Oscar Horrors: Martin Landau in 'Ed Wood'

Oscar Horrors continues was Beau looks at one of his favorite performances of all time.

HERE LIES.. Supporting Actor Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's 1994 masterpiece, Ed Wood.

Martin Landau. Holla.

Martin Landau's performance in Ed Wood is a joyous celebration of its time period. The manic energy with which Landau performs as Bela Lugosi mirrors Tim Burton's marvelous pacing and infectious love of the genre in this, his career-best. Bela Lugosi was a legend. He is primarily known today for his signature role, Dracula, but Lugosi was in fact a very ambitious actor. (He has said in several interviews that he always wanted to be the lead of romantic comedy.) His failure to diversify reflects a typecasting and stereotyping in 1950s Hollywood that helped set the foundation for how business is done today. It's not a matter so much of whether or not Lugosi was good enough to try different roles. It's about the compartmentalizing of the personality, boxing it up, shipping it out. Maintaining hold.

Landau's gruff drug addicted depiction of Lugosi is a treat. My generation is not well acquainted with the works of Ed Wood or b-movies from the 1950s and I'm no exception, so  I couldn't take as much enjoyment from the reenactment of certain moments as I might be able to, in say, the upcoming Hitchcock in terms of Psycho. The central joy of watching these kinds of mimick'ed performances is seeing an actor that you're familiar with side-by-side with a legendary performer -- two contrasting takes -- but it's not the only joy. Landau understands that to successfully play Bela Lugosi is not to simply imitate or mimicking him, but imbibe him. You can get drunk so easily watching Martin Landau drink a case of Bela Lugosi. His Oscar win is one of the best choices the Academy ever made in Best Supporting Actor.

"Look into my eyes"

Tim Burton's direction eerily mirrors and compliments the ferocity with which Wood approached each and every project. The beautiful thing about Ed Wood, is the fact that this man who was completely oblivious to the fact that he had no true talent still managed to let his passion drive him through his life. In a very interesting way his story is not so much a cautionary tale for storytellers, but a map. In the 21st-century with production values taking precedence over narrative structure and any of the foundational building blocks of great films young independent filmmakers are looking to one another to trust in each other to build themselves up. With the advent of video-on-demand, filmmakers are discovering new outlets in order to release their product and story out into the world. You can market it a certain way. You can advertise a certain way. You can sell it with your passion for the project. One could go so far to abel Ed Wood as much of an auteur as Alfred Hitchcock or Howard Hawks. There are distinct notes, unique trademarks and fingerprints that are over every single frame in his films. Andrew Sarris would drop dead reading this, but it's true. Ed Wood is a hero to the American cinema because of his love for it.

Landau's contribution to the film is the spark that reignites Ed Wood's fire. And for that, in a very roundabout way, I am eternally grateful.

Oscar (ACTING) Horrors
[S2]
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Angela Lansbury
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte - Agnes Moorehead
Shadow of the Vampire - Willem Dafoe
Rebecca - Judith Anderson
[S1]
Rosemary's Baby - Ruth Gordon
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane - Bette Davis
Carrie - Sissy Spacek
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Fredric March

Reader of the Day: Walter

For Reader Appreciation Month, we're having mini interviews with readers. Here we have have Walter.

Nathaniel: Do you remember your first moviegoing experience or first obsession?
Walter: The first theater-going experience I remember is sitting in the movie theater with my aunt watching The Nightmare Before Christmas -- I was four years old and absolutely aghast at the final battle between Jack and Oogie Boogie and the end result. God, that was terrifying. And AWESOME.

According to my father, though, the first time I ever sat up was to watch a movie on TV. Babies get distracted; he claims I stayed with the story until they turned it off. I wish he remembered what movie it was, because it was clearly the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

When did you start reading The Film Experience?
Spring 2006, I want to say. Fresh off the 2005 Oscar Season, the first one I really got into, I Googled 2006 Oscar Predictions. Film Experience and many others came up, and I still follow the Big Four: Hollywood-Elsewhere, Awards Daily (it was Oscar Watch then), In Contention, and this one. I visit, like, three times a day, because I never know if there's an article I've missed, or I want to visit something, or I want to freshen up on my Film Bitch Trivia.

Have you ever dressed up as a movie character for Halloween?
Well, here's where I answer the "or" part of the very first question. My most memorable Halloween costume was Bela Lugosi, my first movie star obsession, in third grade. Not Dracula: Bela Lugosi. I had just seen Ed Wood, so I got a cape, a felt hat and a walking-stick, and my dad took me to a late-night screening of the Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera. It was AMAZING.

Has any movie character as dressed as you?
William Hurt as James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God. We had the same elbow-patched blazer. I loved that thing, and I left it in the trunk of a friend's car...a friend who later moved away. Damn them!

Two fearsome and formidable icons: Bela & Maggie

Your 3 favorite actresses. Go
Maggie Smith is my all-time favorite actress: we watched The Secret Garden in second grade, and when my friend asked me who my favorite character was, he was appalled when I said the old woman. "But she's so mean!" he insisted. Well, yeah, but I also loved the way she cowered before the master of the house, and the subtle power plays she tried, and the smackdown she put on the maid. I love her so much. Meryl and honey-kissed Patty Clarkson are the other no-brainers for me.

What does your movie diet consist of these days?
I haven't seen a movie in a theater since February...and I work in one! Hopefully, that will all change this month: Jane Eyre calls. Mostly, I've been watching movies on TCM and Netflix Instant, the latter especially.

previous readers of the day: Paolo, Leehee and BBats