Published at: Oct. 10, 2001, 1:46 p.m. CST by staff
Hey folks, Harry here. I'm pretty nervous about VANILLA SKY right now. This is one of the films I'm absolutely most wanting to see this year. The types of film goers that read this site, and that went to the test screening for this film... Loved it, save for one fella.... However, I've heard that the test screenings did not go particularly great. This is where my nervousness is at unrest.
VANILLA SKY is not like the previous films in Cameron Crowe's film history. The source material is far darker and stranger and plain bizarre than any that he has worked with before. This isn't supposed to be an easy ride, a coast down a hill... This movie is supposed to challenge your brain... shake up your perceptions and leave you a bit dazed. This isn't a movie that everybody is supposed to 'get'.
PULP FICTION bombed like hell at its test screenings.... The cookie cutter audience didn't care for it, but it kicked ass for the rest of us. I've heard rumors that there is a lot of tweaking going on with the film, Cameron told me in an email that he's experimenting with different options right now... trying out different things, and ya have to trust his instincts... but then, this isn't a movie like those that he's done before.
This is his first film based on a pre-existing work, everything else he's done has originated completely from within that skull of his. This started in Alejandro Amenábar's skull. Cameron did rewrites to the script, but this could be his most tough film to finish as it might not feel as completely him as his previous work... Then again, he may be working to make the film more from him than Amenábar... which makes sense. But I find myself trying to imagine Frank Capra shooting an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Of course in history when different directors have stepped out of their own 'typical' body of work to make a film in a different genre... we've seen some remarkable work... Like when Howard Hawks made his science fiction film.... Or Robert Wise, who could make SOUND OF MUSIC, WEST SIDE STORY and at the same time do films like BORN TO KILL, DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and THE HAUNTING.
Like I said, I can't wait to see this film... because honestly I have no idea what the final film will be like... it is very much a work in motion at the moment. Here's the trailer...
