Ed Wood (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Ed Wood (Special Edition)
Movie Review: The best movie ever made about the worst movies ever made...
Summary: 5 Stars
It's taken me a while, but I can finally agree that Johnny Depp is one of our finest working actors. Now that I've been able to explore his earlier work I can truly understand why the world in general loves him so much. I just remember back in 2003 when `Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl' was released and everyone started praising Johnny Depp as the greatest actor on the planet and he finally received his first Oscar nomination, and then the following year he did `Finding Neverland' and yet again the world went crazy and he got yet another nomination, and then he did `Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' and regardless of the fact that his singing voice is below standard he garnered himself yet another Oscar nomination. Looking at it all I thought to myself `really, this is who they love'? Up until that point the only other films I had seen from Depp were some of Burton's less successful films like `Sleepy Hollow', none ever sporting a necessarily grand or impressive performance from Depp. Yes, his creation of Jack Sparrow was iconic and deserved of the praise and admiration, and maybe even that Oscar nomination, but it alone should not have garnered him instant idolization.
Then a few months ago I saw `Edward Scissorhands' and I was smitten with Johnny's performance. There was this rawness about him, this genuine charm and appeal. Then about a week ago I saw `Benny and Joon' and was blown away by Depp's depth of character. Intrigued and stimulated I sought out more Depp, like `What's Eating Gilbert Grape' and yet again was left speechless at Depp's precision and grace. Why was he not embraced for his earlier, grander performances?
This brings me to `Ed Wood', the most recent Depp film I was able to get my hands on. Quite honestly I feel that this may be not only Depp's grandest performance, but it may be his best film (and Burton's best respectively). Telling the story of the most famous `bad' director in Tinseltown, `Ed Wood' chronicles the working life of Edward D. Wood Jr.; a cross-dressing director longing to follow in the footsteps of Orson Welles. Wood longs to create films but he lacks the financial support. His plays are critical flops and his ideas and methods are a bit strange and unconventional, but after a chance meeting with famed actor Bela Lugosi, Wood finally has an edge.
Edward D. Wood Jr. has reached cult fame for his productions of `Plan 9 from Outer Space' and `Glen or Glenda' and both of those films are explored and recreated in this Burton classic. Tim Burton and his cast really capture the spirit of 50's film; the finished product itself plays out almost like a 50's sitcom. The performances by the entire cast are rich with charisma and charm, especially that of Depp and Landau. Johnny Depp embodies Wood's deep-seated naivety and drive to succeed regardless of the costs. He had a vision, and even if it was diluted with incompetence it was his vision and he was going to see it come to cultivation. His character reminded me of a restrained version of his Willy Wonka character, or should I saw that Willy Wonka is a less controlled version of Ed Wood. Landau blows everyone away here though, even Depp. His portrayal of a washed up actor longing to be as loved as he once was is as heartbreaking as it is amusing. Landau won that well deserved Oscar (I personally would have went with Samuel L. Jackson, but Landau is a very close second for me) and truly shines brightly in this very impressive film.
The rest of the cast is magic as well, everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to the always amazing Bill Murray to Jeffrey Jones and Patricia Arquette making an impression on the viewer. There's even a neat little cameo by Vincent D'Onofrio (vocally dubbed of course) as Orson Welles towards the end of the film.
Like Edward D. Wood Jr., Tim Burton has a vision, and what I appreciate about Burton is that he always stays true to his vision. Sure, his gothic type roots are not as prevalent in this picture as in `Edward Scissorhands' or `Sweeney Todd' but the air and spirit, his soul and drive are seen throughout this film. This is Burton at his finest, for instead of relying on props and visuals he draws deeply from within himself to pay tribute to not only the worst director of all time but quite possibly of one the greatest inspirations for aspiring directors today. Sure he was no Welles (one of the greatest cinematic minds of all time) but his story is inspiring, intriguing and extremely entertaining.
