There’s a petition online which is gathering signatures of people who want director Uwe Boll to quit showbiz. In a recent interview at Fearnet, Boll had this to say:
Fearnet: Are you aware that there is a petition online, signed by 18,000 people, requesting that you stop making movies?
Uwe Boll: Yeah, I know that. 18,000 is not enough to convince me.
FN: How many would it take?
UB: One million. Now we have a new goal.
And, of course, now there is at least one petition looking to get the 1,000,000 required signatures that will put Boll’s career on ice forever. But that would be a huge mistake.
It’s not that I disagree with their premise – Mr. Boll hasn’t proven himself to be a great filmmaker. I have yet to enjoy a Uwe Boll movie, though I’ve seen my share. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that I haven’t enjoyed them in the conventional sense. I mean, how many movies – like Boll’s ‘House of the Dead’ – make you question if you actually just saw the movie you just saw? That if you popped the DVD back in and watched it again, it would be something completely different, something well within the worn path of studio horror? It’s not that ‘HotD’ is something revolutionary. It’s not. But it’s also not boring, which deserves some amount of respect.
More than that, though, Boll should be respected because he does this stuff on his own. He goes out and gets the money, he makes the movie he wants to make, he gets it distributed. And whether it’s through bad word of mouth or not, those movies get seen and discussed. How is this a guy who shouldn’t be making movies?
The creaters of the Stop Dr. Uwe Boll petition are having a fine time with this joke, sure, and it shouldn’t be taken seriously. But if you have to target someone’s career for destruction, go after the mediocre.
Even as a joke, that petition is douchey.
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Good argument. I don’t really know anything about Uwe Boll other than didn’t he do some boxing thing? I don’t know. Can’t say I’ve seen any of his movies to my knowledge. Regardless, a petition like this is actually great publicity and will almost always have the opposite effect of what the petition intends (unless it’s Boll’s doing himself). Now I WANT to see the guy’s movies just to see what all the fuss is about. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
It’s like complaining about Michael Bay. He’s an easy target, sure, but deep down inside I always kind of want to see his movies. He leaves fingerprints. There are hordes of directors who don’t. You’re right, go after the mediocre.
Yeah, Boll challenged his critics to a boxing match – and beat the snot out of them. How can you not at least LIKE the guy?
Give ‘House of the Dead’ a try. There’s nothing really romantic about how bad it is, but the badness gets pretty bizarre. And even then, there are some pretty cool bits. Enjoy.