Films and Showtimes

Ghost World (2001)

• Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi
• Director: Terry Zwigoff
• Genre(s): Drama, Comedy
• Rating: R
• Running Time: 111 min.

Staff Picks Series
Every month a member of the Moxie staff picks a film that impacted their lives and we put it up on the big screen.
November’s pick was made by Ellen Neville.
“I first found this film after I read Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel Ghost World as a teenager. I was slowly accepting my outsider, art-kid destiny, and Daniel Clowes’ books introduced me to what would become my favorite book genre. I love Enid’s (Thora Birch) sarcastic sense of humor, her sense of style, and the strange people she attracts. I wanted to share it because it’s a coming of age film about a very specific type of nonconforming teenager. Also the music is great!”

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Synopsis: Based on the well-known comic, Ghost World tells the story of neo-cool Enid (Birch) and Rebecca (Johansson) who, faced with high school graduation take a hard look at the world they wryly observe and decide what they really want. (MGM / UA)

"The greatest distinction of "Ghost World" is its singular spirit. Here's a dark, deadpan comedy about alienated kids that manages to be smart, surpassingly odd, extremely funny and mysteriously endearing at the same time."

"Most of Ghost World is funny, but the laughs are inextricably tied to the painful alienation and self-loathing that comes with living on society's fringes."

"Zwigoff pulls off something in Ghost World that seems a minor miracle -- he creates someone with a complex inner life."

"Graced by numerous wonderful and amusing touches, and boasts sterling performances by Birch and Buscemi."

"I wanted to hug this movie. It takes such a risky journey and never steps wrong."

"The cast ... brings Mr. Clowes's sad world of loneliness and disaffection to vivid comic life."

"A film like no other, an artful spellbinder that cuts deep. "

"It's surely the best depiction of teenage eccentricity since 'Rushmore,' and its incisive satire of the boredom and conformity that rule our thrill-seeking, individualistic land, and also its question-mark ending, reminded me of 'The Graduate.'"

"Offers an exquisite tour of the twilight zone between high school and the so-called real world, as well as between bohemian subculture and the even stranger culture of America at large. "