Vanilla Sky

I really love dreamy films, this was perfect. the dialogue of building the memories back together during the psychiatric evaluation segment between Kurt Russell and Tom Cruise flows smoothly and acts as a transition between every instance of dreaming and waking up, adding to the building up of the event and aftermath of the accident. a lot of emotion is evoked throughout these segments, showing the fractures of Tom's mental state. I love the use of the mask, as it is used as a metaphor, covering his true feelings from Kurt, which it seems as if his subconscious is doing that to Tom himself, due to the trauma suffered from the accident. the cinematography leading up to the accident creates this dream-like atmosphere, as Tom spends this act indulging in very surface-level pleasure, living what could be considered an illusion. the Times Square sequence is simply iconic, with it being empty (makes you really wonder how much the production costs were) and sets an eerie tone to open the film. the warm tones during the interactions between Tom and Penelope adds to the romantic connection between the two. it contrasts very well with everything following the accident, with the film transitioning to colder tones, and much more fragmented editing, with switches between Penelope and Cameron Diaz, adding this nightmarish feel to the film, as Tom's collapse progresses throughout this act. the moment of realisation from Tom from him 'dreaming' is done rather abruptly, which surprisingly enough fits perfectly with the pacing of the film. the script is written in a way portraying the stages of Tom's mental state, and his feelings while transitioning between his dreams and reality. a beautiful watch, this film definitely is going in my top 4.