Open Your Eyes

Starring:Carola Angulo (II), GÃ©rard Barray, Joserra CadiÃ±anos, PenÃ©lope Cruz, Ion Gabella, Luis GarcÃa (II), Fanny Gautier, Jaro, Chete Lera, Javier MartÃn, Fele MartÃnez, Pedro Miguel MartÃnez, Pepe Navarro, Najwa Nimri, Eduardo Noriega (II), Miguel Palenzuela, Walter Prieto, TristÃ¡n Ulloa, Jorge de Juan
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
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.

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.

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:

Soundtrack ROCKS!!!
Amazing! Entertaining! I didn't want to miss a second!
Amazing! Entertaining! I didn't want to miss a thing!
Not a movie; it's an advertisement

Keep Your Eyes Open
Starring: Mat Hoffman , Spike Jonze , Sunny Garcia , Seth Morrison , and Travis Pastrana
Director: Tamra Davis
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

Documentary | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

Skiing & Snow Sports | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

Skateboarding | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video

( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
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The Gravity Games - Summer Two (Freestyle Motocross, Thrills and Spills, Bikes, Skateboarding)
Ultimate X: The Movie

ASIN: B00009YXES
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Product Description

A high-octane tour of the world of action sports, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN follows some of the hottest pro-athletes on their quest for the ultimate adrenaline rush. Director Tamra Davis (CROSSROADS and HALF BAKED) takes you to the heart of the action, capturing some of the most jaw-dropping stunts and gruesome spills ever seen in the worlds of snowboarding, skiing, surfing, BMX, motocross and skateboarding.

System Requirements:
Starring: Mike Basich, Tina Basich, Steve Berra, Sunny Garcia, Mat Hoffman, Andy Irons, Bruce Irons, Eric Koston, Marc Frank Montoya, Seth Morrison, Travis Pastrana, and Mike D.
Copyright 2003 Artisan Entertainment.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

It's not hard to find extreme sports documentaries on DVD, but Keep Your Eyes Open is a cut above the norm. Hollywood director Tamra Davis (Billy Madison, Half Baked) brings to the genre a new polish, intellectual curiosity, and singularly interesting eye for unexplored camera angles and fresh visual settings. The subject is a little different, too: Keep Your Eyes Open concerns uniquely gifted athletes with a penchant for superior focus. They don't keep an eye on competitors, and they contemplate possible injury as something not to avoid but to predict. The talent roster includes skateboarders Eric Koston and Steve Berra, extraordinary skier Seth Morrison, 17-year-old motorcycle champion Travis Pastrana (who seems to dance with his bike while suspended in space), and hot-tempered surfer Sunny Garcia (whose fight for survival, learned on the tough side of Oahu, informs his sharp skills riding waves). Davis's husband, Mike D, makes an amusing cameo appearance as a security guard. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Soundtrack ROCKS!!!.......2005-08-15

After reading the post from Ryan Cragon, I felt compelled to write my own little review of this little film.
Directed by Beastie Boy Mike D's wife Tamra Davis (Billy Madison, Half Baked, CrossRoads), this film dives into the world of extreme sports - motorcross, bmx, skateboarding, snowboarding and skiing. While the pacing of this movie seems a bit off, jumping from skiing to motorcross to bmx to skateboarding to snowboarding to surfing, this film lumps the sports together by similarities. seth morrison says he's influenced by motorcross, next sport is motorcross. travis pastrana says he's influenced by bmx, next sport is bmx. Pretty simple.
the soundtrack was pretty amazing, i thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the film.
The film is a good intro into extreme sports, with some of biggest names representing their sport.
The little skit that runs throughout the movie is cute at best. it gets a couple of giggles here adn there and is an okay filler. I'd say this is 3.5 stars.

Amazing! Entertaining! I didn't want to miss a second!.......2003-09-02

I enjoyed every minute of this captivating, lively, and fun extreme sport documentary. I promise that you will be so engaged whether you plan to watch it alone or with a bunch of friends. To be honest, I am not a real sport-fan, but "Keep Your Eyes Open" entertained me immensely. Awesome film!

Amazing! Entertaining! I didn't want to miss a thing!.......2003-09-02

Not a movie; it's an advertisement.......2003-08-19

Summary:
Well, it's kind of hard to summarize this DVD because it isn't predominantly a movie, even though there is a ridiculously stupid movie within the action clips. So, I'll summarize the majority of the footage then I'll summarize the movie.

The footage is made up almost entirely of what appear to be stock shots of extreme sports, including: snowboarding, skiing, BMX, surfing, and motorcross. One athlete from each sport is highlighted (sometimes there are more, but they are pretty inconsistent on this) who then gives a spread out interview intermixed with scenes of them doing what they do.

