Content area
Full Text
IT COULD be argued that "Ed Wood," Tim Burton's biopic of the legendary idiot-savant movie director, was in many ways a documentary on the art of independent filmmaking.
Desperate fund-raising tactics, hectic shooting schedules, sleazy distribution companies - Wood's problems live on to this day for emerging auteurs. So it comes as no surprise that George Hickenlooper admires the late eccentric who brought "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" to the big screen.
"I am a huge Ed Wood fan," Hickenlooper confessed in a recent conversation from his Los Angeles home. The former St. Louisan returns for the local premiere of his indie film "The Low Life" tonight at the Tivoli.
"In fact, the opening scene of `The Low Life' has the main character standing in front of Wood's last, depressing place of residence - a rundown building at the corner of Yucca and Cahuenga in a seedy section of Hollywood."
"The Low Life" is a semi-autobiographical tale of a Yale graduate struggling to find himself in the abyss known as Los Angeles. It marks Hickenlooper's emergence as a young feature film director to be reckoned with, a fluid and seemingly effortless shift from protege to peer. For the 32-year-old graduate of St. Louis University High, the admiration for those in the director's chair goes well beyond the campy, cult chic of Ed Wood.
Hickenlooper's acclaimed documentaries "Picture This" and "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," examined the often painful career experiences of Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich. In his published collection of interviews titled "Reel Conversations," the former Dogtown resident picked the minds of 25 leading directors, including Martin Scorsese, Louis Malle and David Lynch. Above...