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?

American Beauty (1999) or, Escape by Death

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+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Debut of the Year + Best Drama of the Year + Best Mega-Hit Movie of the Year + Biggest Moneymaker of the Year: 127.48 mil. $ range

The iconic poster for Sam Mendes' American Beauty with its ingeniously simple tagline, 'Look closer'

Lester Burnham is a middle-aged father and husband, who is numbed to a zombie-like-state in an American suburb with his 9-5 job, his real estate-pushing wife and angry teenage daughter. just as some unpredicted things start to happen to him...

At first glance the characters of American Beauty might seem a bit psychologically sketchy, but then the plot takes them to new places: And although everything which takes place in some ways couldn't be more banal, yet they all still feels perfectly real and plausible.
American Beauty is written by Alan Ball (True Blood (2008-14), creator) and directed by debuting English master filmmaker Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road (2008)). It is Ball's thematically heavy script, above all, which has been studied over and over again since 1999. - What is the film saying exactly? And how does it say it? People obsess over American Beauty as few other films. And pairing it with Mendes' sensitive, keen direction is a perfect match.
Kevin Spacey (Margin Call (2011)) arguably has the role of his career here as Lester, SPOILER who liberates himself (and pays for it.) Spacey shines brightly here, and will always be remembered for his time as Lester, a great character that really strikes up the audiences' imagination. In other parts co-starring Annette Bening (The Siege (1998)) and supporting actors Mena Suvari (Psych (2010), TV-series), Thora Birch (Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009)) and Chris Cooper (Great Expectations (1998)) are all remarkable.
American Beauty is an incredibly powerful film, SPOILER and I wish I could believe in the final thoughts from Lester in the film, while instead it just makes me sad.To understand and make up your own mind, you will have to watch the film.

Related posts:

Sam Mendes: Spectre (2015) - Mendes' second Bond delivers
Skyfall (2012) - Overly celebrated third pout from Daniel Craig as Bond in slick production
Away We Go (2009) or, Where Do We Start This Family?

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 356.2 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[American Beauty premiered 8 September (Los Angeles) and runs 122 minutes. Ball had developed his idea for the film as a play in the early 1990s. He sold the script as his first movie script in 1997 to DreamWorks for 250k $. Reportedly 20 big filmmakers were approached to direct, before Mendes was hired from the directing stage successes, working for scale, he reportedly finally only made about 38k $ on the job. Shooting lasted 50 days from December 1998 - February 1999 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #11 in 16 theaters to an impressive 816k $ first weekend (a 53k $ average). It spent 7 weeks in the top 5 in an unusual release that saw the film boom and decline, only to boom and enter the top 5 again for another 2 weeks months later following its Oscar wins: Its placements were #4-#3-#4-#5-#X-#4, followed in March with 2 weeks in #5. The film played a very long 38 weeks in North America, where it grossed 130 mil. $ ( 36.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 34.6 mil. $ (9.7 %) and Germany with 24.1 mil. $ (6.8 %). The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 5: For Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Script and Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall (Divorce American Style (1967))). It lost Actress to Hillary Swank for Boys Don't Cry, Editing to The Wachowski Brothers' masterpiece The Matrix and Best Score (Thomas Newman (Skyfall (2012))) to John Corigliano for The Red Violin/Le Violon Rouge. It also won 3/6 Golden Globe noms, 6/14 BAFTAs, a Grammy, 3 National Board of Review awards and many other awards and honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this review. IMDb users have ranked it #65 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece Princess Mononoke/Mononoke-Hime (1997) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Mendes returned with the great Road to Perdition (2002). Spacey returned in The Big Kahuna (1999) and Bening in What Planet Are You From? (2000). American Beauty is certified fresh at 88 % with an 8.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of American Beauty?