Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous!!!!!
Review: This film is truly fabulous. As a new college student, I can totally relate to this film. Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson gave such superb performances; you'd believe that they came straight out of your own high school. I think that this film is something that you can watch over and over, and still totally relate and reminsine over. BUY IT!! you won't be disappointed, I guarantee it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Movie!!!
Review: This is a great outsiders film! If you have counterculture values, then this movie is for you!
Rating:
Summary: ... Good Movie
Review: Ghost World is 'fablesque' with humor that is layered and many times brought out only by the great acting of Thora Birch and Steve Bucsemi. Birch's character, Enid, is [mad] at the world and has a lot of fun toying with others. Her comments are biting and judgmental, and make one smile at the mere anticipation of the next one. Bucsemi's character, Seymore, seems to have found a place in the world, but is only content with his life where collecting old records is his only passion. He wants more, but is unmotivated to make changes. Only with Birch's help is he able to move forward-- to a better place is up for interpretation. Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca is the perfect sidekick for Enid. Full of wit and independent in her own right, she has to resolve her own issues as Enid searches/comtemplates her future. This film is great, but I would warn people that haven't seen it yet. It's an aquired taste. The word "quirky" has been thrown around a lot, but I think that it is the best description. It's hard to really classify this movie into one genre or another because it doesn't follow the same mainstream format that most movies adhere to. If you like films like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, you'll probably like this one. I have the DVD and the extras are decent. There's no commentary, which would have been a real nice touch. But overall the film gets 4.5 stars, but the DVD itself gets only 4.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant movie; funny, poignant, wise and wonderful!
Review: In "Ghost World", a critically acclaimed film based on the underground comic book of the same name, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) are the best of friends. They have just graduated from high school, and while other students are heading off to college, Enid needs to take a summer art class to officially graduate as Rebecca gets a job. In the meantime, they get their kicks by harassing their fellow townsfolk. But when they play a mean trick on a dorky middle-aged record collector named Seymour (Steve Buscemi), their lifelong friendship begins to weaken as they drift further and further apart from each other. Over time, Enid discovers the challenges of becoming an adult in a world where she "can't identify herself with 99% of humanity". First and foremost: "Ghost World" is not your typical "teen" movie. It is not a scary movie either, in spite of the title. It is, instead, an extremely difficult film to review. It is an unusual film in many ways, being both funny and sad. Nevertheless, I still found myself having a great time with it. It's a daring little picture with terrific writing and top-notch performances that turn its convoluted plot into something so deceptively easy to enjoy. I personally could not relate to any of the characters portrayed in this film, but their personalities are so well-defined, and the performances convey all their emotions to such remarkable credibility that I wound up caring for their situations anyway. Enid doesn't actually know who she is or what her talents are, although she's quite certain of what she doesn't want to be. Throughout the film she goes through different personalities, including costumes and hairstyles, but none of them really work out for her. Rebecca is a little more up on her feet, with a better idea of who she wants to be. Yet, at the same time, both girls are so deliciously sarcastic and cynical that almost any 5-minute section of the film will make you chuckle. (The scene where Enid gets a job in a local movie theater is absolutely priceless.) The script is so sharply written, going perfectly with Enid and Rebecca's spunky teenage spirit, and at the same time it can be quite stirring when it drives home the realities of growing up. Meanwhile, Steve Buscemi creates Seymour, another indelible character who in some scenes curses the world for providing such an awful life for him, and in other scenes simply quiets down and accepts it. Later on, he and Enid learn a lot from each other, and how some things in life just don't go as planned. But the main reason why "Ghost World" is such an intriguing film is because there is so much going on and so many little subtleties being thrown at the viewer in every scene, although the viewer doesn't notice it. The first time I saw this film, I thought the plot was going nowhere in some scenes, when really it was moving quite fast. The film's title comes from the concept that the old, familiar world of the nowhere-town in which the film takes place is slowly dying away, as it is being overwhelmed by fake 50's diners and malls. At the same time, it refers to the tiny little 1% of humanity which Seymour and Enid actually can relate to. All throughout there are references to both "ghost worlds", ranging from Seymour's record collection to Enid's art class. Eventually, the film comes to a curious ending that leaves all the main characters in a new state of mind. The ending doesn't explain much, but it suggests a variety of feelings, including tragedy in one character's case, and hope in another's. There's so much more to this film than what I can explain in words. I didn't realize what a brilliant film this was until a few days after I saw it. At that point, I wanted to see it again to catch all the little details I'd missed. "Ghost World" is a unique little gem, a refreshingly smart and insightful look at the lives of two girls developing into the adults they will eventually be. It is a quiet little film, and only the most intrepid moviegoers will decide to watch it for themselves. It will not have the same effect on all its viewers, but anyone who sees it with an open mind should have a pretty good time. If you see it, see it on DVD; the special featurette on the making of the film may help you understand it better afterwards. (Also, if you see it, stay seated until after the ending credits.)
