Abishai100
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- Sep 22, 2013
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Ed Wood (Tim Burton) review. Thanx for reading,
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Fans of the unusual/great Tim Burton have come to appreciate him as a very other-worldly kind of storyteller/cinema-man for incomplete-arts of the dark side, quirky, insane, colorful, glassy, character-driven, basic/bizarre, and if big-production nevertheless human-heart simplified. Well, he hit a stranger note with this biopic-stylized portrait of an (equally?) offbeat/strange movie-arts director, Ed Wood (portrayed wonderfully in Burton's film by Johnny Depp). Wood's films were stripped-down, nothing impressive, but seemed to be earnestly made to craft some creative/personal image of stories of under-tones bizarreness (sometimes 'lingering' between mediocre and fantasy-funny of the privacy-portraiture).
Burton's film features a quiet and very effective American cast, which includes the Oscar-winner Martin Landau who portrays Bela Lugosi (Dracula old-movies fame) with perfection. Burton explores Ed's earnest quest for the film-making 'process' as oddly human and oddities-driven for creative rights to simply make movies (ha). Burton opted to make the picture in black-and-white and it's a nice touch that catches both the strip-down feel of Wood's own films/projects while creating a rather odd but funny and charmed old-movie age feel of things of groups and sets and experiences and humility (mixed with challenge).
There's a funny scene in which Depp's character (Ed Wood) needs some quiet/quick inspiration; and he finds it in the secret interview at a restaurant with legendary American film-maker genius Orson Welles. Overall, many find this Burton quiet-gem both eerie and softly brilliant for its eccentric magnetic 'hyperbole' of what makes movies (or storytelling) of human value/superstition.
Depp really does a wonderful job in the picture, but Burton was blessed to choose Landau to portray the great Bela Lugosi, whose career sharply diminished but was given a 2nd-chance jar of things by Ed Wood's projects/vision. Lugosi struggled in more ways than one, and Landau really nailed Burton's view of what makes the film-making/art universe one of undeniable hypnosis-focus (or magnification) of the individual's neck-ties and brains (or smiles-and-cries).
If you find yourself wondering what to do on a given Sunday for comfort-food ordered and a Netflix joy in the afternoon with your beloved, something that blends movie-magic and superstition and personality-funny things and quiet black-and-white sleepy cuteness, pair this Burton 1994 quiet-gem with some Thai coconut soup or something with Uber-Eats.
What stands out to me in this Burton portrait of Ed Wood's simply forgotten 'love' of movies/tales is a nearly-perfect blending of dialogue and cinematography which are meant (IMO) to highlight why cinema is that magic art of things of chairs, demons, lemonade, drive-ins, funny-consciousness, or even dark field goals. While Burton's film received very unusual reactions (naturally!), I go out on limb here and give this quiet-treasure 5/5 stars (if only for its 'candid' image of the movie-workshop). What do you think (Selfie-like)?
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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)
====
Fans of the unusual/great Tim Burton have come to appreciate him as a very other-worldly kind of storyteller/cinema-man for incomplete-arts of the dark side, quirky, insane, colorful, glassy, character-driven, basic/bizarre, and if big-production nevertheless human-heart simplified. Well, he hit a stranger note with this biopic-stylized portrait of an (equally?) offbeat/strange movie-arts director, Ed Wood (portrayed wonderfully in Burton's film by Johnny Depp). Wood's films were stripped-down, nothing impressive, but seemed to be earnestly made to craft some creative/personal image of stories of under-tones bizarreness (sometimes 'lingering' between mediocre and fantasy-funny of the privacy-portraiture).
Burton's film features a quiet and very effective American cast, which includes the Oscar-winner Martin Landau who portrays Bela Lugosi (Dracula old-movies fame) with perfection. Burton explores Ed's earnest quest for the film-making 'process' as oddly human and oddities-driven for creative rights to simply make movies (ha). Burton opted to make the picture in black-and-white and it's a nice touch that catches both the strip-down feel of Wood's own films/projects while creating a rather odd but funny and charmed old-movie age feel of things of groups and sets and experiences and humility (mixed with challenge).
There's a funny scene in which Depp's character (Ed Wood) needs some quiet/quick inspiration; and he finds it in the secret interview at a restaurant with legendary American film-maker genius Orson Welles. Overall, many find this Burton quiet-gem both eerie and softly brilliant for its eccentric magnetic 'hyperbole' of what makes movies (or storytelling) of human value/superstition.
Depp really does a wonderful job in the picture, but Burton was blessed to choose Landau to portray the great Bela Lugosi, whose career sharply diminished but was given a 2nd-chance jar of things by Ed Wood's projects/vision. Lugosi struggled in more ways than one, and Landau really nailed Burton's view of what makes the film-making/art universe one of undeniable hypnosis-focus (or magnification) of the individual's neck-ties and brains (or smiles-and-cries).
If you find yourself wondering what to do on a given Sunday for comfort-food ordered and a Netflix joy in the afternoon with your beloved, something that blends movie-magic and superstition and personality-funny things and quiet black-and-white sleepy cuteness, pair this Burton 1994 quiet-gem with some Thai coconut soup or something with Uber-Eats.
What stands out to me in this Burton portrait of Ed Wood's simply forgotten 'love' of movies/tales is a nearly-perfect blending of dialogue and cinematography which are meant (IMO) to highlight why cinema is that magic art of things of chairs, demons, lemonade, drive-ins, funny-consciousness, or even dark field goals. While Burton's film received very unusual reactions (naturally!), I go out on limb here and give this quiet-treasure 5/5 stars (if only for its 'candid' image of the movie-workshop). What do you think (Selfie-like)?
====
"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)
