I don’t know if you recall, but back in 2006, German director and all around hack Uwe Boll issued a challenge to his harshest critics to step into the ring with him to box. Basically, he was tired of people bashing his painfully bad adaptations of video games like Bloodrayne and Alone in the Dark. I did a comic about it back then, too.

At the time I thought I would include Boll as a regular character. Just someone who would show up and punch Tom for no discernible reason. I kind of forgot about the idea until I heard about In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Or – as I like to call it – ITNOTK: ADST. Much easier that way.

Looking at the film’s entry on IMDB, I’m kind of surprised by the cast list. Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, John Ryhs-Davies, Ron Pearlman, Claire Forlani, Kristanna Lokken, Matthew Lillard, Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds to name a few. Either their unaware of Boll’s poison reputation or they don’t care and are just doing it for the paycheck. But I don’t think anyone was waking into this film expecting it to be the next Lord of the Rings.

I’ve seen a couple of Boll’s movies and I think the reason he gets so much crap – I mean, despite the amateur hand when it comes to staging or shooting a scene – is because he clearly doesn’t have a passion for the video game properties he’s adapting. And when you’re comparing passion against the gamers who make these properties viable, you’d better be right there along with them. You’d better match their passion or they’ll eat you alive. Comic book fans are the same way. But Boll doesn’t seem to care. Not to sound xenophobic, but he comes off like an outsider capitalizing on a trend. A hack whose just in it for the paycheck.

I know a few hard-core gamers that feel strongly that Boll’s films are preventing video games as being seen as a legitimate art form. You’d think they were talking about Jane Fonda setting back the women’s movement 20 years when she started making exercise tapes.

Did I just date myself there?

At any rate, regarding Boll’s challenge. A few internet critics took him up on it. Turns out he was once a semi-pro pugilist. The results are about what you’d expect:

I was going to post my list of Top 10 Films for 2007 to the site today. But I barely got any sleep last night and I don’t think I can articulate myself the way I want. Look for the full list on Friday.

If you want a preview, you can always listen to Monday’s Triple Feature broadcast. I do an overview of my picks 10 through 6 and dig a little deeper on my picks 5 through 1. Plus, you get to hear Gordon and Joe’s picks as well! Everyone wins!

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by the site. I hope everyone survives their Wednesday.