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Directed by: Terry Zwigoff Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlet Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro The first thing I should say is that this movie is very hit or miss. You'll either like it or be bored by it. Ghost World is about two high school graduates, Enid (Birch) and Rebecca (Johansson), and their short-term life right out of high school. At first glace, they seem to be arrogant and joyfully malicious to everyone around them, including their platonic male friend Josh (Renfro). They secretly crack jokes at the expense of the townspeople, and one joke leads them to answer an ad placed by an eccentric record dealer named Seymour (Buscemi). Enid places a crank call for fun to make Seymour think she's the person in the ad. After she sees him get hurt, she slowly starts to be fascinated by Seymour's quirks and hobbies, and slowly starts to fall in love with him. There are definite places in Ghost World where the plot seems to drag. Fortunately, these places are short and innermittent, and most of the movie is full of good dry humor. The movie is excellent in satirizing things such as remedial art classes, touch-feely parents, and the quiet town. Overall, I'd give it a 4 or a 4.5 out of 5.
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May 2, 2004 03:56
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 16:51 |
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What I've discovered about this movie is that if you don't get it, it's possible that you're one of the people that it's making fun of. I love this movie, one of my top 10 favorites.
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May 2, 2004 03:58
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Great, great movie. The ending is a bit predictable, but still clinches the movie in an appropriate way. I'd definitely recommend it.
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May 2, 2004 04:09
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I love this movie just for the art teacher. She's a perfect copy of about 1/3 of the art teachers I had from high school up to undergrad.
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May 2, 2004 04:10
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Its hard to even give this movie a 2, but in the end I have to because it at least had 2 things to keep me interested
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May 2, 2004 04:40
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Buscemi's greatest role.
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May 2, 2004 04:57
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Good movie + Buscemi + two hot babes = thumbs up! It's also funny to laugh at the art fags in the movie.
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May 2, 2004 05:17
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I HIGHLY recommend this film. The acting is just perfect, the girls are just both so lovable. The ending was quite depressing for me. 5 out of 5
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May 2, 2004 05:49
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The only thing I enjoyed from this movie was seeing Buscemi, the cliche livejournal girls were far too boring for my taste.
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May 2, 2004 06:17
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quote:MAMA'S LITTLE LOVER came out of the closet to say: Yeah, my opinion exactly. The pace was far too slow for my tastes and the two girls were far too whiney and irritating. Even Buscemi couldn't stop me from wanting to strangle them.
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May 2, 2004 07:19
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One of my favorite movies. You might not like it if you're not a lonely nerd that's developed a superiority complex as a means to cope with your own self-loathing.
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May 2, 2004 07:35
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I really liked this movie. The characters were very realistic, the acting is well done, and the point is there.mangler103 posted:What I've discovered about this movie is that if you don't get it, it's possible that you're one of the people that it's making fun of. Agreed.
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May 2, 2004 07:56
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I like this movie soley on the extra ending they tacked on to the credits. It shows the redneck shirtless guy fight with Buscemi. After Mr. Pink kicks his rear end he says "Think you can gently caress with me? Motherfuckers!"
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May 2, 2004 10:28
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This movie had a lot to say, and I think the characters are very believable. I wanted a little more out of the story, but overall very good.
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May 2, 2004 10:30
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Ghost World would be a great movie if the characters wern't so unlikable.
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May 2, 2004 11:05
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Wasn't too excited about seeing this, but got drug along. Suprsingly it wasn't all that bad. I was occasionally bored with it, but the smart sense of humor generally kept me interested (plus I got a thing for Johansson and Buscemi, but uhh...in different ways) I can see why some people regard this movie so highly, but personally I thought it was just a decent, smart, although somewhat dull, comedy/romance/drama. 3/5
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May 2, 2004 11:08
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I obviously loved it. I agree completely with the hit or miss statement.
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May 2, 2004 12:17
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I really need to see this movie again- I just completely didn't get it the first time 
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May 2, 2004 12:48
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Time for a little D&D within this thread. Do you think the director's intent was to rail against the main characters and their "anti-social" (I know that's not the real meaning of the word but I really don't know what other word to use) ideals or was he against the "losers" that the girls were constantly making fun of? I personally think that the director had qualms with both the kind of people the girls are (the cynical bastards who can't enjoy life at least even occasionally and make fun of everyone else without taking a look at themselves) and the other kind of "losers" (bohemian fratboys, etc.). I don't think the director could have taken such a jab at those kind of people if he didn't feel some kind of hatred for them already. However, the ending sort of sealed my belief that he's also against the attitudes that those girls have at society.
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May 2, 2004 15:36
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quote:neckbeard came out of the closet to say: YES this is one of my favorite movies of all time
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May 2, 2004 15:53
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I hated this movie with a passion. It seemed to me that it was a horrible case of trying too hard. Enid is just completely unlikable, and it's impossible to identify with her unless you're a pointless misanthrope. Dave Sheridan was great as Doug, and Scarlett Johansson was good in an oddly limited role, and Buscemi was alright. He's had better performances. I think the movie was hampered by a script that didn't know what it wanted to be. Don't think I "don't get it," either, because I did. There was just nothing there. Paint-by-numbers "independent" teen-angst pic = 1/5, but I'll bump it to 2/5 for Scarlett. P.S.: the ending wasn't evocatively ambiguous, it was just utterly confused.
