Pajiba

I particularly liked Grindhouse. It was full of splatterific gore, and was a hell of a lot of fun to see in theaters.
Waitress, coincidently is also my current #2 movie of the year so far. I still am going to see La Vie En Rose, the Edith Piaf biopic that is supposed to be just mind blowing and spectacular.

I am ALL OVER "The King of Kong". Thanks for the heads-up.

(I too have a soft-spot for mullet-haired pop culture competition docs--if you've seen HotRod: The Movie*, you know where I'm coming from.)

*No, not the Andy Samberg thing--please.

If they screw up Choke I'm going to be really unhappy. Although, I can't see it going that poorly with Sam Rockwell as the lead...

Still, I think I'd rather they make a movie out of Invisible Monsters.

I do believe that the cheerleading ninja thing has already been explored in the past, with a movie called Cheerleader Ninjas, although that one looked like it was made by a 13 year old who borrowed the camcorder.

I do believe that the cheerleading ninja thing has already been explored in the past, with a movie called Cheerleader Ninjas, although that one looked like it was made by a 13 year old who borrowed the camcorder.

I just read that myspace post from Roth a couple of days ago and found it extremely ridiculous and sad. And I actually *really like* Cabin Fever.

What a whiney bitch.

Like most of Palahniuk's plotlines, Choke also starts at crazy and then goes completely off the rails. Love it.

'Diary' was still one of my recent favorites of his. Awesome book.

Hee! "Rocket Science" looks great, and like something I will be going to see alone because my boyfriend never wants to see indie movies and I refuse to go to "Ocean's 13", so...it's only fair.

Twig, "Diary" was good but damn creepy, yes? Same boyfriend as above was telling me about this psycho book he read at a friend's house, about a sex addict who indulges this girl in her rape fantasy and I was like, "Oh, you mean 'Choke'? Good book, I read it when I was, like, 13." He was...freaked, is maybe the best word. Man, I love Chuck Palahniuk.

The trailer for Rocket Science has me wanting to make a change. I think I'm going to DivaVillage.com so i can feel beautiful. This will rule.

oh i love you pajiba. i just do, i've never left a comment before but i have to say, you give it so honest and hard, i feel like sending you sexy poetry on red stationary.

oh i love you pajiba. i just do, i've never left a comment before but i have to say, you give it so honest and hard, i feel like sending you sexy poetry on red stationary.

"Diary" was good but damn creepy, yes?

Oh man, yes. I spent so long wondering just where he was going, enjoying how it was written but still curious - and then the payoff was so worth it.

I love the scene in Choke where he's trying to explain that whole faux-rape encounter to the cops. His books - or at least the ones I've read - build to this wonderful insane creschendo. 'Lullaby' was a bit too crazy for me, but the bit with the protagonist and his dollhouse hobby is one of my favorite passages in a novel, ever.

"you wouldn't see a film directed by me in the cinemas until at least next fall".

Good. Please, by all means, take your time you pathetic hack. I can't stand Roth and his "art". Gimme a break. I have no objection to the subject matter, though I have little interest in it. But call it what it is. I actually love adult horror movies, but that's not what he's making. Torture porn is what it is, and if the public doesn't want to see it, that's not the publics fault, it's not the critics fault, it's his fault. Whining prick.

Re Eli Roth: Radar published an article about this diminuitive frat-boy that told me everything I care to know about him:

http://www.radaronline.com/features/2007/06/hostel_part_ii_eli_roth_bijou_phillips_bill_schulz_1.php

(Man, that's a long URL; I hope it posts.)

Re Palahniuk books: I'd prefer to see Survivor onscreen, provided it was done right. That's still my favorite of his books. I read somewhere that someone has purchased the rights so maybe it will happen someday. (Oh, and noxbu, they will never film Invisible Monsters--it's all about the cult of beauty; it's far too condemning of Western culture in general and of Hollywood "culture" in particular.)

Ah, the whole paragraph about Choke had me mad until I read Sam Rockwell's name. Hopefully they won't try and clean the story up.

He went home and took his ball?!

Hee, I actually wrote a 15 page research paper for my Psychoanalysis in Literature class comparing and contrasting Diary with "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. Good times.

I'll keep a lookout for Rocket Science, but not for anything by Eli Roth. I don't think I've seen any of his movies and now is clearly not the time to start. Don't want to encourage him, you know.

WTF? You promised me mullets! This was extrememly disappointing for mullet-watching. I was hoping for Bono at Live Aid standards and all I got was one guy who looked like no-one had yet told him that that 1970s were over.

Repo: The Genetic Opera...The premise worked better as a skit in Monty Python's Meaning of Life, even if it was the other way around.
"Your license says you are an organ donor. Well, we need your liver now!"

Good point, Jerce.
Still, I just think it could film well. You'd have to take some creative measures because otherwise the twists would be spoiled far too soon, but that might make it even more interesting on film...
Besides, I have absolute faith that there are plenty of people that would miss the entire point of the story, even if it was jammed down their throats.

The bio item about Clark Gregg that might be most relevant to this discussion is his long-time collaboration with David Mamet, who some might say is an expert in films about the con. Perhaps there's some reason to hope?

