Uwe Boll Postal Screening Vancouver Postal: It wasn't as offensive as I thought it would be.

A screening for Uwe Boll's much talked about 9/11 inspired licensed videogame film Postal, proved that, 1) the movie wasn't as bad as many have said it would be, and 2) the audience loved it, and were quite in support of the director.

Tickets for the screening were made available through various outlets, from local newspapers, websites like movieset.com, and businesses like Videomatica. Taking place at the Granville 7 Empire Cinema, with a Q&A by the director after the screening, the show was pretty packed with movie-goers who dared to see what this film was all about. Surprisingly when I spoke to people in the lineup prior to the show, many weren't angry Boll-haters. I noticed this again inside the theater where people applauded Boll, rather than booing. And cheered, rather than insulting. The Q&A after the show also didn't really have anyone making sarcastic remarks, but were more curious to see his thoughts on things like the Anti-Boll petition, the Michael Bay boxing invitational, and movies he enjoys. In other words, respectful. Being I forgot my camera, I unfortunately wasn't able to document this event in images/video.

Boll thanked everyone once they were seated for taking a chance on his indie film rather than the big Hollywood pictures like Speed Racer, from there the show began... This was the third time this week that I've been to a special screening in the same theater, the first being for the Cop drama Vice, (A movie that Boll was previously interested in during the script stage, but passed on it), then Syd Mead/Blade Runner Lecture, and now Postal with Uwe Boll. It definitely feels like film festival season, even though there is no festival going on.

Let me cut to the chase. Postal is a film that relies on politically incorrect humor, to convey Boll's frustrations with the events surrounding 9/11 -- George Bush, the Taliban, Germans, and organic loving hippie cults. The film opens with an amusing conversation of two middle eastern men piloting a plane, as they talk about the number of virgins they'll received upon their death as martyrs. As you would expect, passengers begin fighting their way into the cockpit, and eventually the plane crashes. This scene pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film. The humor based on the beliefs of others, and how they go to the extremes to achieve their god given promises. The audience found this opening scene hilarious, and it seemed that Boll's film had an effect on them from the get go.

The story takes place in a small American town (actually filmed here in Vancouver), in which the main character who is down on his luck, can't seem to find a job, so he hatches a plan to make money, by stealing a shipment of penis dolls called "Krotchy". Osama and company express an interest in gaining these dolls too, as they hold little cylindrical containers with Bird Flu. Both camps collide and the movie ends up being a fight for these Krotchy dolls.

Personally I think the humor in the movie isn't anything new, brilliant or revolutionary. (A woman in the theater during the Q&A actually called Postal brilliant, which I beg to differ) Though the film is FUNNY, it ISN'T the greatest piece of cinema ever made, far from it. I've seen skits on various sketch comedy programs, that attempted the same type of gags, and many times they didn't work, but for some reason, Boll's writing got many laughs, which I noticed throughout the film, even when I thought that a lot of the jokes fell flat. I also don't think the so-called 'offensive' material was pushed ENOUGH, and though many weren't spared when it comes to the jokes, there's a lot that could have been said, (and done), that I expected, but never happened. Which has me wondering why 'people', critics who have seen it, are so repulsed by the material. Stuff like this is on American television all the time.

In fact, I've seen cartoons on SNL's TV Funhouse, and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim that are far far better in terms of pushing the envelope, being able to get a laugh out of how wrong the jokes are. Many in the theater compared Postal to South Park, which would be I guess similar in some respects, but if I had to compare Postal to live-action material, the movie would fall somewhere between a strange cross of Joel Schumacher's Falling Down, and Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, (which I enjoyed) but with less famous people. I would draw the comparison even further with the film sharing the same type of violent, stereotyping, satire that the Grand Theft Auto series is known for, and of course, the Postal game aswell. Which I think he was successful in that respect.

