Love it or hate it, ya gotta see it!

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2001)

Several weeks ago a director who won an Oscar in the 1940's died, and I didn't recognize his name or his achievements. Ed Wood wanted desperately to be known as a director, and people remember him better today than many much more illustrious directors. It's hard to consider him a failure, since he did write, direct, and make films, (albeit terrible ones), he is remembered, and his films are popular still. This film captures the essence of his desire to direct films, no matter under what circumstances. It's a perfect film for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, who seem to specialize in off the wall films about unusual characters. They show the cast of oddballs he gathered around him to make his movies, without casting obvious judgement on them, thereby allowing the audience to draw it's own conclusions. The first time I saw it in the theatre, at least 1/3 of the audience walked out in the first ten minutes, and the remainder enjoyed every minute. Highly recommended, but not a mainstream film. I was surprised and impressed that Martin Landau received an Oscar for his role, since it wasn't a type of film likely to be popular with hollywood's cognoscenti.