Tim Burton rewatch! After taking on Gotham City, Halloweentown, and Beetlejuice’s afterlife, Burton’s next film was his strangest setting yet – real life Hollywood, in 1994’s Ed Wood.

Here’s what happens: Edward D. Wood Jr. came to Hollywood to make movies, but doesn’t have the resources or connections to do so. A chance meeting with former superstar Bela Lugosi might give Ed and his eccentric friends a chance. Also, Ed has a secret that he hasn’t yet told his girlfriend…

Origin story: The movie is based less on the life of Ed Wood and more on the book Nightmare of Ecstasy by Rudolph Grey. These are both the “good parts version” of Ed Wood’s real-life story, either skipping or shortening Ed’s WWII years before Hollywood, and his later unhappy years marked by addiction problems. Instead, both focus on the fun stuff, the making of Ed’s most well-known movies.

Outsider theory: A lot of the movie’s time is spent on Ed and his friends trying and often failing to raise money to produce their movies. Even among their successes, Ed and his friends never get the recognition from Hollywood they desire.  

Then there’s the matter of Ed transvestitism. Although initially portrayed as something odd, the characters, and the movie as a whole, eventually comes around to the attitude of, “That’s just Ed, and that’s a thing he does.”

Reality breaks through: Ed is at first dating Delores, and their relationship ends after she breaks down and confronts everyone with the fact that their movies are, well, bad. Ed later meets his new love Kathy at one of his darker moments, when Bela is in the hospital, finances are down, and all seems lost.

Best bits: Ed: “If I had half a chance, I could make an entire movie using this stock footage. The story opens on these mysterious explosions. Nobody knows what’s causing them, but it’s upsetting the buffalo. So, the military is called in.”

Thoughts on this viewing: The stranger-than-fiction nature of Ed’s movies and his world make for great comedy. The script builds this up with additional great witticisms and a lot of heart as well. In the end, the movie is about celebrating Ed and his work, and not making him a punchline. A lot of Ed’s real-life fans over the years have argued that his movies provide a refreshing alternative to big Hollywood’s same-old, same-old blockbusters. Burton’s Ed Wood movie would seem to take a similar attitude.

Next: The red planet.

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