Film as a medium is almost infinitely flexible, universal and personal at the same time. Film is capable of so much emotion and yet it’s also capable of conveying the complete absence of it. Beauty or lack of it. Terror or peace. And, as A Ghost Story proves beyond any doubt, film can make you feel so fucking uncomfortable and voyeuristic that you would give anything for the director to just yell “cut” already!
Put another way: how long do you think you could bear watching someone eat pie? Think carefully before you answer. For the full A Ghost Story experience, write your response down on a little scrap of paper and hide it in your house (or underneath a rock if your house is just a couple of pegs in the ground).
Whatever you think you can bear now, the inescapable truth is that no amount of tolerance for pie voyeurism will be enough to survive A Ghost Story unscathed. In one strange, haunting scene, A Ghost Story makes its mark, and there are lifetimes of other achingly lonely scenes for you to digest (but only if you can stomach it).
A Ghost Story plods, skips, stops, philosophizes, winks, and does whatever it wants, conventions be damned. It is a wonderfully strange, unique and brilliant experience that I cannot recommend enough.
By the way, see A Ghost Story in a theatre if you can, because there is a magical dichotomy in the mixture of loneliness and comradery that should result from experiencing this film with others. That contrast is yet another example of film’s versatility, and doubles as a valuable touchstone if you ever happen to become a ghost. It will all make sense in the end, and that is a comforting thought, isn’t it?
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Who the hell would think of a pie eating ghost!? Still it sounds interesting for sure.
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After reading this and seeing the trailer, I’m ready to see it. Thanks Sean!
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I was going to see it at some point, but now I’m kinda anxious for it. Thanks!
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I really want to see this as I was a big fan of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. I hope my theater gets it.
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This sounds like someone may love it…or hate it, nothing in between. The image above actually is unsettling. Now, I watched my grandfather eat breakfast….it took him an hour! He would slowly butter his bread and the. Sit back and breathe out like he just completed going up a hill. He ate sugar beet syrup on toast with….sour cream on top! He the. Cut half a slice of rye bread and he would dip the pieces into pumpkinseed oil.
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I can definitely see people hating this movie. The slow pace will be a divisive choice. I thought it worked really well for A Ghost Story because it fits with the movie’s take on what being a ghost might be like.
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Sean,
I’m generally interested in art that “does whatever it wants” and I like to think of myself as “wonderfully strange” so…I’m in. 😉
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Reblogged this on RidicuRyder and commented:
Assholes Watching Movies have turned me onto certain films I would never have seen otherwise. I’ll be seeing A Ghost Story when it’s out….
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Thanks for reblogging! Let me know what you think of this movie when you get a chance to see it – this is definitely art that does what it wants!
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Yeah, you swirled in on my kinda hook there. 👽. I’ll get back to you.
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I can’t watch this as then I would never sleep again… I justified it 😉
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Ah, you liked it. I’ve heard liked it. I’ve heard hated it. And I’ve heard about the 5 minute pie scene. Weird movie.
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Very weird movie. I don’t think there will be much middle ground on this one. It makes you choose early on – even before the pie scene, there’s so much silence and stillness to this one.
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that’s Good
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The trailer for this one grabbed my attention like no other trailer has in quite some time. Glad to hear it’s just as weird and wonderful as I’ve been expecting.
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This sounds terrifying!! I don’t know whether I was relieved or distraught to see this is getting a UK release date…
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The director was at our screening and his opening remarks were that this would be the least scary thing we’d see (Fantasia is a horror/fantasy genre festival) and he was totally right.
Just like everything in A Ghost Story, death is quiet and still.
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It sounds interesting, although I don’t know about watching someone eat pie…depends on what kind of pie it is, maybe:-)
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It looked like pumpkin pie to me 🙂
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Not cherry? I’m somehow disappointed.
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You nailed it: a wonderfully strange, unique and brilliant experience. I’ve called it “a haunting reflection on grief and what lies beyond the last heartbeat’. We are both right for once.
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Glad we both get to be right! And you nailed it with your quote, that’s a fantastic line. DVD-box worthy IMO.
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This was one of the worst wastes of time I have sat through in forever. There was only one scene worth mentioning but as for the rest of this,the cheetah buried it in his litterbox…..and I helped.
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