Vanila Sky: A Must See (very surprising)

Definitely one of the best movies I've seen all year. Better than Lord of the Rings, better than Harry Potter, better than Memento... I think I may have a hard time ranking it with the Royal Tennenbaums or Ali; but it's certainly better than I had imagined. Go see it. Don't read anything about it and go see it -its one of those movies that will -actually- tax your ability to follow a cohesive story without using lame plot devices. This is the type of movie that intellegent people will get a kick out of and will cause dumb people to furrow their brows in vain attempts to comprehend meaning <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> -Y'know, the type of movie-goer that starts muttering "I don' get it" in the middle of movie or before the plot unfolds -don't bring those people. They can always rent Glitter.

SEE IT! <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">

What if you're the type that dislikes Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Penelope Cruz?

<IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

And you know, I think Lord of the Rings just barely beat out America's Sweethearts, so comparing a movie to that not a good idea.

I won't bother paying for Ali, because it has Will Smith. I lost interest in him after he cut ties to his "Parents just don't Understand." It all happened after ID4 and MIB, then carried through with WWW... I can't respect him anymore.

Memento was a good movie. Very good.

Royal Tannenbaums... It's not open nationwide. Only NY and LA has it right now. Right? Playing in select cities...

I'm not a Will Smith fan, but you really don't notice him in Ali. It's an amazing transformation. He pulls the same kind of disappearing act that Jim Carrey did in Man on the Moon.

I'm not a particular fan of any of the actors in Vanilla Sky, but the plot really, really made the movie.

(Oh, and I think the Royal Tennenbaums opened wide yesterday)

[ December 29, 2001: Message edited by: Bobak ]

JASON LEE IS IN VANILLA SKY!
You know jason lee from kevin smith movies, i wanna see VS.
Im seeing the royal tennenbaums today <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Better than "Memento" and better than "LOTR?" I hope you're not throwing around that praise lightly because these are two AWESOME movies. If it's really that good, and your words are those of an experienced movie buff, then I have to go see "Vanilla Sky" even though I hate Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. (Jason Lee always is a laugh.) You and mookystains let me know what you think after you see "The Royal Tennenbaums," 'cause from the previews there's nothing to interest me.

We rented "Following" from NetFlix, for you Memento fans. (It was written by Nolan too.) I'll let you know what I think after watching it this weekend.

I hate to sound like a cranky filmgoer here, but Vanilla Sky is just a Hollywood gloss remake of a fantastically original Spanish film called "Abre Los Ojos" (US:Open Your Eyes).

It was directed by Alejandro Amenabar- the guy who directed Tom Cruise's ex-wife Nicole Kidman in 'The Others'. He also directed an exceptional thriller called 'Tesis' (US:Thesis)

The thing that bugs me about any positive reviews of 'Vanilla Sky' is that I hate it when the Hollywood gets the additude that they can somehow 'improve' on foreign films, and then gets the credit for them.

I'm sure 'Vanilla Sky' is probably a good movie, but there's just one problem: It was already made in 1997. And it was a REAL good movie that did NOT need to be remade.

I hate it that somebody like Tom Cruise thinks he can remake great films so that HE can be in them.

He needs to start picking some better original scripts instead of remaking already perfect films.

Sorry.. END RANT <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Heh, Tom Cruise probably doesn't even know it's a remake... <IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">

The original Traffic was better too.

Oh, I knew Vanilla Sky was a remake of a foriegn film, but I still thought it was awesome. -I heard about that when "The Others" was released (another awesome movie) that they were doing a remake of his older film.

Regardless, I like it a lot -and this is where I'm going to sound a little hollywood, but while I know it was more honest and pure when the original was made, I really appreciate the slick Hollywood treatment (in terms of technical quality) when they are still able to keep the story intact. Yes, it can be seriously messed up: take "Point of No Return"/"La Femme Nikita", but it can also work well occasionally (creating an equal experience) like "the Birdcage" or better, like "Three Men and a Baby." (Yes, if you noticed those were all movies that were originally French, no I didn't mean to). <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Neobuyer wrote:

I hate it that somebody like Tom Cruise thinks he can remake great films so that HE can be in them.

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Well, actually it remade because of Cameron Crow who adapted/directed this version(Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous).

The reason Cruise is in it is because the last movie that they did together got him an Oscar nod and Jason Lee is in it because they worked together previously on Almost Famous (where I was an extra, too <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> ).

I think most people just can't get over that whole Tom Cruise thing (the guy's very short, BTW). This really isn't the movie to take it out on him, save that for a dumb romantic comedy.

I am probably going to see Tom Cruise's next movie: Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report."

Originally posted by Bobak:
<STRONG>Almost Famous (where I was an extra, too <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> </STRONG>

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What scene are you in and where? I'm in the middle of watching that movie right now (actually on a very long break).

Originally posted by EvilWasabi:
<STRONG>What if you're the type that dislikes Tom Cruise....</STRONG>

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im preparing some rotten tomatoes & eggs for him. i dont see any good acting from him, he's sucks.

but i luv Penelope in Jamon Jamon.

spanish movie rulez.

Originally posted by One-Eyed Willy:
<STRONG>What scene are you in and where? I'm in the middle of watching that movie right now (actually on a very long break).</STRONG>

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Ah... The trials of being an extra:

I was in a scene, but they never turned the camera on me (it was that scene in San Diego where the kid meets the whole band as they're back stage with chicks and rockers). Most of the time I was in crowd scenes at concerts (nearly all filmed at the Paladium in Hollywood).

I tried finding myself, but I couldn't. Ah well, at least I got a little over a hundred a day to just goof off in 70s attire.

*Shrug* Eh, what are you gonna do.

My boss was an extra in Episode I. He's in the celebration scene at the end, taking the reins of a kaadu. He just got his own CCG card from Decipher. They created a fictional name for the card by mixing up the letters of his real name (what's that called, an anagram?).

So are you a budding actor, Bobak, or is it just 'cause you live in L.A. and happened to be around for the movie at the right time? <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by Bobak:
<STRONG>Regardless, I like it a lot -and this is where I'm going to sound a little hollywood, but while I know it was more honest and pure when the original was made, I really appreciate the slick Hollywood treatment (in terms of technical quality) when they are still able to keep the story intact...</STRONG>

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I know what you mean, Bobak.

But one of the very coolest things about 'Abre' was the fact that it's Spanish location and non-Hollywood calibur slickness made the ending seem that much cooler.

And it's originality was just about it's best feature. It was really one of the most original films of the 1990s. And a Hollywood remake kind of puts the kibosh on the uniqueness of the film.

Well at any rate Bobak, if you get the chance see the original, it's a real good film and I would like to hear your reaction if you do ever get to see it.

And I don't know if they're in 'Vanilla Sky' but in the original you get a real nice shot of Penelope Cruz's tits... <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by One-Eyed Willy:
<STRONG>
So are you a budding actor, Bobak, or is it just 'cause you live in L.A. and happened to be around for the movie at the right time? <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0"></STRONG>

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The latter, I'm a budding lawyer-to-be (its all the same, really).