Now I know what you're thinking. How could this be? It's Uwe Boll, and most people hate him, for hating on his videogame material. Well, since I've been playing many hours of GTAIV the last few weeks, going into this movie seemed like a seamless transition. It was like watching a live-action GTA in a way. I know I'm gonna get shit for saying that, but I don't care, they are not that dissimilar from each other. A game that broke record sales, with millions of people sitting in front of their TV's doing exactly the same questionable actions that appear in this movie, gamers should at the very least find Postal humorous, and entertaining.

Though, it isn't perfect, and it felt sometimes as if there wasn't anything worth caring about in the movie, not the main characters, no one. I think the movie starts to slow down during the last half of the film, rather than coming to an exciting climax, it becomes a mess of 'stuff happening' on screen that kinda bored me. There's this one scene in particular that involves a massive shootout, and a speech that the main character gives, which seriously irked me, it wasn't funny, just badly done. To top it off there are many shots of female breasts, and nudity if that's the only thing that'll get you to watch the movie.

If anything Boll is successful in making an odd comedy, and perhaps should stick to this type of genre. His next few films though, definitely sound much more serious.

Boll, on feeling like a Black Sheep, and struggling indie filmmaker.

During the Q&A Boll expressed his dislike for Hollywood, and the machine in which movies are made. He mentioned that a few Sony executives saw Postal, and enjoyed it, but turned it down for distribution because they felt "they're demographic wouldn't get it". Boll thinks that the entire Hollywood system is fucked up, when someone like Michael Bay who made such an expensive blockbuster gone wrong (Pearl Harbor) continues to make movies. He also mentioned that Bay's lawyers have stopped him from making Boxing challenges. Boll, also felt sorry for investors of Hollywood films, saying that only people at the top of the chain make money whereas those at the bottom, never really make big bucks from their investments, and used The Lord of the Rings as an example. He had an LA agent for 3 weeks, but then fired him, and prefers to get his films out there himself. Europe also has been unkind to his movie Postal, being unable to secure theaters in UK.

In the end...

I can't argue against a theater packed with people who laughed with the movie, rather than at it. It was a funny movie. Whether it was a good movie, is an entirely different thing. Is the world coming to an end? Maybe. Watch it and you be the judge. That is all.

related: Raging Boll Boxing Match, Signing the Petition?, "They Wait" Horror Film

Please stop sending me the Stop Uwe Boll Petition!!

Jumping on the Uwe Boll "hate" bandwagon is so 2006

Just because I interviewed the guy at his Raging Boll Boxing publicity stunt, doesn't mean I actually care for his movies. In fact, I don't give a flying F*ck. I just don't care, to the extent that I don't care for the petition to stop his filmmaking career.

Why do people even care about his movies anyway? He hasn't exactly turned the most popular video games, into horrendous films. Besides, it's not like gamers really cared about the Alone in the Dark, and House of the Dead games.

How many people actually played House of The Dead? How Many people actually played Alone in the Dark?

Sure they have a following, (a cult following which includes me) but they ain't no Halo, in terms of sales, or mainstream pop-cultural acceptance.

These games should never have been made into movies. Even if they were made by a different director, I'm sure they'd be pretty shiotty. Hello! House of the Dead! Anyone who's actually played the series knows it has a pretty campy/cheesy/cliched storyline with awful cinematics and voice over. I wasn't exactly waiting around for someone to make it into a feature film.

It's not like there were many people who remembered Alone in the Dark, either. Most people on the petition probably aren't old enough to remember Alone in the Dark! As for BloodRayne, Dungeon Siege, Postal... never interested me. Yet I can see where the anger comes from. Why make these games into films if people weren't hoping and wishing for movies based on them. Especially given Uwe's reputation, and the way they turned out. We have every right to fear more crappy video game to film abominations.

