Vanilla Sky

Starring:Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Vanilla Sky reunites director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) with über-playboy Tom Cruise, adds another sexy Cruz (Penélope) and Cameron Diaz for good measure, and delivers a wildly entertaining, bizarre venture into erotic science fiction. Adapted near exactly from Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 romantic thriller Open Your Eyes, the film follows David Aames (Cruise) as he falls from his graceful Manhattan perch of inordinate wealth, good looks, and newfound love with Sofia (Cruz) because of severe facial disfigurement in a car accident caused by a suicidal ex-lover (Diaz). What at first promises to be a conventional allegory of redemption via true love is turned on its head as Cruise's character, reduced to wearing a latex mask and spurned by his friends, wins back his princess only after a miracle of plastic surgery restores his former beauty. A series of plot twists follows as waking life, technological advances, and nightmares flip-flop to dizzying effect and David ultimately comes face to face with his own mortality. Despite a final conceit to some vague morality, the appeal of the film is the wonderfully callous message conveyed by the rest of it (money and physical beauty equal happiness) through an unabashed vanity perfectly embodied by Cruise and Cruz. A delicious, decadent treat. --Fionn Meade

Customer Reviews:

A Must See Once in Your Life!.......2007-07-05

A unique concept - Crazy - Multiple Twists - What is going on here!
Those are all the things I thought as I saw this movie about 4 times. The concept is not as unique as the presentation of the concept is! At times you'll think the presentation is very crazy, but you have to find out what in the world is going on in this movie, because of all the twists and turns! Did it or did it not! Is he or is he not! I can't give it 5 stars because it was a tad too crazy! This is probably a love it or hate it movie! Enjoy, I did!

you have to be open-minded.......2007-05-30

extremely complex film, very cameron crowe with the wonderful music selections and infinite details you would never pick up on until the fifth or sixth or twentieth viewing

i may be biased bc i enjoy penelope cruz very much. i thought it was a great film and something very different. atleast view it once!

When the Dream Dies, Open Your Eyes.......2007-02-19

Spoiler Alert: Skip this review if you don't want to know the ending.

Cruise's rich, handsome and happily shallow character has bought himself a custom-made Heaven. This heaven comes complete with his favorite sky, a vanilla-colored sky patterned after his late mother's Monet painting. The catch is that he doesn't know he's dreaming and that his peculiar heaven will eventually turn hellish. In fact, after 150 years of dreaming of the bliss of finding and winning his dearest and most true love Sofia, he first suspects and then rages that it's not real at all, but a nightmare. Strands of Hindu mysticism are subtly woven through this film, hinting of something beautifully infinite and strange. The movie's soundtrack heightens the mood and mind-bending confusion of this film, and it may turn the screws to your mind at times, leaving you spinning and feeling off center. If you don't understand the bad and the good vibrations that flow through this film, then--to paraphrase Penelope Cruz's character--maybe you will in another lifetime, when you are a cat.
In summary, I think this movie is worth watching more than once; so go ahead and get the DVD. There are many things to admire about it. For me, the romantic idea of being blissfully and timelessly sustained in a dream about finding one's true love is sweeter than a vanilla sky.

Living Vs. Existing........2007-02-09

Based upon a foreign film that translates into English as OPEN YOUR EYES (ABRE LOS OJOS), VANILLA SKY gets its title from a Claude Monet painting, "Seine at Argenteuil" that the film's protagonist, David Aames (Tom Cruise) has upon a wall. The painting is sometimes mistakenly referred to as "Vanilla Sky" because of the color that Monet used for the sky in the painting. The misnomer of the painting's title is a key in understanding and appreciating the film because early on it becomes clear that this is a movie that likes to play with one's mind and the things that take place aren't necessarily real.

VANILLA SKY revolves around the character of David Aames. David is the son and heir of a international media tycoon. Most everyone close to him, including his best friend Brain Shelby (Jason Lee) see David as a spoiled brat who has no appreciation whatsoever for all the gifts that have been given to him since birth. He takes advantage of almost everyone he meets and lives in a fantasy world of wine, women, and song. At the start of the film David is involved in a serious relationship with a beautiful blonde named Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz). They have been dating for sometime and are romantically linked, but David doesn't feel their relationship is as serious as Julie does. Whereas Julie is waiting for David to commit and propose, David sees her as simply being a "friend with benefits."

At his birthday party, David meets a woman that he finds so captivating and fascinating that he falls immediately in love with her. The woman, Sophia Serrano (Penelope Cruz) is the opposite of everything that he found attractive in Julie. David ends up walking her back to her place and spends the night talking with her. To him, Sophia is the woman of his dreams. She is the woman he would choose to marry. Unfortunately for David, Julie doesn't take things very well. She reminds him of some of the unavoidable truths about their relationship. Julie and David are involved in a car crash and when he opens his eyes, he is living in a different world.

