a review of

2019 CULT MOVIE CHALLENGE WEEK 12: ED WOOD WEEK Weirdly competent for a Wood film, with a hilariously drawn out "twist" ending that plays out across the entire last reel and a half. The omnipresent flamenco guitar and piano score feel like Wood's attempt to imitate the zither music from "The Third Man", though the plot is a ropey throwback to gangster movies from 20 years earlier. Also recycled from the 1930s: A lengthy early scene -- utterly unconnected to the rest of the film, and likely not even shot for it -- showing a jaw-droppingly offensive blackface minstrel show as a normal 1950s nightclub act. It's a reminder that as weird and bohemian as Wood's little circle of collaborators was, they were still an all-white bunch in a segregated America, with all that implies.