Ed Wood (1994) *****

Ed Wood is about the worst director ever (not Uwe Boll) and his odyssey to give us another Citizen Kane. What Ed Wood gave us was Plan 9 From Outer Space, which some call the worst film ever made (I have to argue that I've seen much worse in the last 6 months with bigger budgets and bigger stars).

What's great about Ed Wood is that it feels like a cheesy B movie with over the top dialogue from most of the stars. It's almost as if their lives are a B movie. Depp is awesome as Wood, a man who is so removed from reality that he doesn't realize how much his films suck.

The breakout is Martin Landau as Bella Lugosi. Landau accomplishes a feat that's difficult for an actor: he brings Lugosi back from the dead. He seels us Bella and we don't know any high pressure tactics to buy it. A deserved Oscar win for Landau.

Ed Wood is a great film that's an underdog story. Ed is a main that wants fame from his film and even though the fame he got isn't quite the same as what Roson Welles achieved with Kane there is a symetry between Woods career and Welles. Both peaked with the film they're remembered for and both faded into the obscurity of each level of their stardom. Welles did fish stick commercials and Wood did softcore porn. What's the difference?