Ed Wood (1994)

At our heart, we are all dreamers. We dream for a better life, we dream for finding a passion, we dream for that thing we really want to do with ourselves. Ed Wood was a dreamer. He dreamed of making movies. 1994’s Ed Wood shows all the ridicule he got as a filmmaker was misplaced. Tim Burton beautifully shot it in black and white, and Johnny Depp brings Mr. Wood to life. Mr. Wood is known for making movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Glen or Glenda. You’ve heard the term low budget. His movies were no budget. But he marched on and got movies made. Because he wouldn’t let anything stop him from making his dream happen. Is there anything more American dream than that? The shame of all of it, Ed Wood was not a hit. Not even close. It only made $13 million at the box office. It did a little better on home video, but not what it should have. People in 1994 would have still been familiar with his work on a larger scale. Mystery Science Theater 3000 had featured some of his movies, and there was still a sense of what came before since the internet had not divided us into small tribes yet. Mr. Wood never got the success in life he dreamed of. But his story will inspire you to keep chasing that impossible dream.