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Vanilla Sky * Cameron Crowe * 2001

There is a strange story to this film. In 1997 there was the film “Abre Los Ojos” (“open your eyes”) of Alejandro Amenábar (best known for “Tesis”, the inspiration for “8MM”). Tom Cruise liked it so much that he wanted it in the USA, but since the film is in Spanish, he decided that an English version should be made. Since Amenábar had moved to Hollywood to make his first big film, he didn’t have time for “Vanilla Sky”. Cruise, however, decided to give Amenábar an extra chance by producing “The Others” (with Nicole Kidman who just broke with Cruise). Also Cruise produced “Vanilla Sky” and hired Cameron Crow (“Almost Famous”, “Jerry McGuire”) to make it.

“Vanilla Sky” is almost identical to “Abre Los Ojos” and Cruise is said to have said that he sees “Vanilla Sky” more as a ‘cover’ of “Abre…” than a remake. Of course there are different actors, different locations, etc. but mostly the rest is the same. There are some differences though, but I will leave it upto you to detect them.

The story is about a David Aames (names from “Vanilla Sky”, they are different) who has experienced nothing but luck in his life. He got the 51% of the stocks of his fathers publishing houses when his father died and David is massively popular under women, personell and associated companies. He does live ‘the easy way’ too much which brings him trouble sometimes, but there is actually no way how anybody could do him any harm.
David has a ‘fucking mate’ in the beautiful Cameron Diaz, but falls in love with Sofia (Penélope Cruz plays the same part in both films!!), when his best friend Brian brings her to his birthday party. David spends the night with Sofia and when he wants to go home, he is waited for by Julie (Diaz) who asks him for a ride. Julie drives the car off a bridge. She gets killed, David is extremely deformed when he comes out of his coma.

After this there is the stuggle of getting Sofia back, keeping his job, remaining friends with Brian and learning to live with his deformity. Eventually David does win the heart of Sofia back, keeps his job, but looses Brian, it seems…

The film is ‘told’ in a ‘reality’, a ‘real reality’, dreams and flashbacks and gets more and more confusing towards the end. I didn’t like the “Existenz”/”Matrix” type idea too much, but there is a massive atmosphere, great filming, good acting and fortunately Cruz is just as beautiful as in the original (I had fears about this, since among some films she did between “Abre…” and “Vanilla Sky” were a few in which she didn’t look that great) and this is definately the driving-factor of the film.

What is quite remarkable is that “Vanilla Sky” is just as good, if not better than “Abre Los Ojos” and left me with the same feeling. As mentioned, some elements are different, there is more explaining in the American version (of course, the mass audience doesn’t want to think) and the end of “Abre…” is more beautiful, but the filming, locations and atmosphere are in both films great. Also “Vanilla Sky” remained a strange and not everyday film and is actually still not for the big audience in my opinion, but it seems to do well.

And something that you may have heard, Cruise and Cruz fell in love during (or just before?) the shooting of this film. Some critics say that this doesn’t show at all, some say it does. I agree with the second group.

My advise: get “Abre Los Ojos” from the videostore and enjoy it (or even better, try and see it on the big screen) and go to see “Vanilla Sky” a week later. Prove that even a remake can be good and this is really an exception I think.

Utopía * María Ripoll * 2003

And another Spanish film, but this one is spoken in Spanish too. Here we have a ‘supernatural thriller’, but not with the ‘mystique’ as in the Hollywood films in this vein, there ar no questions that you have to answer yourself or wait for the end of the film. “Utopía” is a group of clairvoyants trying to help people with their gift. In the case where the film is about, they try to save a young woman who is held hostage by some kind of drugs-group / sect. The film has nice cutting, camera stands and effects to add to the idea of the visions and is rather grim at times. In general it is mainly a police-thriller, especially towards the end. Not bad at all.

Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me * David Lynch * 1992

This film is actually a weak afterbirth of the popular Twin Peaks series. Having left the viewers with many unanswered questions after the series, Lynch returned with “the chilling truth behind Laura’s final days”. Indeed you get to see who killed her, but real answers aren’t here either. Fortunately! Watching this film I actually have to conclude that it may well be almost as good as the series themselves. It is much darker, far much stranger and Lynch really seemed to have wanted to give everyone who wanted simple answers a punch in the face. Not the answers people were waiting for for sure! A lovely film that you really shouldn’t watch before you saw the series.

Of course I saw this one many years ago, but recently I bought the UK DVD. No extras whatsoever, but who gives a damn.

Twin Peaks – the first season special edition DVD * David Lynch * 1990/2002

Without a doubt “Twin Peaks” is the best thing that ever happened in television-history. Reshown on several TV-stations several times, but now we have been ‘Peaksless’ for far too many years. Long ago the complete series have been made available on video. You can either look for the tapes, but I believe they are still obtainable when you know your sources. Too long after the introduction of the DVD “Twin Peaks” is available again. First in America of course, a few weeks ago Europe followed.

The editions are very different though. The European version is twice as expensive as the American version. One reason for this may be that the European version includes the pilot and the American doesn’t (…). Hoping that the American version would instead include the first episode (there is actually a pilot AND a first episode), I got the American version with the idea that I would get the pilot later. However the count starts at episode 1, this is not the first episode! Laura has already been found, Dale Cooper is already in Twin Peaks and you are already supposed to know the characters. That is really too bad, because I would have loved to get both the pilot and the first episode…

Anyway, the first series are episodes 1 to 7. Two episodes per disc plus extras on the fourth disc. Also there are some extras on the discs with the episodes, like introductions by the log-lady.

I am not going to tell you about the series. I AM going to tell you about the “special edition DVD” though. It comes in a cardboard box that you can unfold until you can place/take four discs and a small booklet. The artwork is beautiful. The box comes in a plastic slip with the picture of Laura Palmer and when you take the box out, you get the ‘wrapped in plastic’ look of her. 7 Times 45 minutes. Hell, I will have re-viewed them in a week and then I will have to wait for the second series which aren’t available yet… A Peaks-freaks must-buy!

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, part 1., the moab story * Peter Greenaway * 2003

I noticed that many of the older films of Greenaway are being released on DVD and I asumed that this was one of them. It seems -though- that the “Tulse Luper Suitcases” is a trilogy and quite recent too. However Greenaway is one of my favorite directors and this is again a typical Greenaway film, I didn’t like this film too much. The film contains the Greenaway picture-in-picture style, long scenes, taboos and nudity, but usually the man sets an atmosphere, mostly by use of repetative classical music, that I miss in this film. The ‘story’ (there never seems to be a real story in Greenaway’s films) is about a young man (Tulse Luper) who is frequently imprisoned. So often even that his life goes to play around it and he sees imprisonment as art. Luper structures his life in (I believe) 18 suitcases and 92 items that define life. A lot of stress is put on the Mormons and their philosophies. In a way, this film is a biography of Greenaway. Luper supposedly made films that were made by Greenaway ‘for real’. Anyway, a typical Greenaway film, therefor already interesting, but in comparison to the man’s other films, not the best.

The Truman Show * Peter Weir * 1998

I’m not exactly fond of James Carey, but still I watched his first serious film when it was shown on TV. “The Truman Show” isn’t really a drag either, actually quite an enjoyable film. It was released in a time that ‘reality’ TV-programs such as Big Brother were very popular and “The Truman Show” played in the cinemas together with EDtv, a film with a similar subject. Truman Burbank has a boring life and slowly he discovered that his life is literally one big TV-show with him as main-character. The city he lives in is a studio and he has been filmed and watched since his birth. When finding this out he tries to break free, which eventually he does.
A nice film when you have nothing to watch.