The movie is a silly short about two skaters who pay a security guard to look the other way while they skate on a college campus. Then when his boss returns the guard and his boss chase the skaters until they end up running them over in their car, killing them, then burying them.

My Comments:
I'm going to reverse the order for my comments about the DVD.

The movie... The short is about the dumbest thing I've ever watched. There are a total of four characters - two skaters and two guards. The skaters say a total of roughly 10 words, all while they are pooling their money to bribe the guard. The rest of the movie they don't say anything, they just skate, and skate, and skate. The guards, on the other hand, can't seem to keep their mouths shut - which works against the movie, sadly, because they sound like two potheads. It's rather obvious that in real life they are probably best friends with skaters and despise security guards. The plot, of course, makes no sense because security guards don't sit at checkpoints on campuses and the majority of the skating is actually just around the city where the movie is filmed instead of on the campus. The plot was just set up for them to have an excuse to film the two skaters. Then, when the skaters are 'killed', it's blatantly obvious that they are mixing footage of dummies with footage of the real skaters - way low budget stuff here. Of course, maybe that was their intent, but it was still just plain silly. In short, the movie portion of this DVD is an absolute waste of film and DVD space. But despite it's problems, it really wasn't that much worse than the rest of the DVD because it was at least coherent and trying to tell a story, despite the horrible acting and plot.

The footage and interviews... This is really where I started to have a major problem with this DVD. Even though there is a director for the DVD, Tamra Davis, I got the impression that most of the footage was likely shot by someone else and she just got her hands on it after the fact then edited it together. So, despite some of the footage being pretty good, I don't think the producers of this DVD deserve any of that credit because I'm pretty sure they didn't do most of the filming.

As for the content, as I noted above, this is not a movie - there is no story here. This is really just an advertising gimmick for extreme sports. There are a bunch of shots of people doing cool things with the occasional wreck. The extent of the story is the brief interludes of some of the athletes telling about their lives, but the snippets are short and lost in the jumble of cuts from the other athletes and their footage.

This leads me to perhaps my biggest problem with this DVD - was there supposed to be an order to it? The interviews and footage don't follow any particular pattern. They start with one person, jump to two or three others, return to the first, then leave that person for 20 or 30 minutes before returning to them. It's almost as if the director and editor just said, "Well, we have this many video clips, let's put them into a randomizer and see what comes out." Et voila, you have Keep Your Eyes Open. This is why I think I ended up concluding that the DVD was really just an advertisement because there was no other way to interpret what took place. Also, keep in mind that interspersed with the footage and interviews are scenes from the actual movie.

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.

Average customer rating:

Don't Open Your Eyes
Starring: Timmy Hung , Jo Kuk , Tian-lin Wang , Pinky Cheung , and Sammy Leung
Director: Clarence Fok Yiu-leung
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000I0QLBE
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Average customer rating:

Open Your Eyes [Region 2]
Starring: Faire Binney , Mrs. Joupert , Jack Hopkins , Halbert Brown , and Eddie Beryll
Director: Gilbert P. Hamilton
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000063BMJ

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.

Average customer rating:

Open Your Eyes/Twice Upon a Yesterday
Starring: Twice Upon a Yesterday , and Open Your Eyes
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002S94HA
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Jamon Jamon / Open Your Eyes (Unrated Asian Versions)

Average customer rating:

Jamon Jamon / Open Your Eyes (Unrated Asian Versions)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Nudity, Sexual Situations, Adult Situations
Uncut Versions & Scene Selection
Spanish Audio with English, Korean & Chinese Subtitles

ASIN: B000O6ADOS

Product Description

JAMON JAMON - Headstrong senorita Silvia (Penelope Cruz) becomes pregnant to village Mummy's-boy Jose (Jordie Mulla). Silvia's father has left town and her mother Carmen (Anna Galiena) is forced to become the town prostitute. Jose's overbearing mother Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) fears her son will marry the daughter of a scarlet woman and takes action. She hires sexy, young Raul (Javier Bardem), who works in the ham-factory and enjoys nude bullfighting, to seduce Silvia. What ensues is a series of chaotic and frantic couplings, testosterone overload, breasts that taste of ham, and a duel to the death with a side of bacon... OPEN YOUR EYES - An imprisoned man who hides his face behind a mask is telling his story, as a flashback, to a psychiatrist. His name is Cesar, he is charming, rich, and unbelievably handsome. One night, when Cesar met Sofia, he fell in love with her. But his old girlfriend Nuria was very jealous; pleading with him to get in her car, and committed suicide by driving her car off the road. Cesar survived the crash, but his face was hideously disfigured...

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