10 Best Black-And-White Movies From The Last 25 Years

3. Ed Wood

Whereas some films use a black-and-white exterior unnecessarily, perhaps to cover up some fundamental inadequacies or to appear superficially "artsy," Tim Burton's look at b-movie director Ed Wood requires it. Working on the outermost fringes of Hollywood during the 1950s, Ed Wood was an oddball known best for making "the worst movie ever made," Plan 9 From Outerspace. That movie, and the entire ethos of making cheesy, low-budget horror movies, is represented perhaps a bit more glowingly than it should be, with gorgeous visuals and a slickness that would never be found on in an Ed Wood picture. Then again, that's kind of the point of this movie. Rather than focus on the horrible aspects of Wood's career, of which there are many, Burton chooses to embellish his go-getter attitude, relentless optimism, and boyish defiance. The result is maybe one of the most precise, on-point films Burton has ever made. Forgoing his usual flair for the macabre and his propensity for caricatures, he crafts an upbeat comedy that could have easily fallen victim to overwriting and erratic pacing. Instead, it sinks its teeth into the better qualities of its main character and delivers a snappy, polished look at someone who had no desire to learn what either of those two words mean.