CineMathematics or CinemaThematics. Your choice

Friday, April 18, 2008

Stand Up For a True Artist

I'm sure you've heard about the petition to get Uwe Boll to stop making movies. I have never seen an Uwe Boll film, nor do I plan to unless forced (or given a choice between Bloodrayne and, say, Failure to Launch). But who are you to shut this man up unless he has truly offended you? Isn't he this generation's Ed Wood? Don't we need that? If you have seen one of his films, and find it worse than a mediocre and insulting film like Fever Pitch (no true Red Sox fan can like that movie), then sure, ask for your money back. But the amount of signatures on that petition (206864 as of this writing) is far too many for people who have found themselves legitimately offended by the works of this man. I would be willing to bet that there are significant numbers of signers who have never seen a film by Boll but just like making fun of bad movies. To those people, I must ask: Why?

Has Uwe Boll made a movie that has truly scarred you? What about his films do you object so highly to? If it's the videogame thing, then you should start up a petition for Andrzej Bartkowiak as well (was Doom any better?). Did he tarnish the reputation of good actors too much? Can you think of any other actor besides Ben Kingsley that once had a reputation to be tarnished? If we're going that route, then Jon Avnet deserves a petition for what he has done to Al Pacino in 88 Minutes. There is nothing truly horrible that Boll has done that hasn't been done by another director.

What I find most impressive is that he keeps getting hired. After all, his films are bombs, so the laws of economics should do what this petition is doing without anybody needing to express their hatred of him. He succeeds by working outside the studio system and making movies on his terms. If there were a tightly adherent cult that praised his movies to the stars, he might be seen as an auteur of sorts. As is, he is decried so far and wide that people (myself included) will never see his movies to see what the big deal is. In fact, if I could easily obtain a film of his, I might watch it simply to spite this petition. And maybe then I would realize why this petition is there. Oh the circular logic is amazing.

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2 Comments:

Blogger PIPER said...

Are his movies bombs or do they find a way to make them profitable?

I agree with you. I make fun of bad directors or bad writers but seriously, why squash someone doing that stuff. Just stay away from his movies.

If you have a real beef, have it with big directors that deliver dreck time in and time out only for Hollywood to eat it up. Like a Michael Bay or a Brett Ratner. But then again, just stay away from those movies.

That's way more offensive than anything Boll has ever done.

4:30 PM

 
Blogger Dan E. said...

His movies are bombs by conventional standards, but from what I understand, he manages to turn a profit. I think this is from a combination of international ticket sales and cheap productions. Otherwise, he wouldn't get the financing. At least, that's how the logic goes.

10:12 PM

 

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