Gosford Park (2001) - Smith triumphs in Altman & Fellowes' exquisite whodunit

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Scarlet roses and a menu attached to a waiter's backside with the title, tagline and impressive list of stars make up this inviting poster for Robert Altman's Gosford Park

A British family patriarch invites to a grand hunting weekend in 1930s upper class England. The family and their servants cultivate etiquette, gossip and viciousness as usual. But then a murder occurs!...

Gosford Park is written by Julian Fellowes (Romeo and Juliet (2013)), based on an idea by co-producer/co-star Bob Balaban (The Last Good Time (1994)) and co-producer and Missourian master filmmaker Robert Altman (The Delinquents (1957)), whose 33rd feature it was.
It is a wonderful multi-character film with a terrific ensemble of whom especially Maggie Smith (Keeping Mum (2005)) and Kelly Macdonald (Finding Neverland (2004)) impress. Smith is tart and incredibly funny here.
Altman serves the whodunit in a breezy style without giving the misdeed more room than is necessary.
The British social reservation that's integral to Gosford Park may affect my own feelings about it a bit to the cool side, but it is certainly still a splendid picture.

Related post:

Robert Altman: The Company (2003) - Campbell, Turner and Altman's fine ballet picture

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 19.8 mil. $
Box office: 87.7 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.42 times its cost)
[Gosford Park premiered 7 November (London Film Festival) and runs 137 minutes. Balaban asked Altman if they could develop a film together in 1999, and upon Altman's response of an Agatha Christie-like whodunit introduced him to Fellowes. Shooting took place in England from March 2001 - ?. Filming took place with two cameras perpetually moving in opposite directions, forcing all actors to stay in character throughout every scene, all of which has at least one servant in them. The film opened #23 to a 241k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 918 theaters (different weeks), grossing 41.3 mil. $ (47.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 17.1 mil. $ (19.5 %) and Australia with 4.5 mil. $ (5.1 %). It was Altman's most commercially successful film, following MASH (1970). The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning for Best Screenplay. It lost Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Smith and Helen Mirren) to Jennifer Connelly, Director to Ron Howard, all for A Beautiful Mind, and Art/Set Decoration and Costume Design to Moulin Rouge!. It won 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, 2/9 BAFTAs, 1/4 AFI award nominations, was nominated for a César award, 3 European Film awards and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Fellowes was inspired by the film to create his hit-series Downton Abbey (2010-15). Altman returned with The Company (2003). Smith returned in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002); Macdonald in Brush with Fate (2003, TV movie), State of Play (2003, miniseries) and theatrically in Intermission (2003). Gosford Park is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.51/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gosford Park?

Ghost World (2001) - Zwigoff's adaptation is a flawless coming-of-age masterpiece

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The skirted teenage girl protagonists stand opinionated and firmly placed in a vacuum on this smart and funny poster for Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World

Enid and Rebecca are best friends. Done with high school and seemingly ready to move in together to embark on adult life, Enid begins a relationship with a much older record collector named Seymour, which brings her to doubt herself, the world and her future tremendously.

Ghost World is written by Daniel Clowes (Art School Confidential (2006)), based on his same-titled 1997 graphic novel, and Wisconsinite master filmmaker, co-writer/director Terry Zwigoff (Louie Bluie (1985, documentary)), whose fiction debut it is.
It is a film that will fool some to rate it under its value due to its surface look of being a 'small' film, (which is a questionable summation of any film generally.) In terms of scale it is a small movie but not in terms of themes or achievements, and as importantly there simply is not a fault to put one's finger on in Ghost World.
Thora Birch (The Competition (2018)) as the evolving Enid; Scarlett Johansson (The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)) as her voice of reason friend Rebecca, and Steve Buscemi (Mr. Deeds (2002)) as the hilariously funny dejected Seymour are all fantastic.
The music (score by David Kitay (Smiley Face (2007))) and acerbic, poignant descriptions of modern US society in the film help its unique effect of smarting while making one laugh. The cinematography (by Affonso Beato (Treason (1998))) and costumes are very 1990s/independent/Americana. Ghost World is an unequaled gem.

Related posts:

Terry Zwigoff: Art School Confidential (2006) or, World of Phoney
Bad Santa (2003) - Zwigoff sticks dynamite under Christmas in this modern dark comedy classic 
Crumb (1994, documentary) or, The Artist As a Cartoonist

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 8.7 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.24 times its cost)
[Ghost World premiered 16 June (Seattle International Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - May 2000. The film opened #30 to a 98k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #20 and in 128 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 6.2 mil. $ (71.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 587k $ (6.7 %) and France with 357k $ (4.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, lost to Akiva Goldsman for A Beautiful Mind. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 2 AFI awards, won 2/3 Independent Spirit award nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Zwigoff returned with Bad Santa (2003). Birch returned in 5 TV and video credits prior to her theatrical return in Silver City (2004); Johansson in An American Rhapsody (2001); Buscemi with a voice performance in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and physically in The Grey Zone (2001). Ghost World is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.83/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ghost World?