant patrons by pretending to choke. For a film named 'Choke', this scheme far too soon fades into the background though and while we do see him pretending to choke two more times throughout, the film never depicts the after-effects: how he befriends those who save him and how he then extorts money from them. One might argue that the logistics of his scheme are less important than the dilemma of his mother's impending death, but there is too much sentimentality for that angle to gel. In fact, the only stand-out part in the second half of the film comes from a hilarious rape fantasy enactment gone awry, though there are also a couple of plot twists that are delightfully unexpected. Whatever the case, the acting always keeps things afloat with special mentions to Anjelica Huston and Kelly Macdonald. Sam Rockwell is effective in the lead role, but he is dwarfed by his female co-stars here - somewhat appropriately so for a film about a man who finds himself putty in the hands of all the women who he meets.