His face has been reconstructed and at first things seem normal. But then David starts having nightmares. Soon the nightmares of his dreams seem to mix with his day to day life. He finds himself unable to distinguish the difference. Sophia is Julie and Julie is Sophia. The world is too confusing and David longs to sleep so that he can return to his dreams. Pleasant, pleasant dreams filled with the Sophia he met at the party and skies colored in vanilla.

I really don't like Tom Cruise much. He does have talent, but his large ego and cocky attitude take away from every picture I've ever seen him act in. Therefore, I was reluctant to see VANILLA SKY. I wish I would have watched the movie long ago.

The movie is a strange romantic drama sci-fi picture that tackles some huge issues. How do we live our lives? Would you rather live your life in a comfortable existence filled with superficial happiness or would you rather live an exciting, though often painful life filled with wonder and awe, truth and beauty, but only occasional moments of happiness? This is a decision that each one of us is actually presented with daily. We might not always recognize it as such, but it is and the way that choice is presented in the film makes VANILLA SKY such a powerful and engaging piece of cinema.

Cruise's ego works well for most of the film, though it denies the audience from completely identifying and empathizing with the plight of David Aames. Cruise is a great jerk, but not a very good reformed man. However, his gift at playing spoiled id-driven men sucks the audience into the action of VANILLA SKY from the beginning and even though one is never convinced of David's reformation, Cruise's performance/presence keeps the audience engaged throughout the film. Penelope Cruz reminds me of a Spanish Audrey Hepburn and though she isn't in the movie a great deal, she shines in the moments that she is. Cameron Diaz is a beauty and movie star, but overcomes her celebrity. She does a wonderful job of portraying Julie, an everywoman character that many women who have been stepped upon by men can relate to. Julie isn't on screen very long either, but when she is she raises some important questions about love, relationships, and sex in American society. Another important actor in the film is Jason Lee. Lee portrays David's best friend Brian, who is busy writing a novel. Brian is the catalyst for many of the film's deeper thought-provoking moments. It is also Brian who just might hold the key to the real meaning of the film. Like Cruise, sometimes having Lee in a picture is a turnoff, however in VANILLA SKY he is perfectly cast.

VANILLA SKY isn't the easiest film to understand. It isn't necessarily the most romantic film and though it's an intelligent movie, it asks more questions than it answers. It also has an open ending, so people who have to have a movie end all tidy will have problems with the film's ending. Nevertheless, the film is a beautiful piece of cinema that engages and entertains. A person cannot watch it without and not have something to think about later. That's something only really good movies can do.

Original and compelling.......2007-01-07

Vanilla Sky is an interesting examination of the human psyche. Cruise plays the handsome but arrogant tycoon who gets his face disfigured in a car accident. I think it's an amazing concept to ponder what a drastic blow to the ego this would be. Tom shows a great deal of courage with this role.
I also really enjoyed Cameron Diaz's performance. She's more known for her happy, goofy personality. But here she is the insanely jealous lover. She's attractive, controlling, and vindictive, every guys nightmare.
This movie jumps around and can be confusing the first time watching it. Overall it's a good story, but the individual characters and their interactions are the best part.

Average customer rating:

Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.
An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come...
loved it
Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!
This is a very good movie

Open Your Eyes
Starring: Carola Angulo (II) , Gérard Barray , Joserra Cadiñanos , Penélope Cruz , and Ion Gabella
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

Vanilla Sky
Belle Epoque
The Sea Inside
Woman on Top
Amores Perros

ASIN: B00005LZOD
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Amazon.com

Imagine if an actor's director like Eric Rohmer--whose films consist almost entirely of conversation between pairs or small groups of people--made a film that incorporated elements from movies like Dark City, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor, The Truman Show, and Total Recall. The result might resemble Alejandro Amenabar's remarkable second feature, Open Your Eyes, which favors ideas over effects and offers twist upon twist with mind-warping agility. This film rewards multiple viewings, pushing the viewer toward one perception of reality, then switching to another until reality itself is called into question. Melodrama, love story, and psychological thriller combine with a dash of science fiction, forming a plot that is both disorienting and deceptively precise.

