Ed Wood.

Did you see the movie about his life and times?

The movie about him starring Johnny Depp is great.

Ed Wood was a seriously untalented hack.

When I watched Plan 9 From Outer Space, it was almost a transcendant experience. Why? Because I'd heard so much about it being nearly preternaturally bad, and now found that nothing had been exaggerated. It wasn't just incompetent or suffering from a low budget; it was as if there was a curse on every line, every camera set-up.

In a way, it was heartbreaking, because you can tell that all the way through Ed Wood thought he was doing something worthwhile. Sometimes he's so close to expressing an interesting concept, or even something philosophically profound -- but his Anti-Muse screws him every time.

And, there's a cop who keeps scratching his head with his gun. That never stops being funny.

A while back I saw a notice about a movie in pre-production, called Grave Robbers From Outer Space. Something about the title nudged at the back of my mind, until I remembered it was the original title for Plan 9. Yes, somebody had decided to remake Woods' movie. Apparently it's on hold now, and I'm not sure if it's a worthwhile idea. It would be pointless to make it deliberately bad, because it still wouldn't be as hilariously bad as the original, sincerely unwitting effort. And if somehow it was actually good -- I don't know what would happen. Something apocalyptic, perhaps.

Ed was enthusiastic about everything.

Personally, I wouldn't call that genius. Just enthusiastic.

Shelley

He's a genius because he went through merely bad, accelerated across fricking awful and landed in WTF land.

His genius was for making films that are beyond description bad with heart and soul and a real belief in what he was doing. Amazing to watch.

CatharsisChild said:

He may have made crap, but he put his heart into it.

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In some ways he did. When you really put your heart into filmmaking, however, you take the time to make sure the sound editing is done properly.

Coleman Francis makes Ed Wood look like Peter Jackson.

Torgo said:

Coleman Francis makes Ed Wood look like Peter Jackson.

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Roger that. At least in an Ed Wood movie there's enough goofy stuff going on that it's got a bizarre entertainment value. Coleman Francis always seemed to have about one page of screenplay, stretched out to an hour and a half. When they did his movies on MST3K, they had to work like dogs to keep riffing. (To be honest, I've tried twice to watch Red Zone Cuba, and still can't explain what happens in it.)

Y'know something Coleman Francis never learned? That when you show a reaction shot, you don't have to keep holding it for a full minute. (Or however long it is. I know it's long enough for me to feel my death getting closer.)

Manuel Royal said:

Y'know something Coleman Francis never learned? That when you show a reaction shot, you don't have to keep holding it for a full minute. (Or however long it is. I know it's long enough for me to feel my death getting closer.)

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The Mystery Science Theater version takes away the pain. Mostly.

I think Ed Wood, Coleman Francis and Roger Corman were MST3K favorites, for obvious reasons.

Shelley

"Night Traaaain! To Mundo Feeeeeeeenay!"

As far as I can tell, in Red Zone Cuba, a profoundly unappealing convict played by the director escapes from prison, where by the looks of him he was sent for being a psychopath who eats his victims. He runs in to two Samuel Beckett characters, stewing their boots in a blasted hellscape, and together they make their way - via a Coleman Francis motif, the light aircraft - to sign on as mercenaries, which as it turns out means joining up with the Bay of Pigs invasion.

They get shipped out to Cuba, wet their pants, get captured by a cigar-chewing Fidel Castro impersonator in a false beard, escape the least-well secured stockade in the history of cinema, and haul ass for the nearest light aircraft. They also heroically abandon their CO to die, but only after he reveals that he's the owner of a mine full of precious minerals back in the USA.

They show up at the mine and push their CO's wife around until she agrees to help them exploit the fabulous tungsten wealth therein; they also do a little murdering to keep their hands in. It's all in vain though as soon enough the cops show up to shoot them to death, and also their CO turns up, having not died of his wounds in Cuba after all.

Everything is shot in the inimitable Francis style; a director whose eye captures nothing but greyness, dullness, and especially ugliness. Like all his movies, there's not a single frame that doesn't look like a grainy newsprint photograph accompanying an article about someone who turned out to have a chest freezer full of nurses.

Torgo, that post was so much more entertaining than the actual movie. "Chest freezer full of nurses" could be the new catchphrase I've been looking for.

If you can find anything by Doris Fish, you'll realize there's somebody even lower on the totem pole than Wood.

kuwisdelu said:

The movie about him starring Johnny Depp is great.

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Johnny Depp is a genius. Which probably largely reflects his extraordinary work ethic and preparation as much as his talent, IMHO. The movie Ed Wood was brilliant.

--Ken

Manuel Royal said:

Torgo, that post was so much more entertaining than the actual movie. "Chest freezer full of nurses" could be the new catchphrase I've been looking for.

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You're welcome!

Torgo said:

. . . look like Peter Jackson.

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Does that mean, "showing technical skill but immature artistic judgement"? You could do worse.

Ha!

Manuel Royal said:

Does that mean, "showing technical skill but immature artistic judgement"? You could do worse.

Ha!

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Yeah, Jackson's the most talented special effects director I have ever seen. The artistic judgment... well, I love The Frighteners and almost all of LOTR, but King Kong is utterly baffling to me.

Torgo said:

Yeah, Jackson's the most talented special effects director I have ever seen. The artistic judgment... well, I love The Frighteners and almost all of LOTR, but King Kong is utterly baffling to me.

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But, damn it, it looks great.

Torgo said:

Yeah, Jackson's the most talented special effects director I have ever seen. The artistic judgment... well, I love The Frighteners and almost all of LOTR, but King Kong is utterly baffling to me.

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I wish Peter Jackson knew when not to use special effects. "Hm, should I rely on world-famous actress Cate Blanchett to nail the line? Or should I turn her green and glowing and modify her voice?" (And I've never figured out whether that was supposed to be literally happening, or was a pointless cinematic device, or what.)

Saw Bride of the Monster recently. Kind of sad; I wish Bela Lugosi could have had a real comeback, because in spite of age and drug addiction, he still had some acting chops. With a good script, a competent director and a decent production, he could have still done something worthwhile.

Plan Nine from Outer Space is at least entertaining. I speak as someone who has sat through They Saved Hitler's Brain.