tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post4835443475322139426..comments2024-03-27T10:27:59.266-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: CULT MOVIE REVIEW: Ed Wood (1994)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-45215381311280036842011-10-18T23:00:02.266-04:002011-10-18T23:00:02.266-04:00Wonderful review of a great Tim Burton film, John....Wonderful review of a great Tim Burton film, John. I think you're correct in spotlighting it as your opening film to this series. It really is Burton and his art in a nutshell. I'd forgotten how interesting and heartfelt this movie is. The Wood/Lugosi hero-worship dynamic does drive the film in sincere ways while showing Hollywood at its harshest. The B&W photography by Stefan Czapsky really is stunning, too.<br /><br />It was surprising to catch the number of character actors sprinkled throughout this production. I'd also forgotten the unmistakable L.A.-specific locations Burton used in the film, many in fact near Bela Lugosi's home and his final resting spot at Holy Cross Cemetery (same place my in-laws are buried). The scene where Ed first drives Bela home actually went through the Inglewood Oil Fields (also used in Bela's burial scene) near the Baldwin Hills.<br /><br />"<i>Your the ruler of the galaxy... show a little taste.</i>"<br /><br />One of my favorite, but short, sequences I rediscovered when screening it again is when Vampira travels to the Plan 9 shoot. Her on the bus and then walking down the lonely alley is just masterful. Finally, this movie has one of the great and distinct movie title sequences, like ever (though I'm sure the actors were more than a little wary seeing their names on tombstones in weed-strewn cemetery skate by).<br /><br />It was awesome to re-watch and read your keen examination, John. The film does have a heart of acceptance, doesn't it? I appreciate the film all the more now. Looking forward to <i>Pee Wee's Big Adventure</i> next week, my friend. Many thanks.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-70598559193415809692011-10-14T19:15:06.693-04:002011-10-14T19:15:06.693-04:00Hi JKM;
I looked forward to your review of this c...Hi JKM;<br /><br />I looked forward to your review of this classic and was not disappointed. I agree; this is the best of Burton's movies and that is saying something. It's really magic.<br /><br />DLRDLRnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-44635757327903552292011-10-14T18:23:22.929-04:002011-10-14T18:23:22.929-04:00Vincent D`onofrio's hilarious impersonation of...Vincent D`onofrio's hilarious impersonation of Orson Welles always makes me fall about laughing.teddy crescendonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-38423993248384167912011-10-14T16:02:46.818-04:002011-10-14T16:02:46.818-04:00One of my fave scenes in this film is when Lugosi ...One of my fave scenes in this film is when Lugosi talks about what's wrong with modern horror films: "they don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today, it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers. Who would believe such nonsense?" <br /><br />For Lugosi, the older films were "mythic, they had poetry." Even though he is talking about horror films of the 1950's, he could easily be talking about the horror films of today where subtlety and imagination has been replaced by sterile, state-of-the-art special effects and formulaic stories. <br /><br />The clunky effects of these older movies, with their rubber-suited monsters and fake blood, have a certain texture to them that you can almost touch. There is something comforting about this because you know that it's real. Computer effects, for the most part, lack any real textures and are too perfect looking — they lack any kind of personality.<br /><br />I think Gavin Smith said it best in his excellent interview with Burton for FILM COMMENT where he described Wood as the "patron saint of movie junkies, raptly mouthing his own films’ dialogue ROCKY HORROR-style, his own number one fan."<br /><br />There is something endearing about that and why I really love this film as it celebrates not only cinema but watching movies - the actual act, the getting caught up in a film for the duration, getting sucked into the world that the filmmakers create and finding yourself caught up in the story and the characters' dilemmas.<br /><br />Excellent article, JKM!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.com