Ed Wood (1994)

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Cut! That was perfect! "When it came to making bad movies, Ed Wood was the best."My new favorite Tim Burton film. Ed Wood is a superb biography of the Worst Director of All-time. The film is hilarious because of how Burton and Depp approach Ed Wood. They don't completely make an ass out of him, but show him in a pretty likable light. He is shown as a hardworking and dedicated filmmaker who would go to any lengths in order to make his vision come alive. Yeah, maybe his vision was fucking horrible, but at least he tried his damnedest to do the thing he loved. All that trying payed off because now he is famous; sure it is as the worst director ever, but famous none the less.Throughout the movie Wood was always comparing himself to Orson Welles. He said that the only two people who were writing, directing producing and acting in their movies, were Welles and himself. That's quite an accomplishment, except Welles was doing Citizen Kane and Wood was doing movies like Glenn or Glenda and Plan 9 From Outerspace. Most of his movies are widely revered as some of the worst ever made. I haven't had the pleasure of watching some of his movies and this biography didn't really make me want to run out and watch one.The film is shot in black and white and has the signature Burton/Depp quirkiness about it. There are no two people in the world who were more qualified to make this film. When you think of a movie about a horrible director, you think it can't be all that great. This film is picture perfect in how it handles the material and Burton makes it a joyful and funny look at a talentless man.It's kind of funny that Burton would first direct this and then direct a movie like Mars Attacks directly afterwards. I liked Mars Attacks, but it's ironic that he would first make a movie about Ed Wood and then one that was inspired by all the sci-fi garbage of Wood's time. Either way, Burton is a genius and this is one of the best, if not the best, movies of his career.