Movie Review: Tim Burton does it again, and tells us about an outcast director from the 50's
Summary: 5 Stars
Do you guys remember Edward D. Wood Jr., considered to be one of the worst directors of all time? Tim Burton did a sought-after biopic film about him as well. Let's begin. It opens with a similar intro to Plan 9 From Outer Space with The Amazing Criswell (Jeffery Jones) introducing the basis of the movie. It shows Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) struggling to join the film industry. When he hears for an offer from producer George Weiss (Mike Starr) to join in the production of a gender change film, "I Changed My Sex!", Ed decides to take the offer because he likes to don women disguises with pretty much any women's garments, which is hilarious! He meets his childhood Idol Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau) and they become friends and Bela joins in the movie. He wrote the script and showed to to his then-girlfriend, Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker), who loses her mind when he reviles his secret. He is also great friends with Bunny Breckinridge (Bill Murray), who decides to undergo a gender change surgery, but later changes his mind after an accident. He changed the title of the film to "Glen or Glenda" with Bela beginning the film with his famous line "Pull the String!",and Ed was enthusiastic that he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in his own movie. Unfortunately, it failed commercially, critically and financially. He tries again to land a job at Warner Bros. and fund enough money for his next try at a movie, Bride of the Atom. That was unsuccessful, but he meets Criswell. At the bar, Ed meets Loretta King (Juliet Landau), who he thinks has enough money for his next film. Filming starts, but is put on hold. He convinced meat tycoon, Don McCoy, to fund the rest of the film, on the condition that they cast his son, Tony, and end it with a big explosion. He even meets the local Vampira Show host Vampira (Lisa Marie). As a result of Ed's transvestism and circle of friends, He and Dolores break up after the wrap party. Bela reveals to Ed that he has depression and a morphine addiction, and tries a double suicide, but Ed convinces him to get help in rehab instead. Ed eventually meets and dates Kathy O'Hara (Patricia Arquette), who doesn't mind his nature. Ed begins shooting of another film with Bela outside of his home. The group meets up at the Bride of the Monster premier, with an angry mob chasing them away and looting the car. An angry kid even gets Vampira in the chest! Sometime later, Bela dies leaving Ed without a star. Ed convinces Reynolds that his script for "Grave Robbers from Outer Space" will result in a box office success. He finds a stunt double for the late Bela Lugosi in Kathy's chiropractor Dr. Tom Mason (Ned Bellamy). However, Ed and the Baptists have a problem with the title and decide to change it to Plan 9 from Outer Space along with his cheap movie-making skills. The pressure from the crew caused the distressed Ed to leave the set for the nearest bar where he meets another icon Orson Wells (Vincent D'Onofrio), the director of Citizen Kane, which I am planning to see later on. Wells encourages Ed to follow his dreams, finish the movie in his vision, and take action against the producers. The film ends with the premier for Plan 9, and Ed and Kathy getting married in Las Vegas, with an epilogue showing the outcome of all the main characters. This great, underrated, and sought-after movie shows a certain charm to Ed Wood's career. He made his movies super-fast and super-cheap. He didn't care about the casting and visual effects much. He mainly focuses on the plot despite the stories being dumb. It is another outstanding film by Tim Burton that rivals Edward Scizzorhands among others. It is really funny and features a message to pursue your dreams and that in terms of movie-making, the story matters the most. Most of the actors played the parts flawlessly, but the film's portrayal of Dolores Fuller was different from the real-life version, however. The black-and-white style enhances the mood like one of those early movies from the 40's and 50's and it worked out surprisingly well. If you find this movie, buy it. It is worth it to learn about one of the underdogs of film history.
P.S. When the Golden Turkey Awards gave Ed Wood the honor for worst director of all time, after seeing this film, I would rather give that honor to Uwe Boll! He makes Ed Wood look like James Cameron! Trust me!
Movie Review: Tim Burton's tribute to the worst director of all time
Summary: 5 Stars
"Ed Wood" is a classic about a man with a vision. He has vision but no talent. Originally set to be released late last year, there was a delay due to one of the featurettes (later removed). Like Burton, I grew up watching many of Wood's "epics" that substituted desire and passion for talent and money. Wood's story is an example of the little filmmaker who could regardless of the obstacles. How else explain "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Glen or Glenda?" What's great about "Ed Wood" is you can actually see how everyone bought into his nutty movie ideas. Wood made Super 8 or Digital movies with no budget before anyone else. In that sense, he was ahead of his time.
"Ed Wood" chronicles Wood's difficulty in getting his low-budget visions on film such as "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9" featuring the marvelous actor Bela Lugosi who had fallen on hard times due to his addiction to morphine and an indifferent Hollywood community that didn't care about the talented actor who helped create the horror genre in the 30's with "Dracula". It's as much about the friendship and bond between these two men as it is the challenges Wood faced. It's touching, funny, tragic and dramatic all the best elements for an entertaining and memorable movie.
The undercurrent of comedy that infuses this film also has a touch of tragedy as well. When Wood realizes that he needs a monster Octopus for his no budget "Bride of the Monster" for down on his luck actor Bela Lugosi to tangle with at the conclusion does he rent it or borrow it? No, he steals it because he doesn't have the money to borrow it from the studio. So, in one of the funniest scenes cut from the movie, part of Wood's cast climbs over the studio fence in the middle of the night. When "actor" and former wrestler Tor Johnson can't climb the gate (he's just too darn big), he actually breaks the chain and they rush in to take what they need in a scene that could have come out of a classic Marx Brothers comedy.
