Harry here... There are many nights where Austin doesn't shine as the brightest light in my eyes... I had a good night... good friends, a fine script to read, good drink, a good film I love and good talk. But I am Harry Knowles, a lover of undiscovered films... Movies that have not seen the light of day yet. There are often times portents of good about films that we all can read... the bones of film fortunes told us that VANILLA SKY was Cameron Crowe's next... and that is information enough. No need to read reviews, no need to seek out information... The name Cameron Crowe says one thing to all that drink lit chemicals upon a screen... It means, GOOD FILM! It means QUALITY! It means a new DVD to own! And while we need not read reviews or the scripts for these jewels we do... We do because it does the soul well to sip the future and taste the flavor of the good to come. VANILLA SKY played New York this night. It was a quiet ceremony. A few hundred lucky attendees saw that which we all want to see now. The media has become preoccupied with Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz's involvement together... BAH! I say, let us listen to what Crowe will bestow upon us this Holiday season. Let us bask in a pair of reviews....
so I just got back from a screening of Vanilla Sky...yes thats right Vanilla Sky.
The room was dripping with film students so I'm sure this is the 12th review you have gotten. I'll try to make it short.
Vanilla Sky is Cameron Crowe on acid and it's fucking great. The photography is wonderful. The editing was daring and very well done. Jason Lee was hysterical. Penelope Cruz was lovable. Cameron Diaz was pretty good. Tom Cruise did an amazing job. Everything was superb.
However the script might be a little too far out there for the baby boomers, so expect some people to leave unhappy.
that's all...it is a great movie
the guy who saw Vanilla Sky
ps. I have one question for the crew, How the fuck did you guys do the
Times Square scene?
Harry here, and you probably are wondering about that 'TIMES SQUARE SCENE'... Well I am not one for spoiling surprises, but it is a remarkable thing that Crowe did... and to answer the guy's question... He did it for real. It took 3 days, but he did it for real... If I may suggest, go down to Times Square stand there... look around... and marvel at the magic of what the movies can make happen in our world. And now... for a more complete look at the film with some spoilers... but no radical ones...
Hi there. I've never sent in (or really ever written) a review before so don't expect this to be some brilliant critique :) , but I just wanted to say that I saw a screening tonight at the Paramount lot and it was excellent. It was promoted as a "blind screening" of a "romantic thriller" but most everyone seemed to know what it would be in advance. Everyone applauded when the woman announced that we'd be watching Vanilla Sky.
I and everyone with me liked it. Here's a little bit about the movie, hopefully without giving away too much. Tom plays David, the big hotshot NYC businss man who has everything and is living life as though it will never end. Cameron Diaz is his "fuck buddy" Julia, someone he's not romantically involved in but has a good time with every once in a while. Jason Lee is his best friend who brings Penelope Cruz, Sophia, to David's birthday party and there is instant chemistry.
The film is framed with random cuts to David in a mask in a prison room, with a psychiatrist (Kurt Russell) who is there to diagnose him before a murder trial. There's a cool scene in a club with Sophia dancing cute and David tossing back what looked like about 20 shots of tequila. There's lots of weird stuff that messes with David (and the audience) throughout the movie. Dreams are interwoven with reality and characters become other characters from shot to shot. It's trippy and very cool.
I thought it was an intense and gripping movie. There were many more special effects than other Cameron Crow films. The music was great: Radiohead, REM, Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'ConnerThe Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc. There were a few Bjork references and a Jeff Buckley reference and in that respect I could tell Cameron Crowe was the director, very good with music. I wonder how much of it was even permanent. Anyway another great thing about it was the dialogue-- very intelligent, and at times heartfelt without being cheesy (until the end, it actually did get just a little cheesy).
Tom goes through a lot of physical changes throughout the movie, from his normal attractive self to a disfigured "monster" to wearing a creepy Phantom of the Opera/AI-ish mask. The makeup and prosthetics were really believable and at times even a little hard to work with. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan but he did a really good job.
The movie was about two hours and forty minutes long. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut a little out of the middle but other than that and the final scene's effects not being done, I doubt they'll change much. It flows pretty nicely. It's suspenseful, and a little dark. I liked it a lot and it seemed to be a hit with the crowd. On the way out I heard people comparing it to The Matrix and A.I., although I thought it was MUCH better than A.I. and also I have a feeling it will have a little less mainstream appeal than The Matrix, even though it's very good.
-DorInterrupted
