Ghost World

Pros: Most everything.
Cons: Difficult (perhaps) for most, because by definition 'most' means 'the masses'.

Suppose you were a 'grown-up', but nevertheless found yourself having to 'grow up'. Suppose further that as you 'grew up' you discovered that you weren't really a 'grown-up'. Sound like a cliched statement about all adolescents? Well, suppose even...

Pros: Steve Buscemi
Cons: Annoying characters, bad ending

Ghost World was nominated for a slew of independent film awards, and even got an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay based on previously published material. What's interesting is that this is based on a comic book, though this is certainly not ...

Pros: Fine performances by Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi. Excellent "cartoon" photography and production design.
Cons: The film's design undercuts, in a conventional sense, its humor.

I said to her: "We're not in San Francisco anymore, Mary Ann. We're in Marin County!" We had come on a Golden Gate coach to San Rafael for the Bay Area premiere of Terry Zwigoff's GHOST WORLD. The film's premise we learned is that we inhabit a living...

Pros: Original in almost every way.
Cons: Unsatisfying, in the typical Hollywood way.

This movie starts off with a lie, and ends very unsatisfactorily, but still I really liked this film, and am very glad that I saw it.

Like so many really great independent films, like “Tao of Steve” & “The Opposite of Sex”, “Ghost World” does...

Pros: Zwigoff's Direction, Script, Birch, Johansson, Buscemi, Everything Else.
Cons: None though Some Might Find the Film's Offbeat Tone to Complex.

(Expanded & Re-edited on 8/2/04) If life at high school sucked, then it’s really nothing compared to what happens after. Sure, kids go to college after that but what happens when you meet new people and in the process lose the people you cared ...

Pros: Perfectly cast, funny, insightful, smart, one of a kind original film.
Cons: It's not playing in as many theaters as Jurassic Part 3 or America's Sweethearts

Ghost World is a film that's destined to have a strong and appreciative cult following. There's never been a film that has embraced teenage outcasts and malcontents as completely and truthfully while being almost free from audience pandering as...

Pros: honest, risky
Cons: it failed, but at least the artist attempted

Rated R
(for strong language and some sexual content)


Directed by Terry Zwigoff

Thora Birch - Enid
Scarlett Johansson - Becky
Steve Buscemi - Seymour

My rating: D

“You owe me 7...

Pros: Great acting, Well directed, Good writing, Well done
Cons: Possibly a little overlong, Some people might not like the sense of humor.

First off I'd like to say that seeing Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch on screen at the same time is a sight to behold. Scarlett is gourgeous and everyone knows that, but I find Thora to be equally attractive in a more odd ...

Pros: most everything
Cons: sometimes the humor was a bit forced

Ghost World is the kind of movie that makes no apologies for itself. It is what it is and doesn't alter anything to make it easier for the audience.

Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson)have just graduated from High School and...

Pros: Hip, funny and insightful about today's misfit teens
Cons: Misleading title - it's not about the supernatural

Unless you're familiar with Daniel Clowes's adult comic books, you might think that this black comedy is about the supernatural. It isn't. It's about those plain, often-unnoticed folk who function out of the mainstream.

Thora...

Pros: Every aspect expertly crafted.
Cons: None.

This review includes a postscript take on the meaning of the ending.

As sad but true as it is, films rarely have a deep affection for their characters. Even the good ones seem to be more concerned about structuring things in a way that...

Pros: Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi, funny, original, extremely honest
Cons: I can't think of any

In the past several years, there have been more than enough tepid, unoriginal, trite, stupid "teen" movies out there that desperately tried to show what it's like to be a young person in America today - and failed miserably in every way imaginable. I'm...

Pros: Decent acting, characters, mood, pacing
Cons: Utter lack of a plot

Scarlett Johansson, like Kirsten Dunst before I saw "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (reviewed at: h ttp://www.epinions.com/content _314666421892 ), is an actress I've seen in a lot of movies but has never once ...

Pros: Honest, thought-provoking, great acting, an instant cult classic
Cons: hard to know when to laugh

Life is not easy to navigate. As difficult as it is to achieve what we want, it is perhaps more difficult to know what we want. Many movies have tried to capture this concept of malaise. Some achieve it with a healthy dose of humor like “American...

Pros: Funny coming-of-age film that resonates more than you think it will.
Cons: If the cast isn't careful, all their future roles will seem awfully familiar.

In the opening scene of Ghost World, it’s almost impossible to not like Enid.

Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johnassen) are inseparable friends finally graduating from high school. It’d be exciting, and would be even more exciting,...