Set in Madrid, the story defies description, but this much can be revealed: young, handsome Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) is vain, rich, charming, and--following a botched suicide-murder scheme by a jilted lover--horribly disfigured. He'd fallen in love with Sofia (Penélope Cruz) but is now an embittered husk of his former self, stuck in a "psychiatric penitentiary" on a murder charge and hiding behind an expressionless mask. His reality has crumbled, but as the film's agenda is gradually revealed, we realize that there are other factors in play. Exposing that agenda would be a criminal offense against those who haven't seen the film; suffice it to say that Open Your Eyes takes you into the twilight zone and beyond, and does so cleverly enough to prompt Tom Cruise to produce and star in an English-language remake, Vanilla Sky. The 2001 remake, directed by Cameron Crowe, costars Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz, who reprises her original role. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips........2006-12-21

Abre los Ojos (Alejandro Amenabar, 1997)

Okay, I have to say this first: Eduardo Noriega is the male lead in the new Brad Anderson movie Trans-Siberian. I don't need to know anything else, because Brad Anderson is about as close to being a god as movie directors get. If Anderson thinks Eduardo Noriega is the goods, then Eduardo Noriega is the goods.

He's also the star of the much-talked-about Alejandro Amenabar film Abre los Ojos, which everyone and his mother complained was desecrated when remade in America as Vanilla Sky a few years ago. And while I can't find anything wrong with slagging a Tom Cruise flick, I'm not terribly sure why this movie is being held up as the gold standard. Maybe it's a relativity thing; I have (to the value of my sanity, according to friends) managed to avoid seeing Vanilla Sky.

In any case, the plot: Cesar (Noriega, who, did I mention, is in the new Brad Anderson movie?) is an arrogant, handsome womanizer who meets the woman of his dreams, Sofia (Penelope Cruz). Problem is, the girl he jilted for Sofia, Nuria (Before Night Falls' Najwa Nimri), isn't too happy with the arrangement. While offering him a lift home, she commits suicide by crashing her car, an accident that leaves handsome Cesar horribly disfigured.

Now, intercut with all this are scenes of Cesar being interviewed by a doctor, so we know there's a lot more to this story than we're being let in on. And that's all well and good, except that the movie keeps raising two questions for each one it answers. At that rate, you're going to be left with a whole lot of unanswered questions when the movie ends. And that's exactly what we get. It's not so much that the film is ambiguous, which it is, but it's that the ambiguousness of the ending is the part about which we can feel we have the clearest grasp on. There's an "as you know, Bob" character at the end to explain everything, but Amenabar has given us a very strong feeling throughout his tenure in the film that the guy is, quite simply, lying his tuckus off. And where does that leave us? (Knowing nothing but our interpretation of the ambiguous ending, of course.)

What we do get is some rather fine shots of Penelope Cruz showing a lot more skin than we've seen from her before, a handful of really good performances (including Noriega's), and a mystery that, were it to come to any sort of conclusion, would be a cracker. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's entirely possible I missed some small detail that makes the whole thing make perfect sense, but until someone points it out to me, 'm still wondering what it is about this movie (aside, of course, from Penelope Cruz naked) that gets peoples' juices up.

And did I mention that Eduardo Noriega is in the new Brad Anderson flick? ** ½

An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come..........2006-10-02

Abre Los Ojos came to my attention after seeying it's American Remake, Vanilla Sky. Vanilla Sky had amazed me and had been spinning in my mind for a long time after I had seen it. Then I found this dvd of the original, and bought it here on Amazon.
When it arrived I immidiately watched it, ready to be pulled into that world which Vanilla Sky had pulled me in about a year ealier. Only this time, this movie stunned me even more than Vanilla Sky did, it captured me, moved me and gave the world of dreaming and love a totally different perspective than it gave me when I watched Vanilla Sky.
The reason?
The original is simply more powerfull than it's remake.

Abre Los Ojos is one of those movies that is everlasting. It is a tense thriller, a beautiful love story, an emotional drama, a big mystery and can even be placed under the catagory Horror at some moments.
The story is the most original and one of the most powerfull stories I've ever seen. It's complex, it's tempting, it's confusesing, it's powerful... It's everything that makes a story worthwhile and is absolutely something to remember and think back to.
The cast is fantastic. Penelope Cruz plays the exact same role that she plays in Vanilla Sky. The thing that makes her better in this one than the remake is that she has no problem pronouncing her scentences. Spanish is her motherlanguage, the language she was raised with and the language she can pronouce with pure pasion and fantastic acting. She also did a fantastic job in Vanilla Sky, don't get me wrong, but here you can feel her emotions fluently and she gives her absolute best and in Vanilla Sky you can't really feel that even though she acts absolutely great in that movie.
The leading role is for Eduardo Noriega, an actor that is absolutely convincing and realistic for the part he plays. He was a great casting choice and gives his very best. The thing that makes him believable is that you will feel for his character during the movie. He portrais his character in such a way that is only said in one word: powerful.

