I was right AND wrong about "Auschwitz."

As I mentioned previously, I wrote an email to Uwe Boll to ask about "Auschwitz", because I was confused by the existence of a preview for a movie that doesn't exist according to his resume at IMDB Pro.

I was RIGHT in-so-far as no one had bothered asking whether this was a real movie or not.

"You are the only journalist asking me anything," Boll wrote. "Everybody else is just writing and guessing."

I was, however, WRONG in my speculation that the preview was some misbegotten attempt at promoting "Bloodrayne: The Third Reich."

In the time-honored method of budget-minded B-movie producers everywhere, Boll shot a second movie back-to-back to back with the WW2-themed third entry in the "Bloodrayne" series and that movie is "Auschwitz."

"It will appear on IMDB soon," he wrote.

Boll went onto explain that he was hoping to show the Holocaust as ugly as it was.

"I made the movie because there is not one movie made that shows the holocaust as it really was," he wrote. "All the movies made show us the SPECIAL people, the heroes, but nobody focused on the subject matter. This is what I do in my movie,
and I think in times where 50% of the planet basically say THERE WAS NO HOLOCAUST - I think it's not so bad to show that AUSCHWITZ happened."

He further added that part of the movie will be a documentary.

So, love him, hate him, or be completely indifferent towards him, it seems that Uwe Boll is putting forward something approximating a serious film. I think that deserves some consideration.

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Uwe Boll making movie about Auschwitz?

I woke up this morning to find corners of the web abuzz over a preview of a very strange next project for director Uwe Boll: a movie about the Holocaust, or at least one of the key death camps run by the Nazis, titled ""Auschwitz".

Here is the clip that's the subject of the talk (and it's not a pleasant one, so beware):



What I find odd is that Boll has no such film on his resume. He has three films in varying degree of production, yet none of them are "Auschwitz". Can it be that this is actually a weird attempt at promoting the upcoming "Bloodrayne: The Third Reich" movie?

I dropped Boll a line through his production company, as I saw no sign that anyone else has done so yet. Watch this space, as I'll report back whatever I hear.

--
Click here for Uwe Boll's response to my query about "Auschwitz".

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Uwe Boll's best movie so far?

Given the negative reputation that German director Uwe Boll has among many movie fans, and some jokes that are offered in this film, I was tempted to included it as part of the "Nazis Quit!" mini-blogaton. Ultimately, I chose to just post it like any other review. It is, after all, the very best picture so far from the reputed cinematic weapon of mass-destruction himself. (That said, I am of the opinion that Boll's reputation is inflated by critics and movie-goers who need to watch more films before they start throwing labels like "worst movie ever" and "worst filmmaker ever."



Postal (2008)
Starring: Zack Ward, Dave Foley, Chris Coppola, Jackie Tohn, Larry Thomas and Vern Troyer
Director: Uwe Boll
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

An unemployed factory worker (Ward) teams up with his con-artist uncle (Dave Foley) to steal a shipment of highly collectible dolls and make their fortune selling them. Unfortunately, Osama bin Laden (Larry Thomas) wants to steal the same dolls for far more nefarious purposes.


Any movie that mocks Osama bin Laden and the homicidal idiots who find him an inspiring figure is one that I automatically have a favorable disposition toward. The world needs works of art that disrespects them in every way possible. Mockery of the Lions of Islam were the highlights of "American Dreamz" (2006) and "An American Carol" (2008)--the only good part of the latter film, actually--and it's a definite highlight of this film. (The funniest joke in the whole film involves Taliban terrorists, an SUV, and the celebratory firing of automatic weapons.)

However, Osama and his fellow psychotic murderers are not the only target in this dark farce that is loosely based on a first-person shooter computer game. The trashier side of American culture and consumerism, the more vicious side of American corporate culture, and the capacity of human beings to buy into the most ridiculous notions if they are presented in a cloak of religious authority. (Although, amusingly, it is a couple of the Muslim criminals who are the prime target of ridicule in the film who come to their senses regarding the lies their leaders feed them.)


As much as much as this movie amused me, I also feel it went too far on too many occasions. Too many of the jokes are simple gross-out gags or taken so far that they cross the line from funny into intentionally and heavy-handedly offensive, while writer/director Uwe Boll tries to cram too much into the film. Basically, almost like the was trying to make a film in the classic Abrams/Zucker mold but failed to understand that those comedies had relatively simple storylines jammed with weird puns and sight gags, while Boll jammed his film with plots and subplots until nothing got the proper amount of time.

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Uwe Boll's 'Postal' dropped by big chains

Uwe Boll is a loudmouth filmmaker who by all accounts has a track record of producing crappy movies. Based on what I've seen, I don't think his work is as bad as some portray it--as I've said in the past, anyone who calls Uwe Boll the "worst filmmaker ever" hasn't seen enough movies--but there's no question that Boll has a higher opinion of his own work than his output seems to warrant.

Boll's latest film, "Postal", was slated to open this Wednesday in theaters, but it has now reportedlly been dropped by major distributors.

"Postal" was slated to open on 1,500 screens (including at the theater I tend to see movies at) and now it reportedly will open only in 4. Boll, of course, was quick to claim that "distributors are boycotting 'Postal' because of its political content" and given that the film apparently mocks Muslim terrorists and American Christian teleevangelists and poticians in equal amounts, he may be right.

"Postal" was the first Uwe Boll film that seemed interesting enough to me to warrant a trip to the multiplex. I was actually priotising it for viewing and reviewing above "Indiana Jones and the Empire of the Crystal Skull" because I was assuming it would be gone in an instant and because the title is so much shorter and easier to type. I'm dissapointed that I won't be able to check it out, but will now instead have to wait until the DVD comes along.

(I've already seen one commenter claim that Boll's film was dropped because theaters didn't want to show a film by someone who consistently turns out crappy movies that flop. If that is the only reason for dropping "Postal", then how does that explain a new Brian De Palma film stinking up movie houses every few years? Perhaps it has more to do with De Palma sucking as a director while also sucking certain parts of the male anatomy of movie industry big-wigs and thus having big studio clout behind his cinematic bowel movements? Insights are welcomed.)

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