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Should I add Ghost World and The Man Who Wasn't There to my collection? (1 Viewer)

JohnRice

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Stephen,
Even though I am a HUGE fan of The Man Who Wasn't There I can't guarantee someone else will like it. It is basically in a tie for my favorite film of 2001. I dislike the comments that it is boring or slow, since that is just an interpretation of the intentional tone of the film. It is very quiet and deliberate. So much so that I don't recommend watching it after a tiring day or after eating. It may put you right to sleep. In the end, for me, it is incredibly moving, artful and poetic.
At the moment, my signature will link you to 20 stills from it, but I will probably be changing that soon, so after that you can use this link.
 

JohnRice

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Oh yeah. It just occurred to me that Scarlett Johanssen is in both of these films.

EDIT... I'll just repeat others. TMWWT is absolutely NOTHING like LA Confidential.
 

Mitch Stevens

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I highly recommend "Ghost World" as well! I think it's an instant masterpiece. I had never even heard of the film, until a friend of mine told me "You have to see 'Ghost World'," but he didn't tell me what it was about.

At first, the beginning song, made me want to vomit. I don't like that kind of music, so I thought I was going to hate the film, but after the song finished, I was immediately immersed into the film. I loved it!

In case you didn't know, it's based on a comic book that I had never heard of before, and the movie itself is very funny. I couldn't stop laughing during some of the scenes.

I don't know the exact quotes, but I'll try:

Here's your popcorn all nice and drippy with butter


OMG, those people are satanists!


EXTREMELY funny movie, that is worth watching again and again! I saw it twice when I rented it, and it's on my "To Buy" DVD list.
 

Matt_Wizall

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Well, dang it, I think I'm gonna have to jump in for a negative comment about Ghost World ;)
I liked most of the characters, but I found the film ultimately unsatisfying. I was expecting some really funny bits with two girls that rip on the more mainstream aspects of society. (You won't find more of a fan of satire than me). Instead, I got two girls that walked around in a stuper commenting on how much they hated everything. I coudldn't help but thing what a blown opportunity this was. The lead character was as annoying as I've seen in quite sometime.
That said, the other characters are fantastic. Steve Buscemi, Bob Balaban, Illeana Douglas each had excellent characters.
This is the first time that I really felt this conflicted when watching a film. Enid is surrounded by tons of cool people, but she is a bloody dolt and I couldn't care less where or how she went.
I wanted to like this film, but just couldn't make myself do it. Perhaps when I get down to no films on my Netflicks queue I'll re-rent it.
Ugh, anyways, my advice is to rent it.
I have yet to see The Man Who Wasn't There yet, but I will shortly.
 

Seth Paxton

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Both are good films which COULD really strike a chord with you. But they both also leave some people with a bland taste in their mouth.

Both are dry, but in different ways. This style can leave some people less than thrilled by the films. At the very least though, both are creative and interesting in the sense of being rather unique compared to most films.

LA Confidential, while slightly film-noir in style, is no where near the hard-core noir style of Man Who Wasn't There. And yet TMWWT is the funnier of the 2 films, in traditional Coen Brothers style.

I'd say if you liked Blood Simple or Miller's Crossing then you should enjoy TMWWT. Not all Coen films work in the same ways, so you can't expect Big Lebowski or Raising Arizona, or really even Fargo, from TMWWT.
 

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