@Jerce:

I just read that article you linked on Roth, ohmygod what an ass. He just doesn't seem to get that no matter how much A-1 you dench it in, you're never gonna make a meatball into a filet mignon, and it's not the customers fault when they call shenanigans.

...Rider Strong was fucking a gaping sore in a chick's upper thigh in Cabin Fever...

Did that really happen in Cabin Fever? Cause that's not even original grossness; that's totally stolen from Crash (Cronenberg, not Haggis, duh).

Also, am I the only one who thinks Ninja Cheerleaders looks good? I weirdly love George Takei, I guess.

It's been a long time since I've read Choke, but I'm just so excited to see Sam Rockwell in something again. I feel like it's been many years, which just isn't acceptable.

Brenda: Yes, Rider Strong did fuck a gaping sore in Cabin Fever.

And yes, it's a rip off of Crash.

As for making more Palahniuk movies, I'm torn. I'd love (as previously mentioned) to see Survivor on the big screen. But I'd be willing to wager any future Palahniuk movies would fall short of the mark left by Fight Club (or worse, be disfigured Fight Club clones).

Man, that Radar article made Eli Roth sound like Joe Francis' sick little brother who watched too many late night B-horror flicks in between sessions with his older brother's porno collection.

I saw King of Kong at Tribeca this year, and it was the best thing I saw at the festival. It was a lot like Wordplay or Spellbound, but even more fun. Seriously, you would think the fate of the world rests on the Donkey Kong record with how the audience was cheering.

So, I'll admit it, I was a high school debater. Having been on the debate team, I cannot stand to watch movies that portray high school debate. It brings back all these awkward memories that I would sooner like to forget. This is why I could not make it through Thumbsucker.

Aargh! Get fucked, Eli Roth. The torture porn genre's played out, just as the serial schlock flicks of the '80s played themselves out and just as the self-referential horror movies of the '90s played themselves out. Everything's cyclical and your "art" is in a down-swing at the moment. That's not to say it won't come back, but lord, I hope it doesn't. I love me some horror movies, but I just can't take this recent spate of films that revel in human misery. The world's shitty enough as it is - be gone with you already.

umm...i dont know how the actual movie is..but the trailer for rocket science looks like indie film mad libs. in other words, im hoping the movie lives up to the hype because the trailer certainly did not. it reminds me of thumbsucker, which was also a crushing disappointment. i had high hopes but the trailer has really filled me full of worry.

the trailer for rocket science looks like indie film mad libs.

Snort.

"it's about a future where everybody is buying organs, but when people can't pay, legalized organ-repo men get involved -- and you can probably imagine what happens after that. It sounds silly as hell, but it might just be silly enough to work, notwithstanding the hackery of Bousman's involvement. It's like a torture-porn version of Sweeney Todd!"

And it's been done before, albeit briefly, in Monty Python's Meaning of Life. The organ donor guys come and force a guy to donate his liver, right before breaking into the 'Galaxy Song.'

"just...remember that your standing on a planet that's evolving, and revolving and 900 miles an hour..."

AT 900 miles an hour...yeesh...

Thank you, Eli Roth, for confirming every negative (but until now, somewhat preconceived) notion I had about you. Douche.

THEY ARE MAKING CHOKE INTO A MOVIE. i think i just jizzed all over the place. please god let this not suck.

I really want to see Rocket Science, myself being a (recently graduated) High school debate nerd.

Rider Strong was fucking a gaping sore in a chick's upper thigh in Cabin Fever

Why, Rider, why? (sobs)

the trailer for rocket science looks like indie film mad libs.

If only that sentence weren't true.

Did the term Torture Porn originate on this site? I'm seeing it everywhere now (this week's EW for one) but I think I saw it here first.

That's a damn good question, Brian. We've been using it for a very long time (since around the time of the original Hostel), but I don't know if one of us picked it up from David Edelstein (who certainly popularized the term) or if we came up with it independently before or after Edelstein. I dont't even know which of us on staff used it first. Chances are, however, that Edelstein was first and it filtered down into our subconscious. He's a pretty damn good critic, even if I tend to disagree with him a lot.-- DR

Hey Eli, have you ever thought that half of your target audience (ie: women) are not interested in getting a side order of severe mysogyny with their saturday afternoon movie?

Dustin - I think I read Mr Carlson use it first here (but I might just be imagining that since his blog is how I ended up reading this site).

Who is David Edelstein?

ok, here it is. i don't quite know how to break the bad news but, through fists of rage, i read that paul haggis is on board for writing the entire script for the next Bond film: Bond 22.

Now, deep breaths. maybe you already knew this, but i almost choked on a cheerio when i read it. i think i may cry...aahhh! get a grip on yourself cristina!

ok...i'm alright. i guess i just thought that the haggis news counted as torture porn.

indie film mad libs.

EXACTLY what I was thinking. Maybe it was just the way the trailer was cut, but the movie appears to be trying a little too hard to be "whimsical" in the particular film-about-dysfunctional-high-schoolers kind of way.

Dude, you spelled pr0n wrong.

Man, Rocket Science looks like the goddamned Wes Anderson playbook writ large. Whoever said "Indie Mad Libs" was right on. That's your numero uno? At least Knocked Up was fucking funny.

how dare you insult eli with curse names. you don't have 1/10 of his talent. why don't you eat crap! Mary