An Interview with Uwe Boll

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Falcona
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Walkout

Postby Falcona » 06 Jun 2008, 08:08

Approximately 200 theatergoers walked out of a free Postal screening in New Jersey last Friday. While Hoboken Mayor David Roberts refused to attend the screening, he stated that he did not like the film's 9/11-style attack gag and added that it was "too soon to mock a plane going into the World Trade Center."

According to Boll:

Being politically correct, let's say, the big studios are kind of overdoing it... I feel it is time now to make a really wild movie, something over the top... We don't spare any group. We don't want to hurt anybody but we want to break the rules... We want to make people think: What is a taboo? We want to make people start thinking about their own boundaries and rules.

It's kind of curious of Mayor Roberts to say it's "too soon to mock a plane going into the World Trade Center". Does that mean eventually it will be okay to mock that? And if so, who will decide that? Rather subjective, no?
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tak197
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Postby tak197 » 06 Jun 2008, 10:26

You have to understand something about the whole 9/11 thing. It has a lot to do with proximity.

Anyone on the West coast of the US knows the tragic events of that day, but very few of them actually knew people who were killed. However, Hoboken is right across from NYC, so almost everyone there knew someone who was killed in the attacks. The same goes for the passengers in the PA crash and the victims at the Pentagon. Proximity means the effect will be greater.

I know Boll was not meaning to desecrate the memory of those victims, but some people are still, 7 years later, mourning the deaths of those people they loved. What the mayor said about "too soon" is really that there will be a day when this satire won't be offensive to most (cuz to some it will always be offensive) but people aren't ready for it.
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Wraith
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Postby Wraith » 06 Jun 2008, 10:36

HomerTheBrave wrote:The first job of directing a commercial film is to convince people to hand you large sums of money. People tend not to hand large sums of money to crazy dudes.


Isn't that the producer's job? I confess I often have trouble distinguishing, but I think that's the producer's job.

HomerTheBrave wrote:People tend not to hand large sums of money to crazy dudes.


Tom. Cruze.

'nuff said.
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Wraith
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Re: Walkout

Postby Wraith » 06 Jun 2008, 10:58

Falcona wrote:Approximately 200 theatergoers walked out of a free Postal screening in New Jersey last Friday. While Hoboken Mayor David Roberts refused to attend the screening, he stated that he did not like the film's 9/11-style attack gag and added that it was "too soon to mock a plane going into the World Trade Center."

According to Boll:

Being politically correct, let's say, the big studios are kind of overdoing it... I feel it is time now to make a really wild movie, something over the top... We don't spare any group. We don't want to hurt anybody but we want to break the rules... We want to make people think: What is a taboo? We want to make people start thinking about their own boundaries and rules.

It's kind of curious of Mayor Roberts to say it's "too soon to mock a plane going into the World Trade Center". Does that mean eventually it will be okay to mock that? And if so, who will decide that? Rather subjective, no?


I don't find it curious. 9/11 may have become a messed-up, buzz-word cliche used for political jabs, but before it was jammed down everyone's throats, it was a nightmare that cost the lives of three thousand men, women and children; and I'm willing to bet that to the mothers who still miss their children, and the husbands who still mis this wives, and the wives that still feel like like their husbands will be home at six oclock after work, even thought they never are, because a hand-full of psychos decided it was "the will of allah" 7 years is NOT enough time for it to be FUNNY. And having some jackass from Germany crack jokes about it because adding a little controversy might just put a few more bucks in his pocket after the premier of his crappy movie based on a crappy game...well, that probably doesn't set too right with them.

O.k., so it's subjective. Fine. This, AFAIC is not censorship. No one said he couldn't make the film. No ones said that people could not WATCH the film.

What happened was that theater owners decided that either it would not make money, or otherwise, that they felt strongly enough against the film that they didn't want it playing on their screens. And then the people decided they didn't want to WATCH the film

And that's exactly how the film industry SHOULD work. Not all small films that fail do so because people didn't give them a fair chance. Sometimes, they fail because they just suck.
Last edited by Wraith on 06 Jun 2008, 20:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Dominic Appleguard
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Postby Dominic Appleguard » 06 Jun 2008, 12:17

If Mel Brooks wanted to make a movie like this, not only would it have stood a real chance of being good, people might have been more willing to accept it. Boll's status as a foreigner makes it harder for people to accept the controversial aspects.
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Wraith
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Postby Wraith » 06 Jun 2008, 20:16

Dominic Appleguard wrote:If Mel Brooks wanted to make a movie like this, not only would it have stood a real chance of being good, people might have been more willing to accept it. Boll's status as a foreigner makes it harder for people to accept the controversial aspects.


I kind of doubt it. I think that outside of the internet, not many people have any idea who he even is. In this day and age, a movie has to be really, really, reeeeeally bad to have people walk out of it.
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JeremyBanks
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Postby JeremyBanks » 02 Sep 2008, 22:45

After being swayed by this and his appearance at PAX 07, I finally got around to watching Postal.

I thought it was bloody hilarious. It's depressing to see how badly it did, I think it deserved a much better reception than it got.
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Re: An Interview with Uwe Boll

Postby MinuteWalt » 11 May 2014, 22:55

Yes, I realize I'm six years late to this party.

I've been a fan of LRR for many years, back when I first found out about Desert Bus. Even to the point of becoming a follower of musicians who's work has been used for the various shows (Younnat, Bradley Rains) and the oldest video series (Daily Drop, Iron Stomach, Commodore Hustle Season 1, Phailhaüs, etc).

But tonight is the first time I saw this interview. It's the most respectful and intelligent interview I've ever seen of Boll, and is in fact one of the best interviews I've ever seen, period. The fact that this happened during the height of internet flame against the man makes this even more impressive. James Lipton could not have done a better job. Graham (and Kathleen, behind the camera) did a great job of treating him like a human being worthy of attention, and it's obvious Uwe felt comfortable enough to just be himself around them.

LRR did this before Kickstarter was even a thing, with what I assume was pocket-money budget. Every time I think LRR is done with impressing me, I find something like this. Well played.

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