The entire cast gives a great performance particularly Academy Award Winner Martin Landau as Lugosi.Landau got his start with Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" and went on to work with other giants of cinema of cinema including George Stevens. Later, he went on to fame on "Mission: Impossible" and "Space: 1999". Landau, no stranger to being down on his luck after disappearing into low budget films in the late 70's and 80's, found much in common with Lugosi. A great American actor who finally was recognized for his talent again with roles in "Tucker", "Crimes and Misdemeanors","The Majestic", "The X-Files: Fight The Future" and others. A brilliant performance that pays tribute to Lugosi and adds humanity to the film, Landau was rightly recognized for with the Oscar and, in a sense, Lugosi was honored as well.
This special edition comes with a number of great featurettes including one that discusses that elusive and popular instrument for science fiction and horror films the teremin. There's also a discussion from make up ace Rick Baker about his make up design for Landau to transform into Lugosi and how he literally did the film as a labor of love. The behind-the-scenes footage hosted by Johnny Depp is, at times, hilarious particularly the footage with Depp in drag. "Pie Plates Over Hollywood" provides both a nice perspective on Wood, his passion for films and Burton's desire to make the film. There's also trailers, a music video and a marvelous commentary track by Burton, Landau, writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski as well as other crew members. The deleted scenes are also pretty darn good and it's clear most were only cut for pacing.
Picture quality is stellar with a sharp and handsome anamorphic transfer in glorious black and white (in tribute to Wood and the era). The only thing missing is the featurette that Tim Burton demanded be removed about the history of cross-dressing. Evidently he felt it wasn't appropriate and poked a bit too much fun at Wood (at least that's what I've heard). Was it essential to the set? No but it would have been nice and I don't think anyone would have been offended by the featurette. Regardless, I'm glad this marvelous movie is finally available on DVD.
Movie Review: Truth is still stranger than fiction!
Summary: 5 Stars
In order to appreciate this film, I think you have to have some innate sensitivity to, and ability to laugh at, the absurdities of everyday life. "Ed Wood" really resonates with many people, but leaves others totally mystified. I know many people for whom this film is an all-time favorite. Others to whom I have recommended it, who I think will flip for it, find it strange or incomprehensible. For me, however -- and I am speaking as a long-time resident of Poughkeepsie, mind -- I think that the fact that Edward D. Wood Jr., once acclaimed The Worst Film Director Of All Time, was a native of Poughkeepsie shows that the universe is operating correctly on some unseen fundamental level.
"Ed Wood" (the film, not the man) is presented much in the style of Ed Wood's (the man's) own movies: In black & white, and taking itself totally, absolutely seriously. Nobody holds up a "LAUGHTER!" sign; you have to see the absurdity of the situations for yourself. We see how it came to pass that the financing for Ed Wood's magnum cinematic opus "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was put up by the Baptist Church; how most of the spoken dialogue in "Plan 9" ends up being given to a Swedish pro wrestler who can barely pronounce English; how actor Bunny Breckenridge (Bill Murray) went to Mexico for a sex-change operation and came back with a Mariachi band instead.
My favorite scene has to be: The cast arriving for the premiere of an earlier Ed Wood film (before Plan 9), at a theater in a very, very rough part of town. They are extremely late, and the audience is hostile. Within minutes of their arrival, the audience becomes a full-blown murderous mob, and Ed and co. flee for their lives. They emerge from the theater to find that their car has been stripped. They save themselves by the leading lady literally throwing herself in front of a passing taxi to force it to stop. They pile into the taxi and it peels off, bricks bouncing off the rear window. Once they manage to catch their breath, Bela Lugosi deadpans, "Now THAT was a premiere."
Lugosi -- played by Martin Landau, who deserved every ounce of that Oscar statue, he might as well have been channeling Lugosi's spirit, his portrayal is uncanny -- has a complex relationship with Ed Wood (Johnny Depp). On the one hand, Ed has a genuine love and appreciation of Lugosi's work, at a time when the rest of Hollywood has written Lugosi off. The two of them grow to become true friends and colleagues, with much mutual respect, and Ed cares for an ailing Lugosi and helps him overcome a debilitating drug addiction. On the other hand, all of these positive vibes between the two have a twist added, one that colors their relationship as actor and director, which is that Ed Wood is a total idiot.