The other aspects of the movie: the setdesign, the locations, the lighting, the music, the cameramovements, the editing, the atmosphere and everything else is all maqnificent and leaves a powerfull impression. It helpes the story live and feel real to the audience.
Everything has been taken care of to make every small detail look stunning which helps you even more with falling in love with this movie.
Don't you worry about the language (the whole movie is spoken in Spanish), cause when you are into this movie you won't even notice that you are still reading the subtitles.

My only left advice to you is: Watch Abre Los Ojos first, and after that Vanilla Sky. I did it in the other direction and all I can say is that I think it's a pitty that I did so. So don't make the same mistake that I did and watch Abre Los Ojos first! You will understand what I mean when you will watch Vanilla Sky secondly.

So open your eyes and be moved by this absolute masterpiece of filmmaking. Yes people, this is what the movies are all about!
WOW, what a film!

loved it.......2006-08-28

This film, which in my opinion is way better than Vanilla Sky, flat-out spreads important questions to the viewer. the most important being: how far are you willing to go, how much of your life will you allow beauty to control?

Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!.......2006-08-10

This movie was captivating and interesting for the first 3/4ths of it. It is a psychological thriller/mystery and you obviously want to find out the big explanation at the end that resolves all your questions. Well, the ending was so incredibly far-fetched and crazy that I can't believe that anyone who read the WHOLE script actually wanted to work on this movie. It ends up being a stupid "sci-fi" type ending. So, if you want to get all into a movie, only to have them resolve it with the most ridiculous scenario possible, buy this one!! ....or....DON'T.

This is a very good movie.......2006-08-05

I got this movie so that I will continue to improve on my Spainish. I am thrilled to find such good movie in the process. I have seen Vanillia Sky, but this is so much better, in some way much more original. The performances...what can I say, I stayed glued to the television until the end.

Average customer rating:

Vanilla Sky [Region 2]
Starring: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell , and Jason Lee
Director: Cameron Crowe
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Last Samurai (Two-Disc Special Edition)
12 Monkeys (Special Edition)

ASIN: B00005V967

Charlie Rose with Tom Cruise & Cameron Crowe (December 3, 2001)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Tom Cruise & Cameron Crowe (December 3, 2001)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Description

Charlie Rose talks with actor and producer Tom Cruise and filmmaker, Cameron Crowe, about their new movie Vanilla Sky. The two, who also worked together on the movie Jerry Maguire, paired up once again to create a re-make of the Spanish thriller, Open Your Eyes. Vanilla Sky is a story of sexual obsession, a search for truth and pop culture.

Singles (Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda) / Just Married (Ashton Kutcher, Brittany Murphy) "2 DVD Set"

Average customer rating:

Singles (Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda) / Just Married (Ashton Kutcher, Brittany Murphy) "2 DVD Set"

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the same apartment complex, search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle. Plot Synopsis: Romantic comedy about six of the city's young people, most of whom live in the same apartement building and whose lives revolve around Seattle's ever-expanding music scene. The inter-related stories about each character's progress through the singles scene are intriguing and often very funny, and the soundtrack is a grunge fanatic's dream, with the likes of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney. A happy young couple, Sarah and Tom (Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher) marry against the wishes of Sarah's friends and family and go to Europe for their Honeymoon. Unfortunately for them, Sarah's parents send Sarah's ex-boyfriend Peter Prentis (played by Christian Kane) to break up the happy marriage.

Average customer rating:

Vanilla Sky [Region 2]
Starring: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell , and Jason Lee
Director: Cameron Crowe
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005U8P6

Abre los Ojos (Edición Especial Coleccionistas)

Average customer rating:

Abre los Ojos (Edición Especial Coleccionistas)

Manufacturer: Twentieth Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

Commentary Track
"Luna" short

ASIN: B000HJE6T0

Product Description

Heredero de una considerable fortuna, bien parecido, con éxito entre las mujeres, César es un joven a quien la vida le sonríe. Una noche, Pelayo, su mejor amigo, le presenta a Sofía, de quien César se enamora al instante. Esa misma noche, Nuria, la última chica con la que César había mantenido una relación y que sigue aferrada a él de forma obsesiva, se ofrece para acompañarlo a casa. ~ En el transcurso del trayecto, Nuria gira el volante y lanza el coche por un precipicio en cuyo fondo se inicia para César la peor pesadilla que podía imaginar.

DVD:

DVD

DVD: Nikki - Wild Dog of the North

Der Eisbär