Rating: 
Summary: Disturbingly familiar
Review: "Ghost World" is based on a serial comic by "Eightball" scrawler Dan Clowes, who has a knack for examining pitiful characters without regard for the readers' tolerance of weird. I'm a regular reader of his work, and to hear that something of his was going to hit the major screen, I was amazed and thrilled. Im also waiting for Pete Bagge's Buddy Bradley to make his screen debut too, but I wont hold my breath.
When I first heard this was going to be made, I was expecting a full length cartoon, where the characters drift through a blue, black, and gray urban world like the comic. What we get instead is a live, semi-colorful, middle class, just near the suburbs world of convenience and sameness. Kind of like the town I grew up in. Thora Birch plays Enid Coleslaw, and she is mind bogglingly adorable as the pesky, dowdy, splay footed smart aleck high school grad with an affectation for combat boots and outre culture. The movie spends a slow half hour accustoming the audience to Enid and her girlfriend Rebecca's weltaanschung of sarcasm and disdain for everything around them. This is the essence of the "ghost world", I believe; they disassociate with everything around them to the point where nothing good is tangible, where nothing happens, just like they expect it to. This, in and of itself, would be relatively intolerable for two hours...enter Steve Buscemi's character, who plays me...I mean..Seymour, another member of a "ghost world" except he's almost 40. He's an obsessive collector of old music and nostalgia that Enid befriends, and this is where the movie begins to build drama. You can see that these two have everything in common except age and station. They both choose to withdraw from the culture that has judged them inferior. What follows is a suffocating, tragic friendship that Enid can only mess up because she discovers that she is truly scared of everything, and after all, only 18. You wish them to be together, but their ghost worlds drift apart because their union is just as frightening as anything else. There is no happy ending here. In fact, this isn't even a comedy; anyone expecting a slacker send up has rented the wrong movie for the evening. There is nothing exploitative in this film at all, no violence and no sex, just enough claustrophobic human emotion to make anyone squirm. See if your ghost world is like theirs.
Rating:
Summary: A Hauntingly Good Film
Review: "Ghost World" ranks as the best reviewed film that is based on the old Hollywood debacle, the comic book. However, Daniel Clowes' original "Ghost World" graphic novel is rated as one of the best stand alone 'funnybooks' ever, perfectly capturing the malaise and melancholy inherent in all teenagers via his two protagonists, Enid and Rebecca. Terry Zwigoff, with the help of a script co-written by Clowes and himself, perfectly captures this said tone, by delivering a movie that has almost everything a good movie does; by turns funny and sad, uplifting and tragic, this ranks as one of the better films of 2001 easily.The reason "Ghost World" didn't break out as well as it should have done at the cinemas (God knows it is a hell of a lot sharper, wittier and funnier than the likes of "American Pie 2") was probably due to its misleadingly cheery ad campaign (which peculiarly gives Brad Renfro's extended cameo third billing) and its prominent display of beautiful teen stars Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson on the poster. Whilst Birch admittedly looks a lot worse than when she burst back onto the scene in "American Beauty", "Ghost World" isn't a teen movie in the sense that "She's All That" is a teen movie. 1) It is a hell of a lot more true to life than Hollywood would like to put money into a movie for, with an ambiguous, sarcastic tone inherent with movies like "Fight Club" though it admirably doesn't spend $70 million getting its point across; 2) its characters aren't clear-cut, black-and-white good guys and bad guys, but stupid, deluded creatures trying to sift their way through life like the rest of us; 3) it isn't exactly a hip, contemporary movie, its score taking a leaf out of Carter Burwell's score for "Being John Malkovich" and having its teenage heroine listen to Bollywood and old-time blues tunes. All of that said, now the audience knows what they are going in for, they can appreciate "Ghost World" for what it is; a film so evilly funny and critical of popular culture it hurts and a moving character study of several people, who can be seen as 'ghosts', trying to get a sense of direction in their lives. Birch's Enid is given the most screentime, dying her hair and wearing varied colour-coded outfits to try and gain a cohesive identity of herself as her friends begin to move away from her to supposedly bigger things; and being given this meaty role, she greatly devours it. Equally affecting, however, are Johansson and Steve Buscemi as her equally distant friends; Johansson's moving performance takes a couple of viewings to sink in whilst Buscemi's loser who's life is suddenly ignited by Enid is a performance of acute subtlety; an Oscar nomination please! All the while, the melancholy is undercut with these three characters making fun of the hypocrisy, whitewashing and everything else society does in the name of commerce and pleasure. You start off not feeling for these guys but, come journey's end, they'll stay with you always. "Ghost World", fundamentally, is a love-it-hate-it film, with little flourishes that everyone in the audience will laugh at (bar Illeana Douglas' hilarious turn as Enid's summer school art tutor); some will get the humour, others will just get bored very easily. But a second look at the movie brings to the fore its merits both as a sly comic deconstruction of consumer society, and a telling document of the fears and expectations, or lack thereof, that are crystallised within all people afraid of becoming as 'ghostly' as the freaks around them. Beguilingly good.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best films of 2001!
