Ed Wood

Director: Tim Burton, Tim Burton, Tim Burton, Tim Burton, Tim Burton

1994 / 127min / DCP

A paean to creative obsession for obsession’s sake, Burton’s black-and-white biopic stars a wide-eyed Johnny Depp as Ed Wood, a cross-dressing Marine Corps vet and pariah of ’50s Hollywood who, with the help of his indefatigable, infectious enthusiasm, scraped-together budgets, and a few good friends—including an ogre-like Swedish wrestler, a television psychic, and a morphine-addicted Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau)—manages to make his crackpot cinematic visions into reality. Wood’s words at the gala premiere of his opus Plan 9 from Outer Space could apply to this, Burton’s finest hour: “This is the one they’ll remember me for!”