Ed Wood Review...

Ed Wood, was an American screenwriter, director, producer, actor, author, and editor, who often performed many of these functions simultaneously in his films. In the 1950s, Wood made a run of cheap and poorly produced genre films, now humorously celebrated for their technical errors and unsophisticated special effects, with his flair for showmanship giving his projects at least a modicum of critical success. Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest name star, Béla Lugosi, died; with his career declining thereafter. His posthumous fame began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time. The lack of conventional filmmaking ability in his work has since earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following.



Following the publication of Rudolph Grey's biography Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992), Wood's life and work have undergone a public rehabilitation of sorts, with Tim Burton's biopic of the director's life, Ed Wood, earning two Academy Awards. Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as Edward D. Wood, Jr. himself. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Béla Lugosi. I didn't find Ed Wood as enjoyable as Lost in La Mancha, i felt it dragged on a bit too long and lacked a selling point that would keep me wanting to watch the film. However, I found it very interesting to watch a biopic of 'the worst director of all time' because for the same reasons i enjoyed Lost in La Mancha, it presented the bad side of filmmaking which is something you may occasionally hear about but it's not often you get to witness it. After watching the film, i can't help but feel that although Ed Wood has deservedly earned the status of 'worst director of all time', i was longing for a bit of success for the man. I couldn't see myself watching this film again because it was too dragged out, rather dull and a bit repetitive in places, but I would say that it was another clear example of Johnny Depp's versatile acting style, with another very good performance. It seems we are following the route of 'filmmaking gone wrong' with this choice of films, so i'm looking forward to what Alan shows us next.