Artist Ed Wood

Johnny Depp gives one of his finest performances as the title character in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, a biopic about the most oddball auteur in Hollywood history. Martin Landau won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a down-and-out Bela Lugosi, but the entire production is equally fantastic, from the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography to the note-perfect recreations of Wood’s spectacularly inept scenarios. Although it’s easy to laugh at the crudeness of a film such as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Burton ensures that Ed Wood can also be seen as a poignant tribute to individual vision, something that he, as a director, can certainly identify with.

Updated 12/17/2009