But everyone needs to realize that there are worse movies out there, and worse directors. Why aren't people bitching about Paul Anderson, and his Resident Evil flicks? He's raped Resident Evil, the Alien/Predator franchise, and now OMG Castlevania with Stomp the Yard director Sylvain White?!! Or what about Xavier Gen and his Hitman filck, that no one saw. Let's not forget Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, Roland Joffé, Dean Semler, all of who had a hand in making Super Mario Bros. the movie. What about DOA: Dead or Alive? or The live-action Street Fighter directed by Steven E. de Souza (who also helped write The Cradle of Life)? Lara Croft: Tomb Raider by Simon West? Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life by Jan de Bont

What about the new Street Fighter? Maybe there should be a petition to end Andrzej Bartkowiak's career... a director who also just so happened to direct Doom... as well as Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave, and other hip hop martial arts cheese??

Gamers shouldn't be angry at solely Uwe Boll. Hollywood is to blame. Developers/Publishers who whore out their properties without much involvement (if any), in it's adaptation and production are to blame. Video game's aren't being treated, or respected as source material, as novels are treated when adapting for film. It's a shame.

I'm not worried about Uwe. I'm more worried about McG doing the next Terminator filck, and Paul Anderson molesting Castlevania. The world is coming to an END.

Signing the petition is like contributing to a marketing survey that shows statistically, 1 million people are aware of Uwe Boll's existence. What an ego booster. If you wanted to hate on someone, ignoring them is worse than acknowledging.

They Wait VIFF Screening: They Wait, delivers thrills, and chills, in a formulaic package, but a unique story with enough scares to keep the most jaded film goer satisfied, makes this movie worth watching. Vancouver International Film Festival

The immigrant experience of Chinese to the western world in the early 1900's was no doubt a difficult time. Hard enough was being so far from home, but dying in an unfamiliar place, a world away from family, was a fear many hoped to avoid. The practice of sending the bones of the deceased back to homeland, to be buried alongside ancestors was a common superstitious practice. Yet, what would happen if your bones never made it back? The restless spirits would terrorize those who neglected them. Or so that's what They Wait wants you to believe.

The film stars Jaime King (Sin City), and centers on her son Sammy, as they return to Vancouver, from Shanghai to attend the funeral of an uncle. Considered by the community as a "bone collector", his death occurs eerily around the same time that the Chinese festival 'Ghost Month' is in full swing. Like any good ghost story, Sammy begins to see spirits around his uncle's house located in Chinatown. It's soon revealed that his family's old manufacturing and importing business holds some shady secrets. Martial arts legend Pei-pei Cheng (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), plays Sammy's strict Aunt, and Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens), plays a photographer, with two short scenes in the entire film.

I really wanted to hate this film. I really did. After hearing that Doctor Uwe Boll was attached to the production as Executive Producer, one has to wonder what sort of film has been cooked up. It received some lukewarm reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, and though at first glance, the ghostly thriller might seem like another 'killer' Uwe Boll Production, They Wait, manages to be anything but the German filmmaker's style. Directed by Ernie Barbarash, a director and producer of various film/tv sequels, with a story/screenplay written by some guy who used to work on "The Outer Limits" tv series, this movie manages to float ever so slightly above a pile of shit, in fact it’s quite an entertaining film with the standard scares that will surely please horror fans.

The movie uses the formula commonly seen in western remakes of Japanese horror films. Placing a Caucasian female lead in unfamiliar cultural situations, to give us the viewer, a window into the unknown as outsiders. Jaime King is not only gorgeous, but she held the film together with a pretty convincing performance as a mother driven to near insanity trying to figure out what's going on with her son. It works for the most part. The film isn't terrible, nor is it mind blowing. It has moments of bad acting, and slow pace, but it has enough scary stuff in there to make it a memorable film. I give the writer credit for telling a different kind of ghost story with Chinese folklore in a western setting. Kudos to the director for pulling it off.

It is almost entirely a Canadian production, priding itself in its Vancouver locations, Visual Effects talent, production crew, and Symphony orchestra, Uwe Boll's influence on the movie, wasn’t really a creative one. Who knows, having his name attached to the film might make it easier to distribute this movie if ever it makes it to regular theaters. Then again, it might backfire. In any case, this movie is worth watching when it comes out on DVD.

Related: VIFF screening: The Band's Visit, and Malos Habitos (Bad Habits).