Vanilla Sky (DVD)

It's hard to feel sympathy for Tom Cruise's character in this weakly surreal, lowest-common-denominator faux-high-brow sci-fi thriller, and I'm not sure whether this was the point. From the very start, David Aames (Cruise, in crafty 'beat Aaron Aardvark to alphabetical top spot' manoeuvre) is revealed to be a semi-talentless yuppie born into supreme wealth and status, who relies on this, along with his good looks, to have meaningless one night stands ...
...clearly, but one who is somehow respected by his peers, who unbelievably fail to see the funny side in his partial disfigurement following a car crash. Even David's best friend, whose girl he's unashamedly set about stealing, can only wish that 'the old David' could come back. The David who was pretty much the same, only with a very slightly less wonky mouth and eye. Then again, as 'Vanilla Sky' approaches its inevitable plot-twist conclusion, it ...

Frankingsteins 05.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...first week of release. Vanilla Sky is the story of David Aames – a spoilt rich kid (that’s unlike you, Mr Cruise!) who wants for nothing and cares for no one. Having inherited his father’s business, he lives an opulent lifestyle in a swish city apartment, and has plenty of casual friends and lovers. His role at the helm of his father’s company meets with great disapproval from the board of directors – affectionately ...
...really give much away either. Vanilla Sky is a decidedly strange movie – a mysterious concoction of mystery, fantasy and romance. Oh – and did I also mention that it is painfully, tirelessly dull? There were lots of things about this movie that I didn’t like – many of which are particular to a genre, but this is one of my main criticisms of the film. I was never really sure what this film wanted to be. At times it seemed ...

LostWitness 14.09.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...first words you hear in Vanilla Sky and in a way, you as the audience have to. The trailer for the film muttered these words too and after watching the trailer, you would be forgiven to think that it’s just a normal bittersweet love triangle type turn murder storyline. No chance! Open Your Eyes! This is a Cameron Crowe movie starring Tom Cruise and produced by Tom Cruise, so prepare yourself for a very self-indulgent movie! Vanilla Sky is a ...
...it. There were times within Vanilla Sky; I just wanted to jump off the train. One thing that has played on my mind though, is the ability of the film to actually make you think about it. I know a lot of films recently have had the same effect but trust me, even if you think this film isn’t any good when you finish watching it, you will spend the next day or days thinking about what the hell the movie was about. Cameron Crowe has said this in ...

rayliu 30.01.2002 (04.02.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...boys and girls, prepare for Vanilla Sky… ***THE PLOT*** David Aames (Tom Cruise) is a spoilt brat of a publishing magnate who inherited his father’s business, much to the chagrin of the board of directors (“The 7 Dwarves”). Currently involved with the slightly clingy Julie (Cameron Diaz), he seems to have the moon on a stick. At his select birthday party (to which the increasingly dodgy Julie has not been invited), he encounters ...
...Besotted, he plans to make her his, but as things are starting to swing his way, he encounters Julie once more, who decides that if she can’t have him, nobody will. She promptly drives them both off the road, leaving her dead and David disfigured. The accident seems to have a serious effect on David’s mind too, as he tells his tale to prison psychiatrist Dr McCabe (Kurt Russell). Revealing more about the events following the crash, the ...

peppersinclaire 30.01.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...remember reading rave reviews of Vanilla Sky when it was released back in 2001. Even the tagline on NTL read "a Cameron Crowe masterpiece". Heady stuff, indeed and so I sat down to take in this inspiration amongst movies to see if it could possibly live up to such a billing. ----------------------------------------------------- Principal cast: Tom Cruise .... David Aames Penélope Cruz .... Sofia Serrano Cameron Diaz .... Julie Gianni Kurt Russell ...
...Recounting the story of Vanilla Sky is difficult without defaulting to the sequences towards the end of the movie. Of course, any review will not want to give away the ending so suffice to say that there is an element of cryogenic freezing that provides the rationale to what’s gone before (if that helps at all). I honestly thought Cruise did well in the lead role. With his pretty boy looks and flashy smile, Cruise is destined to attract as many ...