Other people who might find familiar territory in this film are those who have ever been involved in any kind of theater themselves. Whenever I am with a community theater cast, gathered around our review in the local paper, I always think of Ed Wood's girlfriend Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker) looking up from the newspaper to ask, "Do I really have a face like a horse?"
So, depending on your sense of the bizarre, you may or may not "get" this film, but unlike Ed Wood's real-life output, it is not for any lack of ability in the film. The casting is superb, and the whole atmosphere of the film is perfect right from the word go, with The Great Criswell (Jeffrey Jones) rising from the coffin to deliver his classic, wonderfully overacted introductory remarks, followed by Howard Shore's brilliantly weird opening title music with the funky bongos and the eerily wailing theremin.
The very first time I unwrapped my own laserdisc copy of "Ed Wood" and heard the abovementioned Howard Shore bongo/theremin music, I was so weirded out by it that I called my best friend afterwards (at two in the morning, I might add) and played it for him over the phone, saying, "Isn't this the most bizarre thing you have ever heard?" My friend forgave me. I urge you, dear reader, to visit the world of the incomparable, almost unexplainable Ed Wood at least once, and I hope that you also forgive me. --JMF
Movie Review: "VISIONS ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR. WHY SPEND YOUR LIFE MAKING SOMEONE ELSE'S DREAMS?"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best American movies of the last 50 years, and certainly one of the very best comedies. All the praise given out by the reviewers here and elsewhere is deserved, and I can and do say with certainty that if you aren't made of stone you will laugh your head off.
Granted, the film has been created on Wierdland's back lot -- which Burton has staked out for himself, and which he's resolutely plowed for some years -- it appears, nevertheless, that comparing Burton's wonderful BATMAN and all his other exciting apparitions, this effort comes off best. Why? Complex answer required, but in a word, Humanity.
GENRE STUFF. Everybody loves show-biz flicks, as much as they love movies and talkies themselves; from the Barrymore shows (ROYAL FAMILY) to SINGING IN THE RAIN, to A STAR IS BORN (1 and 2), Garland and Rooney and beyond. It's a category worthy of a book, or even a library or two. And ED WOOD is certainly in that genre. It's the story of a sort of idiot-savant of cinema who managed, somehow, to rise to the negative celebrity of "The Worst Director Of All Time" cult status. That's a campy kind of category, both cloying and redundant. Actually, his movies fit or mis-fit into the category of American non-studio or experimental cinema that sprang up after WW II. Put it somewhere close to Kenneth Anger's films. His time-frame is 50's. That includes not only look -- costumes, sets, cars and props, but language. And I think its here that ED WOOD separates itself from the other Burton films; the writing is just a little bit better. The construction of the movie, scene by scene is good, but the dialogue is fabulous! Crisp, brief, idiomatic without being either cute or campy, it has that Hollywood/USA POP culture sound of the decade. Brilliantly done. Ultimately, the credit for that little bit of extra something that makes this movie so unbelievably fine, belongs to the writers.
HOLLYWIERD DAZE? OK, but whatever the movie appears to be about, the real meaning is layered: it is an expression of Faith; faith in the redemptive and transformational power of the love of the performer's trance, whether on stage or here, on sound stage and for film. (Remember Wood's malapropism, 'Havent' you heard about the suspension of disbelief?') It used to be that in the beginning the saying about Chaplin was, "You take Mable Norman and a stepladder to the park, and you come back with a movie." That's the way it was and is, essentially, in Chaplin's LIMELIGHT or in Allen's PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, or one of the Bergman films about Theatre or Circus. This movie, like those, takes place far beneath the layers of technique that disguise mediocre material and dazzle with tricks, noise and light; the conformist cinema. It takes place in the arena of bare-knuckled, face-to-face human encounter. Freak-to-freak, if you will. And it exhibits a truly religious faith on one's ability to make Magic.
Personally, ED WOOD resonates with me because I spent some years working in a similar kind of never-land of semi-improvisatory theatre and film in New York, with a director equally as inept as Wood, and equally as driven, though far, far less likeable. The memory of frantic ineptitude overwhelms me! We called the kind of location shooting we did -- streets, interiors -- Guerilla or Hit-And-Run. No permits. Hurry! Hurry! Watch out for the cops! Improvise. Edit in the camera. His career spanned 42nd St. Sexploitation shows to English Spatter Flicks. Ugly junk, mostly. Nothing much came of any of it, though a very few people who went on to have small or minor careers in professional cinema owe their careers largely to that first exposure. Bad movies, but oh! the intoxication of creation without censure!