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Vanilla Sky

 Vanilla Sky
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TVTItem
 Vanilla Sky
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Vanilla Sky
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Vanilla Sky is a 2001 Psychological Thriller film starring Tom Cruise, and adapted and directed by Cameron Crowe.David Aames (Cruise) tells the story from a prison cell to his psychiatrist, Curtis McCabe (Kurt Russell), while wearing a prosthetic mask he refuses to take off: David was a Millionaire Playboy who inherited a publishing company after the death of his father. He met Sofia (Penélope Cruz). As they became instantly attracted to each other, he brushed aside his "fuck buddy", Julianna (Cameron Diaz). When Julianna heard of this, she tried to kill herself and David in a car accident. She died, but David survived with a disfigured face. He is haunted by increasingly bizarre occurrences.This movie is a remake of 1997 Spanish film Open Your Eyes ("Abre Los Ojos") by Alejandro Amenábar. Penelope Cruz plays the same role in both movies.Major spoilers ahead.
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2023-09-17T08:37:34Z
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2023-09-17T08:37:34Z
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Dropped link to AnAesop: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Dropped link to ForeignRemake: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to GenreBusting: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Dropped link to TheFreewheelinBobDylan: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to TropeMaker: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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DBTropes
 Vanilla Sky / int_19102429
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Twist Ending
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Twist Ending
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The Cameo
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The Cameo: Steven Spielberg pops in for a minute at David's party.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_237404cc
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Ironic Echo
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Ironic Echo: Well, The Reveal is like this to a phrase said much, much earlier. One that could be interpreted as either this or a Meaningful Echo: "I'll see you in another life, when we are both cats."
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 Vanilla Sky / int_294ed981
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Bilingual Bonus
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Bilingual Bonus: The first words spoken in the film are "abre los ojos", Spanish for "open your eyes", which doubles as a reference to the original film.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_295087bf
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Non-Indicative Name
 Vanilla Sky / int_295087bf
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Non-Indicative Name: The service Life Extension offers is called "Lucid Dream". Rather misleading, considering that real-life lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_2a090d00
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Lampshade Hanging
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Lampshade Hanging/This Is Reality: When the founder of Life Extension is being interviewed on television, he himself admits that the company's product "sounds like something out of science fiction".
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 Vanilla Sky / int_2bc48235
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Dream Apocalypse
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Dream Apocalypse: The movie ends with the revelation that most of what happened in the movie was All Just a Dream and the main character, David, had been cryogenically frozen and put into a permanent state of lucid dreaming. The dream turns into a nightmare and the protagonist ends up accidentally murdering his girlfriend. When he realizes it is a dream, he is given the choice to start over again with everything happy again, but chooses to wake up instead. His girlfriend appears and he realizes that though he didn't really kill her, she has long since died of old age. However, it is hinted at that they will see each other again as she says she has something to tell him "in the next life, when we are both cats." When the Lotus-Eater Machine was revealed, a psychologist, David's only confidante, argues vehemently that he is not a figment of David's imagination. The dream technician explained to David that he shouldn't feel bad for him, because he is just a superficial character inspired by a movie David once saw. This was proven when the psychologist was unable to recall the names of his two beloved daughters, because David had not thought of them.
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type
Tomato in the Mirror
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Tomato in the Mirror: Dr. McCabe finds out that he is an artificial construct in David's dream when tech support asks him an Armor-Piercing Question.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_351205d2
type
Friends with Benefits
 Vanilla Sky / int_351205d2
comment
Friends with Benefits: David has a "Fuck Buddy" relationship with Julianna. Julianna takes things a little more seriously, and when she finds out the true nature of the relationship, it doesn't end well.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_35dff943
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Property of Love
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comment
Property of Love: Defied — in her heart, Julianna truly belongs to David, and they both know it. Yet they pretend to simply be friends who have fun together, and it works just fine... Until it doesn't.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_361a1d26
type
Anguished Declaration of Love
 Vanilla Sky / int_361a1d26
comment
Anguished Declaration of Love: David doesn't really mean it, he's just trying to stop Julianna from killing them both.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_3b99a9e0
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Reality Warper
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Reality Warper: David can manipulate the reality of his lucid dream at will.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
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comment
Bittersweet Ending: Because it was All Just a Dream, all the scenes after the nightclub didn't really happen. David never did get Sofia in the end and he's still disfigured. Then he decides to return to the real world, set far into the future where they can fix his face and he may even have the chance to find Sofia "in another life." Additionally, he will probably keep and cherish the dream memories of Sofia. Altogether, an ending which leaves you hopeful. He's also flat broke, not having bothered to provide for himself.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_420081bf
type
Alien Sky
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comment
Alien Sky: The sky is the same milky orange with white clouds as the sky in David's mother's favorite painting, so his subconscious made it that color all the time.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_42215dce
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Ambiguous Ending
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comment
Ambiguous Ending: Word of God says the ending can be interpreted in five different ways (though there are doubtless more): Everything tech support says is true. The entire film is a dream. Everything after the car accident is David's dream while in a coma. The entire film is the plot of Brian's book. Everything after the car accident is a hallucination caused by David's medication.