Marandina 19.05.2003 (25.05.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

I don't know what I think of Tom Cruise. I certainly can't stand all that rich, gorgeous, powerful, heroic stuff he does in most of his movies, and the way the camera always shoots scenes not on what would be best for the scene, but what would be best for Cruise. However, since seeing him in 'Magnolia' some years ago, and witnessing what he really is capable of, I do find myself pulled towards any film he stars in that goes against his norm. And ...
...Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire), it's a Hollywood remake of the acclaimed Spanish movie 'Open Your Eyes', made by Alejandro Amenabar in 1997. Cruise plays David Aames, a rich, spoilt publishing magnate who inherited the company from his father and is constantly engaged in cynical battle with 'the seven dwarves' who make up the board. He is a smooth, arrogant unfeeling brat, and a playboy who toys with the emotions of his 'friend' Julie ...

sandrabarber 13.10.2002 (14.10.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...be forgiven for thinking that Vanilla Sky is a typical Hollywood love triangle flick. Well its actually anything but that, Vanilla Sky is an edgy, dangerous psychological thriller that will keep you thinking. Vanilla Sky is so different to any other Hollywood film that the words "different" and "original" come to mind. However Vanilla Sky is far from that and it is in fact a remake of 1997 Spanish film Abre Los Ojos' which translates to "Open Your ...
...and his excellent performance in Vanilla Sky is sure to bag him a few awards. Penelope Cruz who plays Sofia Serrano in the film gives a good performance and redeems herself for pathetic flops Woman on Top and Blow. Cameron Diaz is excellent as Vanilla Sky's unstable Julie Gianni and I'm sure she'll at least get several nominations. Kurt Russell also stars in Vanilla Sky, he stars as Dr. Curtis McCabe; David's psychiatrist. *~ Direction ~* Even ...

Disillusioned 10.02.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...what I felt after, seeing Vanilla Sky for the first time. The same thing happened after seeing Matrix for the first time. Hollywood directors really have the art of taking viewers imagination to various heights and making the feel that they are character in that movie. Knowingly or unknowingly their has been movies which has made me so involved in the character that for a second, I used to feel is that a “Dream or Reality”. The alternative of God, ...
...But leaving that topic separately, Vanilla Sky is a movie not for ordinary people who are looking for clean entertainment but for Ordinary people with that extra-inch of brain. Before going any further my review, just tell me do you…. a. Believe that there is something called Dream-reality…(Dream turning to reality) b. Believe that there is something called Life after death…. c. Believe that there is something called De*javu Vanilla Sky… Vanilla ...

asyis 12.08.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...was sorely overlooked last year. Vanilla Sky marks a departure for more darker pastures and to be honest I'm not really sure what I think. This is a "cover version" of a spanish film Abre Los Ojos, made by Alejandro Amenabar who went on to bring us this year's creepy The Other's. Personally I haven't seen the film so I can't really comment on the similarities between the two films. Cruise plays David Aames, a rich New York playboy who sits at the ...
...in the grand scheme of Vanilla Sky I don't know, I'm sure it does but another viewing is necessary to find out. And that's why I really don't know what to say. I'm sure this film is a work of genius in some ways. I'm compelled to watch it again but I don't know why. There are things that I don't like in the film but I don't know why. The conclusion of the film is excellent but then again it's not as I've seen the same trick pulled in other films ...

utero 24.02.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

“Vanilla Sky” opens with one of the most startling sequences I have ever seen in a movie; David Aames (Tom Cruise) abandons his car in the middle of Times Square at the height of the New York morning rush hour and runs down the road with a mixture of: Bewilderment? Confusion? Exhilaration? This is the Times Square that is so familiar from a thousand and one photographs, movie scenes, travel programmes, this is Times Square in full display, ...
...yet so alien as, except for David Aames, it is utterly devoid of human life: no pedestrians, no traffic. Amazing stuff. And it’s not long, after the plot kicks in proper, that we start to share David Aames feeling of bewilderment, confusion and exhiliration. The movie is the feared Hollywood remake of Alejandro ”The Others” Amenabar’s 1997 movie “Abre Los Ojos" (English title: Open Your Eyes), directed here by Cameron ...

