Ed Wood

[Deadmanisalive]

A title like "the Worst Director of All Time" virtually assures that people will remember Ed Wood, although perhaps not in exactly the way the filmmaker would have preferred. Tim Burton, with a biopic that is as much a parody as a tribute, has brought Wood to black-and-white life in the person of actor Johnny Depp, and surrounded him with a cast whose members often bear an uncanny resemblance to their real-life counterparts.


I loved the Ed Wood movie, but Im not the biggest fan of Ed Wood the director. I know he's a cult film icon, but I can't relate with his movies at all. But this is a thread about cult films and I just thought that Ed Wood deserved to be included in here.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Tim Burton's ED WOOD is a great movie. Johnny Depp and Martin Landau as Wood & Bela Lugosi are fantastic.
Ed Wood the director, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired.
His infamous PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is a study in filmmaking ineptitude. Bad actors, story, script, editing, F/X, etc.
Wood's definitely earned his "cult" status.

[Axella]

I've seen too many writers/reviewers dismiss Mr Wood's lack of talent/skills, saying instead that his "passion" and "love of film" made up for his ineptitude as a filmmaker.

Well, I don't love songs sung by bad, off-key singers, no matter how much they may love to sing, and it naturally follows that I don't appreciate bad films made by bad filmmakers!

I have enjoyed some of EW's films, but surely not in the way he intended.

Some say that his films fall into the "so bad they're good" category, but IMHO it's more like they're so bad, they're hilarious.

His stock troupe of actors just purely sucked!

The scripts? The props? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

But they are fun to watch, and are hopefully shown in every film school.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Axella said:

But they are fun to watch, and are hopefully shown in every film school.

Yeah, in the class, "How Not To Do It - 101".
Welcome to the board Axella.

[Axella]

Thank you.

Yes, I do believe that film students should be (and probably are) shown, by the illustrious Ed Wood, how not to make films.

Contrary to others, I believe that even if he had a budget of millions per film, they still would've been somewhat less than stellar.

[Heineken Skywalker]

You're welcome, and be sure to post in the "Introduce Yourself" thread to properly introduce yourself to all the board members. Don't be shy.

Axella said:

Contrary to others, I believe that even if he had a budget of millions per film, they still would've been somewhat less than stellar.

Absolutely! Millions of dollars wasn't gonna help him write a better screenplay. I have no problem with low budget or hiring "actors" who are your friends, just look at Kevin Smith's CLERKS. The difference is that Smith's script is highly entertaining. Intentionally.
Even if Wood had cast Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson & Meryl Streep to act in something like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE the results still would've been laughably bad.

[Heineken Skywalker]

From DVDReview.Com:
Director Ed Wood was one who never took no for an answer. What was true for the director, seems true for the film which bears his moniker. "Ed Wood" is back on the release schedule for October.
The film is in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 the specs have not changed from the few existing discs which have slipped onto the market.
The new release date has been set for October 19th. The suggested retail price is $29.99.


Oh joy! I've been looking forward to this one for a while now.

[Heineken Skywalker]

BTW, now that the DVD of Burton's ED WOOD has been out for a couple of weeks, I highly recommend everyone get it. It's just as good as I remembered. Johnny Depp is hilarious in it! I love this movie! ;D

[ZapRowsdower]

I love Ed Wood. It was such a great movie. Johnny Depp was great in it, but come on, does that really need to be said? Isn't Johnny Depp usually a name associated with greatness? I mean, his performance alone makes Secret Window worth seeing (even though the story sucked).

So without mentioning the great Johnny Depp, I gotta hand it to Martin Landau. I say he deserved his Oscar back in '95. Yes, even though he was put up against Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (Jules Winnfield is one of my favorite characters of all time mind you), Martin Landau had the best performance that year. "Karloff? Sidekick? FUCK YOU! Karloff did not deserve to smell my shit! That limey cocksucker can rot in Hell for all I care!"

[Heineken Skywalker]

Landau was brilliant and his makeup by Rick Baker was equally deserving of an Oscar.

Yeah, Depp is one of those few actors who is interesting to watch even when the movie isn't up to par. He should've received an Oscar nomination as well.

[LivingDeadGirl]

Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen all of this movie...just bits and pieces. I guess the Movie Police will be knocking on my door...

[Heineken Skywalker]

livingdeadgirl said:

I guess the Movie Police will be knocking on my door...

Not yet, but definitely in a couple of years. You've still got time to save yourself.

[Bartwald]

I gotta watch it, too, finally!

[Phoenix]

IamTheSmitty said:

I love Ed Wood. It was such a great movie. Johnny Depp was great in it, but come on, does that really need to be said? Isn't Johnny Depp usually a name associated with greatness?

Yes; yes he is. And Ed Wood is an awesome movie! I didn't buy it on DVD yet but it's on my list.

[Pulpmariachi]

I saw this movie on TCM at like, one in the morning. It was a great film. I loved Bill Murray's character, who wanted to be a queen or something. That was great, especially because of Murray's always great, dry delivery.

Wasn't one of the taglines "Movies were his passion, women his (something, I forgot), and his weekness...angora sweaters."?