Ghost World (2001)
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Two quirky, cynical, teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives following high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle-aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.
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18 films that influenced Ghost World
What critics say influenced Ghost World
There is some initial comparison to another teen angst film, "Heathers" (1989), but where the older film, especially the violence, was fantasy based, the comic book-inspired tale is firmly rooted in teen reality.
The blockbuster success of The Breakfast Club was due more to its powerful anti-exclusionary message than it was to the presence of a memorable story (there wasn't one) or its negligible comedic elements, and the murderous antihero of Heathers would have gleefully exterminated the cheerleaders of Bring It On.
This film combines the outrageous originality of Chuck & Buck, the quirky humor of Rushmore and the cheeky satire of Heathers.
Zwigoff also directed “Crumb,” the wonderfully creepy and beautiful documentary about cartoonist/artist Robert Crumb.
"Ghost World" comes from director Terry Zwigoff, who's no stranger to alienation: His documentary "Crumb" was a warts-and-all portrait of cartoonist Robert Crumb and his off-kilter family.
It's filmed by documentary filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, a nerd himself, who gave us the excellent documentary "Crumb."
Like few films since Zwigoff's superb 1995 documentary Crumb, Ghost World sees an underlying poignancy in the lives of outcasts who combat their misery through withering sarcasm and creative misanthropy.
But Terry Zwigoff, director of "Crumb," the probing documentary about underground cartoonist R. Crumb, and Daniel Clowes, in adapting Clowes' underground comic book, dig way beneath the surface of suburban America to create a singularly unsettling portrait of a culture in the grip of the mediocre.
"Ghost World", based on Daniel Clowes comic novel, has the keen incisive eye of "Rushmore" and "Welcome to the Dollhouse".
It's often pretty grim, venturing into the same territory occupied by Todd Solondz's films, Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness .
Although it's based on another source (Daniel Clowes' graphic novel of the same title), "Ghost World" is reminiscent of nothing so much as director Terry Zwigoff's last outing, the documentary "Crumb," crossed with the nightmarish "Welcome to the Dollhouse."
Much like Todd Solondz's shockingly effective "Welcome to the Dollhouse", Ghost World is a masterfully crafted mosaic of growing pains and self-awareness that is so convincingly perceptive.
Four (out of apparently several) negligible deleted/alternate scenes (two are improvisations involving Doug (Dave Sheridan), the shirtless, abusive convenience store customer), the full clip from 1965's Gumnaam (the song "Jaan Rehechaan Ho"), a Ghost World soundtrack promo, and trailers for Ghost World and The Princess Bride and The Terminator Special Editions round out the DVD's meagre, if appreciated, assortment of extras.-Bill…
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There are some dead end subplots involving a politically-correct feminist art instructor, Roberta Allsworth (Illeana Douglas of "Stir of Echoes"), a would-be boyfriend, Josh (Brad Renfro of "Apt Pupil"), a would-be girlfriend, Enid's father, (Bob Balaban of "The Majestic") getting back together with Enid's hated stepmother, Maxine (Teri Garr of "Tootsie").
Her bedroom is littered with vinyl records and a poster for The World of Henry Orient.
It's often pretty grim, venturing into the same territory occupied by Todd Solondz's films, Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness .
The closest equivalent to this in recent American film has to be the work of Todd Solondz, director of Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness .
It joins American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, The Graduate, and Diner as a valentine to that time in one�s life when the security net of school is pulled away, and The Great Beyond looms ahead.
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Personally, I like open-ended movies - they have more of a "real life" feeling to them - but I recognize that some people can't stand them (at a screening I attended of John Sayles' Limbo - arguably the most open-ended film of all time - distressed audience members threw things at the screen when the closing credits began to roll).
Played by Steve Buscemi, the �funny looking guy� from Fargo, Seymour comes across as a skeletal sad-sack whose dark eyes and jagged teeth resemble something from Night of the Living Dead, especially while he�s munching on a vat of gooey chicken wings.