daveking 02.02.2002 (04.02.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

Vanilla Sky is a remake of a 1997 Spanish film named Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), and Penelope Cruz starred in what has been reported to be the better of the two versions. The hype surrounding this film was more about the relationship between Cruise and Cruz rather than the film, and I always think don't believe the hype. Right from the opening credits Vanilla Sky defies you to look away or lose concentration for just a split second, because if ...
...Tom Cruise plays a smooth, cool rich boy called David Aames. He has talent although he chooses never to use it, and instead he lives the high life to the max, he has all the spoils of a rich boy, the car, the home, the model who is happy to have sex whenever Aames pleases, and he thinks this gives him licence to act selfishly. Cameron Diaz plays Julie, Aames casual sex partner whose feelings for David are more than she ever lets on. He is given a ...

nicanddarrell 20.01.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

Open your eyes… And so begins this visually haunting, mesmerizing and somewhat unexpected new film starring Tom Cruise. I say unexpected, because that is how I felt when I went to see it recently with the missus. I had seen the trailer, but this was not what I expected. No sir. ~ The Plot ~ It begins with a narrative. Cruise is David and he is in a police cell accused of murder and Kurt Russell is his psychiatrist trying to fathom out if ...
...flashbacks, recording the life of David up until the dreaded moment. Basically, Tom Cruise plays a playboy, a rich young man who can get any women he likes and anything he wants. His f**k buddy is Cameron Dias, who unbeknownst to Mr Cruise actually loves him, a lot, when Cruise is only with her for one thing. He does not treat women seriously, and nor does he treat his position in the company his daddy left him in his will. That is until he meets ...

Borg 26.02.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

...inspire then don't bother with Vanilla Sky. Probably best summed up as a Marmite of films, you will either love it or hate it. This film was adapted from the 1997 Spanish thriller "Abre los Ojos" and this was screened recently one Saturday night on terrestrial TV. Having watched this it was easy to see where the American adaptation got its story from but that didn't stop the re-working from taking the original to new heights. The cast was well picked ...
...was good to see a decent British actor in there: Tom Cruise - David Aames Penelope Cruz - Sofia Serrano Cameron Diaz - Julie Gianni Kurt Russell - McCabe Jason Lee - Brian Shelby Noah Taylor - Edmund Ventura Timothy Spall - Thomas Tipp Tom Cruise's character, David Aames, is a womanising millionaire who has inherited the majority shares in a large publishing company from his father. The film centres on him and the story he tells from his ...

psrose78 18.02.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

Bitz | Stars :: Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Tom Cruise Themes :: Life, Dreams, Love Rating :: 15 Do you ever wonder if reality is, in fact, actually reality? Do you ever feel you've left the real for the surreal, where twisted dreams and more twisted people mix in place where anything can happen? That's the Lucid Dream.... You'd think David Aames would have it all ... a 51% ownership in a magazine company, handed to him by his dad, and a friend ...
...Just like the Lucid Dream. It wasn't wrong. It went wrong. Did he sign it in this dream? Or was the contract he signed to a fate he didn't know real? And how can he escape from the oh-so-obvious contract to live a life in a future unknown? Fall.... This is the story of a man, a free man, a single man. Parties, lie in's, a huge business, great house, weird dreams.. And with Cameron Diaz (Julie Gianni) as a more-than-friend but less-than-girlfriend ...

Fuzzmaster2002 02.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)

Vanilla Sky……….Pie in The Sky…….. Ok what is the weirdest film you have ever watched,maybe you are not sure. Well trust me watch Vanilla Sky and you will have no problems about your answer.……….. But on the plus side I like Tom Cruise as an actor and we also have a performance by the ever lovely Cameron Diaz, what a girl, something about her…lol.. Anyway it starts of with Cruise as the young 32 ...
...money by going to see Vanilla Sky because it is the biggest load of crap”. Personally I disagree, in my eyes it is a thinking person’s film…. I would compare it a bit to the old “Prisoner” series or a bit like “ The Matrix”.I remember the first time I watched The Matrix and thought it was utter rubbish.Then I watched it again and it became one of my favourite films……. Vanilla Sky just takes your ...

art1954 30.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vanilla Sky (DVD)