Review: I'm a big Thora Birch fan and have been for many years and like Christina Ricci i feel she is one of the most talented and overlooked actresses out there. Both have turned out great performances (Ricci has been given more roles though but Birch was perfect in American Beauty)but this by far has to be Thora's best film. She finally gets a good leading role and for once i can actually say a comic to big screen has turned out 100% (the only other comic film near this is the 1989 Batman, which of course in in a totally different world all together). It does amaze me that critics actually enjoyed this little indie film because they are quick to point out minor problems and make them huge deals but while i don't always agree with their picks i do with this one. Ghost World may not be Oscar caliber work but it would've been nice to see it nominated more for the other awards shows but sadly it wasn't. Steve Buschemi turns in another wonderful role (all this guy has to do really is play himself and he comes off weird and it always seems to work)and Scarlett Johansson also turns in a wonderful performance. In a way Birch's charchter Enid reminds me of myself and my views and how i just don't want to change or do anything when my friends they all have done more than me and made efforts to move on but will never truly be happy. Very great movie and i will also agree that the dvd is lacking alot. I've never understood why some films get over the top dvd (even some awful undeserving films do)and then some get nothing at all and makes to actually wonder why they bothered to relase it on dvd in the 1st place. They could've at least threw in some bios, and a longer making of documentary and maybe even some background info on the comic book the movie is based on. Great film and i strongly recomend it to everyone out there!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of the year
Review: This film is incredible. Thora Birch was the ultimate Enid. Thank you Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes, for a great comic and great film.
Rating:
Summary: The adolscent torture of existing in Anytown U.S.A
Review: I loved this film, literally the best film of 2001. The DVD, allows the viewer to experience the film the way it was intended. Every shot ifs framed as if it were a panel in a comicbook. This story , one of the harsh reality of maturation in America is one that should be required of every kid in highschool. The performances of Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi drive this Comedy/Drama/ post-punk cinematic adventure. Laughing at moments that are embarrassing and depressing, this movie is a rarity in American Cinema, an almost realistic depiction of life, of being human.
Rating:
Summary: One of the very best of 2001
Review: This is one of those rare movies that completely capture teen girls in a funny and honest way. Enid and Rebecca are two misfits who have just graduated out of high school. While Rebecca gets a job to try to get her own apartment and move forward into adulthood, Enid is still struggling to try to find her place in a new world. This is obvious by her reluctance to get a job and move forward. After pulling a prank on a lonely older man, she somehow ends up becoming a friend of his while breaking away from Rebecca. Enid is a character you sometimes get angry with but at the same time understand that she is having trouble moving forward in life and feel empathy for. She has a lot of talent yet no idea on what exactly it is she wants to do. So she turns to the outcasts such as the crazy old man who sits waiting for a bus that never comes and the older Seymour. This film is often sad but hilarious too. You are always wondering just where this film will take you. Even the end is the perfect touch though some might not care for it. Its a great film that is actually real and honest. These are not cardboard cut-out characters, these are real girls. In conclusion, it deserves all the buzz. You will like this if you enjoy smart, independent films that aren't contrived and actually have some real meaning. Brilliant!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best of 2001
Review: This should make everyone's top ten list for 2001, this movie was probably less popular than memento when it hit theaters, but hopefully it will do well on DVD. Anyone who doesn't like the typical teen movie should check this one out, because it is a movie with teens but without the Dawson's Creek type plot..... A+
Rating:
Summary: Thora Birch Society
Review: It is great to see a film that is so respectful of it's marginalized and eccentric characters. Nothing was being marketed in this film. It's just a story of life's everyday hardships and missed opportunities. I am baffled by the ending, any explanations? Hat's off to Terry Zwigoff for his fine, subtle direction.
Rating: 
Summary: Horribly Overrated
Review: Based on the hype that surrounded this movie, I decided to buy it having never seen it before. I was never a big fan of the comic, but it did have it's moments. Unfortunately I feel the same way about the Movie. It was just sort of... there. I was expecting more wit less dryness. The biggest problem I had with the flick was an inability to connect with any of the characters. With the exception of Steve Buscemi's character and the dude who goes nuts in the convenience store, I found all the main characters completely unlikeable. Now, maybe that's the "point" and maybe I don't "get it" and more power to you if you do, but if I want to sit through two hours watching the misadventures of characters I could care less about I'd buy a Freddy Prinze movie or something. I usually go for this kind of schtick, but I just couldn't get into Ghost World. The main reason I bought it was Terry Zwigoff. I loved Crumb, and even though Ghost World wasn't a documentary, I was hoping it would have at least some of it's charm. While it did have it's shining moments, eventually I just wanted it to end. There were very few laughs and the ones I did muster up were pretty strained. No doubt many of you art-house lovers will be praising this one for years to come. Don't let me stop you. But to me it's not enough for a movie to go against the grain. It has to entertain as well. Ghost World gets high marks for creativity, but it sags early.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky, and sadly funny.
Review: I haven't read the graphic novel "Ghost World," and didn't have any preconceived ideas about this movie before I saw it (that I know of). "Ghost World" is the story of a slightly odd girl, Enid (played transparently by Thora Birch), and her obsession with the unloved things of this world, starting with her encounter with Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a fried-chicken company administrator by day, geekish collector of 78s and other miscellanea by night. It's also the story of the changes in the relationship between Enid and her not-so-odd friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), who after high school, is rapidly transforming into a fairly mainstream adult. The movie has an offbeat sensibility that is both funny and slightly jarring at times, but that delivers a very true-feeling story of post-high school "what do I do now?" syndrome. The thing I love about this movie is that, as opposed to the fake silicone slickness of most "teen" movies, this has a funny-sad real feel that represents the not often glorified underbelly of society. The film is populated with entertaining characters, from the pseudo-artistic art teacher (Illeana Douglas), to the bumbling soft-spoken father (Bob Balaban), to cameo characters such as "Weird Al" the fifties diner waiter, and Doug, the white-trash mini-mart loiterer. As Enid says, "these are our people!" "Ghost World" is kinder than a John Waters movie, truer than a teen movie, and better than most similarly-true independent movies.
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