# Who is the Ed Wood of contemporary films? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681 "2016-03-01T20:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/1 "2016-03-01T20:56:19Z")
I have 3 nominees. All 3 have some technical skills and sufficient budgets that they don’t _look_ as bad as Ed’s movies. First is M Night Shamaylon. I don’t think he’s hit his bottom yet, but not for lack of trying. _Signs_ is among the worst sci-fi alien invasion movies ever. And there’s _The Happening_ – I just don’t have sufficient adjectives for its badness. Shamaylon seems to strive very hard to get his stars to deliver their most lackluster performances of their careers. And speaking of bad sci-fi, there’s Roland Emmerich. IMO Independence Days ranks as the benchmark of bad sci-fi movies, and it’s only redeeming feature is that its badness in itself has a certain entertainment value. But fighting it out right there with it are that Mayan calendar flick, and the freezing Earth flick, neither of which I can stand enough to look up their titles. And finally there’s Lars von Trier, who managed to make two movies about nymphomania unexciting and uninteresting. Who are your candidates? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/2 "2016-03-01T21:01:16Z")
I wouldn’t put Shamaylon on the list. He’s made some pretty bad films, but he’s made some pretty great ones, and I think _Signs_ is somewhere in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/3 "2016-03-01T21:01:53Z")
Uwe Boll ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/4 "2016-03-01T21:03:39Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I wouldn’t put Shamaylon on the list. He’s made some pretty bad films, but he’s made some pretty great ones, and I think _Signs_ is somewhere in the middle. What’s his best? I can’t possibly have seen it. And if _Signs_ is half way on the scale, how good can the best be be? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/5 "2016-03-01T21:04:47Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Uwe Boll I’d forgotten him. Excellent nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/6 "2016-03-01T21:05:16Z")
While I am in 100% agreement with you on the absolute wretchedness of Signs, both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were good enough to keep him off a Wood-level badness list. Lars von Trier as well, has done some absolutely terrific work; I loved Kingdom Hospital and a few of his features. Even Emmerich, who is certainly no master, is far too… competent to be Wood’s equal. Independence Day is completely silly and over-the-top, but I just can’t agree that it’s bad _filmmaking_. For career-level Wood-iness, I’d go with Uwe Boll. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/7 "2016-03-01T21:08:27Z")
Michael Bay. His answer to any film-making issue seems to be “louder! more yelling! faster cuts!” I can picture him watching the crapfest that is final cut of Transformers 3, grinning like Ed Wood, and saying to himself “It’s Beautiful!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/8 "2016-03-01T21:08:34Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > While I am in 100% agreement with you on the absolute wretchedness of Signs, both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were good enough to keep him off a Wood-level badness list. Lars von Trier as well, has done some absolutely terrific work; I loved Kingdom Hospital and a few of his features. Even Emmerich, who is certainly no master, is far too… competent to be Wood’s equal. Independence Day is completely silly and over-the-top, but I just can’t agree that it’s bad _filmmaking_. > > For career-level Wood-iness, I’d go with Uwe Boll. Unbreakable is what I was thinking about as Bruce Willis’s dullest, phone it in performance ever. I’ll grant The Sixth Sense as one of those “stopped clock is right once in a while” movies. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/9 "2016-03-01T21:21:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Michael Bay. His answer to any film-making issue seems to be “louder! more yelling! faster cuts!” > I can picture him watching the crapfest that is final cut of Transformers 3, grinning like Ed Wood, and saying to himself “It’s Beautiful!” I’d say we have a winner! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/10 "2016-03-01T21:30:49Z")
Sorry, it’s Uwe Boll by a country mile. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/11 "2016-03-01T21:34:44Z")
Martin Scorsese (except for “Goodfellas”). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/12 "2016-03-01T21:51:47Z")
All of these people are Alfred Hitchcock plus Orson Welles plus John Ford compared to Ed Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/13 "2016-03-01T22:41:26Z")
Vincent Gallo, who perpetrated _The Brown Bunny._ ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/14 "2016-03-01T22:52:00Z")
Nowhere near as prolific as Wood, but Tommy Wiseau. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/15 "2016-03-01T22:56:04Z")
It’s Uwe Boll. None of the others mention are even in the same category as Wood or Boll. Shyamalan’s short comings are as a writer not a director IMHO. He got accepted and got stuck in the “It’s gotta have a twist” mold that others put him in. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/16 "2016-03-01T22:57:04Z")
I also came her to say Uwe Boll. No question. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/17 "2016-03-01T22:57:35Z")
I nominate Albert Pyun. He has one film in his history that isn’t entirely unwatchable: **The Sword and the Sorcerer** , from 1982. Since then, he’s done such fine films as **Alien from L.A.** , **Cyborg** , **Nemesis** and its sequels, and several **Kickboxer** sequels. IMDb says he is presently working on, I shit you not, **Star Warfare Rangers and the Cyborg Witch of Endor**. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/18 "2016-03-01T22:58:05Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Martin Scorsese (except for “Goodfellas”). Never thought I would see him mentioned on this thread. He’s had a few clunkers but that’s true of everyone. Most of his movies are at least a solid B. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/19 "2016-03-01T23:30:32Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > What’s his best? I can’t possibly have seen it. And if _Signs_ is half way on the scale, how good can the best be be? I would say _The Sixth Sense_ was his best. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681/20 "2016-03-01T23:40:48Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Never thought I would see him mentioned on this thread. > > He’s had a few clunkers but that’s true of everyone. Most of his movies are at least a solid B. Anytime there’s one of these types of threads, there’s always someone who comes in to nominate a person who is generally accepted to be one of the best in the field, just to show how edgy they are. I remember a while back there was a “worst well-known singer” or something like that thread, and someone came in to nominate Sinatra. I mean, even if you’re not a fan of Sinatra, that’s just silly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-ed-wood-of-contemporary-films/747681.md?page=2)