Glen or Glenda (1953)

This movie was way wacky. Maybe I am kind of getting into watching Ed Wood movies, but I probably won't consume them at a rate quicker than 1 per month. Anyway, this movie is pretty odd. It's hosted by Bela Lugosi ala Masterpiece Theater. He tells the story of Glen/da, who is a man transitioning to be a woman. I guess this is loosely based on Christine Jorgensen's story, also.

Going into this, I thought the narrative would inevitably be transphobic, at least with posters advertising it as a "strange" case of a "man." Most of the film does treat Glenda as a freak, but there are a couple of glimpses into Ed Wood's maybe interesting opinions about trans issues. As far as I know, he was into wearing ladies' clothes, but he still identified as a man. Once or twice in the film, the narrator makes it clear that changing your gender does not make you weird, strange, or unnatural. He even states that humans do a lot of unnatural things, like drive cars or wear make up, so why is changing one's gender so wrong?

P.S. This movie is #366 this year, so I guess I've surpassed my goal of watching 365 movies.

3/5 pizzas

Ed Wood (1994)

Isn't it time I saw this movie? I know Tim Burton has only made one other good movie [also about an Ed], but geez I should've gotten to this earlier. This one was pretty swell. Having only seen Plan 9 From Outer Space, I was not familiar with Edward D. Wood, Jr., so this movie was edumacational. 5 points. Next, it featured a SATC cast member. 5 points. It's a movie about movies, so 5 more points, and it features tales about other actors too [Bela Lugosi, people]. 5 points. Now add Johnny Depp looking like a babe, a narrative that maybe briefly addresses gender in a non-horrible way, and low-budget horror flicks and you got yourself a movie that has racked up a 1000 points. Okay, 4/5 pizzas. But seriously, this was pretty fun.

4/5 pizzas

Carnival of Souls (1962)

I guess this is one of those cult horror classics that was made for $20. With an organ-filled soundtrack, Carnival of Souls tells the story of a lady who is accused of having hallucinations and hysteria [of course]. She is an organist for a church, but doesn't believe in god. She is probably a demon! Once when she was making out with a dude, he turned into an even uglier dude. Scary!

The acting is terrible, the plot is terrible, the suspense is terrible. This movie was pretty fun!

3/5 pizzas