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May 2, 2004 16:51
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quote:Dr. Klahn came out of the closet to say: As a pointless misanthrope I must ask you to stop blaming us for this movie. Also the movie took two hot actresses and made them intolerable and not at all attractive. Buschemi was the only decent part but not enough to make it worthwhile. 1/5
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May 2, 2004 18:18
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I've come to the conclusion that the director wants you to loathe all of the characters present in this movie, other than Buscemi's. That's the only logical conclusion I can come up with, because after seeing this movie I came away hating not only it, but everything associated with it or mirroring it in real life. If that was the director's intention, then he succeeded wildly at giving me yet another valid excuse to hate emo misanthropic emotionally distant vapid stereotypical teenagers - the fact someone actually spent good money making a movie about them. If not, I can only pity both him, and anyone else who actually liked this movie. What a horrible and pointless trainwreck.
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May 2, 2004 19:13
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birch+johanson=hotness.
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May 2, 2004 19:18
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There is a scene out of this movie that always makes me laugh and has become a bit of a catchphrase between my self and a few freinds... When Birch's Character dies her hair and goes to visit that record store where she is being given poo poo for trying to look hardcore. She gets angry and either throws something at him, and the guys says; "Oh my god!....(looking exhasperated)... HOW PUNK!" ...classic... so many applications... also.. thora birch is unbelievably hot in this movie.... i know i have weird taste... but there something about her... *sigh*
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May 2, 2004 19:55
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This movie set off my "oh poo poo I'm gonna be an adult"-crisis when I saw it (I had just turned 18) so I found it very depressing, especially towards the end. Liked it a lot though, but unless you're an angsty late teen like I was, it won't affect you that deeply. I thought the ending was really good, however. 4/5
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May 2, 2004 20:28
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I'm the epitome of the kid with the late-adolescent midlife crisis, and it didn't move me. You should watch the Graduate. That did a number on me.
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May 2, 2004 20:40
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The first half was great and Buscemi's character was superb, but the conflict among the girls in the second half was tedious. That part of the movie really dragged it down and made the girls look like idiots with wild mood swings. Fortunately, Buscemi's role was prominent during that part, which kept it interesting.
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May 2, 2004 21:53
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I liked it a lot until I saw the ending, seemed a bit to depressing and predictable. I'm glad she moved on and all I was just hoping Steve Buscemi had more a part of it. 3/5 manbabies.
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May 2, 2004 22:01
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Ghost World is excellent. If you found it boring, I find you to be boring.
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May 2, 2004 23:46
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I find this film to have a plethora of funny lines. I also think that the 'teen angst' tag it often gets hit with is ill-applied-there are themes in there that apply way beyond the relatively limited teenage girl frame of reference. I agree that Scarlett Jahannsen was slightly under used, but not that Enid was unlikeable. I found a lot to like about her, and i'm not referring to wanting to bang her, or something. Anyways, i give this film a 5.
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May 3, 2004 01:24
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The movie is absolutely brilliant. However, it was butchered by Hollywood, particularly the ending. You can order the script from Amazon or whatever to see how close it was to greatness.
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May 3, 2004 01:41
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A tad bit dry, good for a sunday afternoon on a rainy day. 3.5/5
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May 3, 2004 16:41
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quote:Neo Fagin came out of the closet to say: I wouldn't say I loathed any of them, but I definitely didn't like Enid. It wasn't that she was a maliciously bad person, but she embodied just about everything I don't like about angsty teenagers.. particularly the bloated sense of self-importance and condescension. It's fine to be critical of your peers (and very easy to feel that way in high school), but she seemed to totally lack any bit of self-awareness. The character, while dislikeable, did a great job of illustrating the "trying way too hard" alterna teen. It was a good contrast with her friend who clearly wanted to stop fighting everything and fit in with the mainstream world. In the end, my strongest feeling for both characters was pity. And props to the movie for including a David Cross cameo. The movie really stuck in my head unlike a lot of other "good" movies. I'm torn between 4 and 5. I guess I'll go with 5.
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May 3, 2004 16:58
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I watched the whole movie expecting a 3-way, and was disapointed. 2/5
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May 3, 2004 17:16
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quote:LorneReams came out of the closet to say: Buscemi, Brad Renfo and the shirtless redneck at the convenience store? Yes, I was hoping for that too but I guess it was never meant to be.
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May 3, 2004 18:26
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quote:xdrquinnx came out of the closet to say: I would have given the movie a 3 just for that.
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May 3, 2004 18:31
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This is one of my three favorite movies, due in no small part to feeling desperately sad for Seymore and loving to laugh at the art teacher. It makes me wonder if Steve Buscemi took the part a.) because he is such a fabulous actor that he has faith in his own ability to portray a hopeless, awkward loser without shame, or b.) because he felt it was an easy part to play because he feels like a hopeless, awkward loser in real life. Either way, I love the guy, and I doubt I'd have liked the film nearly as much without him. "Oh, I thought maybe this was your father..." Even though the art teacher's little storyline is small, I love that line. It gives you the idea that there could be a whole spin-off movie about her.
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May 3, 2004 20:26
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I think the key to liking this movie is seeing it within a few years of your own late highschool/early college "I hate everybody" outsider phase. If you never had one, or were never well acquainted with these types of kids, then I can see why the characters would just be annoying. To me, it captured beautifully the pain of all that teen angst change, was hilariously funny in parts, and had great supporting characters. I read the comic before seeing the movie and I think the movie executes it perfectly. 5/5
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May 4, 2004 20:00
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I loved the comics and I loved the movie, though there are a lot of differences between the two. It's been a long time since I read the comics themselves, but I didn't remember the girls being quite as unlikable as they were in the movie. It's still excellent, however.
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May 4, 2004 22:34
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