Tristan & Isolde * Kevin Reynolds * 2006

This classic medieval love-story is put in a Hollywood coat to appeal to the masses. The original story is altered a bit, which is a pitty. For the rest this film is an entertaining medieval costume warrior film about an impossible love between two people. Tristan is pushed back and forth between his love for Isolde and his loyalty to his king. Isolde can only obey her father. On the background plays the struggle between the tribes in Brittain who try to be united in order to stand stronger against the Irish invaders. Alright.

Les Triplettes de Belleville * Sylvain Chomet * 2003

Strange, this film was anounced quite largely, but plays in only five cinemas in the Netherlands and as it seems only for two weeks. As you can see from the poster, this is an animation film and it is French. Not really my kind of film, but enough people who wanted to see it to form a group of seven (all family too).

“The Triplets from Belleville” opens with al old-fashioned and hilaric piece of black and white animation which proves to be a tv-show. Then you see the main charactors, a young boy (in the front on the bike) and his grandma (with the umbrella). The boy is a sad boy, but when he grandma finds out he likes bicycles, he is delighted and soon trains himself into the “Tour De France”. There he gets kidnapped by a couple of square guys and shipped to “Belleville” (America) where he is exploited. Grandma goes after him with their dog in order to save him.

You can already see the way of drawing, simple, effective and funny (especially the maffia and the waiter). The film is not a chain of jokes and not so silly that it is only for children (as a matter of fact, there were only older people watching). No overtly hilaric animation, just something completely different an nice to see some time.

Trainspotting * Danny Boyle (1996)

An oldy again. I saw it a long time ago and recently it was on TV. I suppose all of you have seen this film a few times already, so this review is just for the possible single left who didn’t. Danny Boyle made the wonderfull film “Shallow Grave” (like “Trainspotting” with Ewan McGregor), the not so great “A Life Less Ordinary” (also with Ewan McGregor but also Cameron Diaz), films that I haven’t seen like “The Beach” (with Leonardo Di Caprio) and one that I still want to see “28 Days Later”, among others of course.
“Trainspotting” gives a grim inside in the life of a heroine addict, the addicted periode, the process of getting rid off the addiction, etc. All is told in a totally Scottish manner and with a wonderfull sence of humour. The filming isn’t as strange as I remembered, but all in all this is still very enjoyable.

Traffic * Steven Soderbergh * 2000`

An American movie about the ‘war on drugs’. This can only be a patriotic commercial for the US policy of 2,5 hour, right? Well, this is mostly what “Traffic” is.

As it seems to have to nowadays, there are different stories that either or not come together at some point. We have the brandnew highest official on the war on drugs judge Robert Hudson (Michael Douglas) whose daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) starts to experiment with drugs and eventually becomes addicted. Two American policemen Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) and Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) catch the drug-dealer Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) and make him chief witness against his boss, but this gives a lot of problems. Then we have Helena Alaya (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who didn’t know that her husband was this big boss until he was caught. First she fights the thought of her husband being a major criminal, but after getting threatened herself, she decides to take over his work. Then we have a Mexican police officer Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) who walks the thin line between corrupsy and under-cover working while he starts to work for General Ralph Landry (James Brolin) who also to Hudson claims to be on a war on drugs, while he is actually on war with his competition.

So, the idea was to show different stories of people involved with the drugs-problem. An addict, the parents, policemen from both sides of the border, their officials, jurisdiction, the dealers, their leaders and the war between the gang. Too obviously this is used to ‘advertise’ the money-devouring war on drugs of the USA.

BUT, there is a good thing about this film, which is the artistic value. The different stories are shot in different colours, Douglas’ story is blue, the criminals in yellow, etc. which is a nice idea. Also there are some nice camera-points, wonderfull over-lighting, and long silent shots from helicopters or a car. However the film could have been half an hour shorter, the silent scenes sure add something to the whole film.

All in all this is just a nice film by the director of the wonderfull “The Limey” and the flabby comedy that I haven’t seen “Erin Brockovich” and “Ocean’s Eleven” that -if I remember correctly- still shows in the local cinemas.