Rating:
Summary: Hoorah!
Review: There are many great reviews of the film on this site so I'll just add my little bit. Although the film is primarily based on the graphic novel of the same name, the relationship between Enid and Seymour only exists in the movie. However, I don't think it just came from nowhere, it seems very similar to the first story from another Daniel Clowes book: Caricature.
Rating:
Summary: Jane Burnham¿s Alter Ego
Review: Excellent movies have an uncanny way of never moving beyond the outskirts of New York and Los Angeles during their theatrical run. Peter Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994) and Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER (1997) are just two of examples of countless films which are highly-cinematic and end up being seen by many on home video. Terry Zwigoff's GHOST WORLD is another such film. It stars the incomparable Thora Birch as a typical high school graduate who is tired of her humdrum life and, like most 18 year-olds, doesn't know what she wants. However, she does know what she doesn't want, and that's a step in the right direction. The dialog is terrific and full of wit and hilarity. Based upon a comic book by Daniel Clowes, this film is awash in bright and garish colors. The VHS tape is a complete waste. See the film instead on DVD, preferably on a progressive-scan set-up. This DVD pressing is good, but I wish that it had included a few commentaries - I personally enjoy such behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and it would have been nice to hear about the translation of the comic book to the final film version. The fact that I have purchased this DVD virtually guarantees a future Special Edition... Five stars for GHOST WORLD, three stars for the DVD of it.
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical and Poignant
Review: It's nothing new that Thora Birch is one of my favorite actresses today, so it's no accident that I enjoyed this film. However, the best performance comes from Steve Buscemi; while he, Thora, and Scarlet Johannson each play outcasts, Buscemi pulls off some of the most comedic moments ever captured on film (you will never feel the same when inside of a 7-11 after viewing this movie). Yet, Buscemi also is able to maintain his character's personality with the most dramatic feel to it. He was ROBBED of an Oscar nomination!! Furthermore, how dare ANYONE declare there to be an existence of "the trappings of the 'American Beauty' syndrome," as that misguided declaree obviously misunderstood that film's Best Picture brilliance. Though "Ghost World" is a tad long, its perceptions of reality are starkly and hilariously on the spot, and its ending perfectly weaves these perceptions together. Masterfully written by Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost in the translation
Review: Any resemblance to the Daniel Clowes' graphic novel upon which 'Ghost World' is based is purely cosmetic. The quiet essence of teenage angst that Clowes captured so brilliantly in his monochromatic drawings is lost somewhere in the translation. Not that the movie can't be assused of not trying...director Zwigoff just tries so hard he almost belittles his audience's intelligence. Its as though he used Clowes' basic characterization and plot structure to present his own frustrations with society, art, and cinema. Zwigoff uses the relationship between characters as a foil to the frustration of the creative individual in such a regimented market-driven country. I don't have issue with this per se...it just follows the trappings of the 'American Beauty' syndrome: soulful frustrated characters drifting through mediocrity with convenient typical ultra-liberal Hollywood plot twists. Parodied situations in this vein are throughout 'Ghost World'. In the end, the two main characters are so good-looking, you have to wonder if they would really be so angst-ridden. It eventually gets so repetative, it borders on the tedious towards its own anticlimactic conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: A great film about being an outcast
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful film. For being low budget, it is incredibly well cast, with the protagonists being mean yet likeable, and everyone else seems just as freakin' annoying as they do to any outsider. I don't feel the need to repeat what's been said, so i'll just summarize by saying that this is a very funny movie, with a soundtrack that's very different, yet really sets the mood well. I mostly wanted to comment on the ending, which some people seem to see as some sort of cop-out. What these people are missing is a true understanding of how it feels to be outside of everyone. When nobody seems to understand, even those you trust most, things like the crazy guy waiting for a bus that never comes become the only concrete things in life. Enid stepping onto that bus represts her need to get away from everything normal, everything she knows, and to just leave town on a bus that shouldn't exist. I guess to understand it, you have to have been in a situation before where you'd rather just take off into the unknown, and leave behind all that you've built; when all your friends and family have become what you fear and hate, it's better to just go somewhere, anywhere, else. Consider yourself lucky if you have no idea what i'm talking about. But if you do, check this movie out.
Rating:
Summary: Nice portrait of empty irony and angst
Review: I enjoyed this movie a lot, although I feel the ending was unnecessarily (and unconvincingly) bleak and gratuitously cruel to the characters. It felt a bit forced, as if they said, "we must make this an un-Hollywood, bummer of an ending!" and then just took the quickest, easiest path to make that so. That quibble aside, this is a great film.
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