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Human Popsicle
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comment
Human Popsicle: David becomes one.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_46290b93
type
Manic Pixie Dream Girl
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comment
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Sofia could be interpreted as such, at least from David's perspective. Played with, in that the version of Sofia in the latter half of the film isn't the real Sofia, but rather David's idealized construction of her who exists entirely for his benefit.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_488af87c
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Post-Mortem Comeback
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comment
Post-Mortem Comeback: Julie.
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Coitus Uninterruptus
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comment
Coitus Uninterruptus
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 Vanilla Sky / int_4a3e547f
type
Leaning on the Fourth Wall
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comment
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The "splice", when David's "real" life ends and his lucid dream begins, happens at almost exactly the halfway point of the film.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_4e5af911
type
Unexpectedly Abandoned
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comment
Unexpectedly Abandoned: The opening scene features David running and screaming as he discovers downtown Manhattan is completely deserted.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_4e7f703c
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Wham Shot
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comment
Wham Shot: Downplayed in that the camera doesn't linger on it, and the LE corporation had already come into focus before it, but still a mysterious Reality Warper stranger suddenly resurfacing in the LE ad definitely qualifies. And before that, there is a sign of LE itself shown on TV.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_524f03f1
type
Majority-Share Dictator
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comment
Majority-Share Dictator: Upon his father's death, David is given 51% control of his father's company, with the remaining 49% split equally between seven board members. A sub-plot in the film revolves around the board's efforts to assume control of David's share and put a stop to the essentially dictatorial control he enjoys over the company despite being an absent-minded Millionaire Playboy.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_52db461d
type
Significant Anagram
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comment
Significant Anagram: Rearranging the letters of the name David Aames reveals the phrase "I am saved."
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 Vanilla Sky / int_5501256b
type
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated
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comment
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: David jokingly evokes this trope following the car crash, only he substitutes in "mildly" for "greatly".
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 Vanilla Sky / int_5541da8c
type
Lotus-Eater Machine
 Vanilla Sky / int_5541da8c
comment
Lotus-Eater Machine: The most valid interpretation of most of the film's setting: David was actually in a coma the whole time, and what was happening around him was part of his dream, a lucid dream sustained by a machine he agreed to be hooked on to before leaving the realm of the living.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_557838d1
type
Adaptational Attractiveness
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comment
Adaptational Attractiveness: The facial disfigurement of the protagonist is notably less pronounced than the one in the original Spanish film.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_5d5cc3fd
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Through the Eyes of Madness
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comment
Through the Eyes of Madness: Until the ending.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_62f9d08e
type
Freeze-Frame Bonus
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comment
Freeze-Frame Bonus: It's a lot easier to catch a lot of the foreshadowing with the "pause" button on your remote. A specific example: David's car has a sticker on it which reads 2/30/01. As the 30th of February does not occur in the Gregorian calendar, this may be a subtle hint that the entire film is All Just a Dream.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6774150c
type
If I Can't Have You…
 Vanilla Sky / int_6774150c
comment
If I Can't Have You…: Julie to David.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6b723294
type
Techno Babble
 Vanilla Sky / int_6b723294
comment
Techno Babble: Played with. When David meets with doctors, he studies up on what the subject, and is able discuss it with them. It sounds to the average audience member like standard doctor-speak. Later on, what the doctors are saying becomes a whirl of confusing gibberish, even to David.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6bd689ca
type
Meaningful Echo
 Vanilla Sky / int_6bd689ca
comment
Meaningful Echo: "Red dress...strappy shoes...the saddest girl to ever hold a martini."
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 Vanilla Sky / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Julianna and David.
 Vanilla Sky / int_6d332aea
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6e429ce0
type
Standard '50s Father
 Vanilla Sky / int_6e429ce0
comment
Standard '50s Father: It is implied that David invented a father figure for himself (Dr. McCabe) in this mold, based on Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. If you look closely in one scene, you can see the guard in the prison watching the movie on a television.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_6eaff95
type
Leno Device
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comment
Leno Device: Benny the dog and his owner get interviewed by Conan O'Brien.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_7335ffa9
type
Grey-and-Gray Morality
 Vanilla Sky / int_7335ffa9
comment
Grey-and-Gray Morality: Even the "good" people in the movie like Brian and Sofia make morally questionable decisions: Brian tells Julie that she's David's fuckbuddy, for instance, and Sofia's (admittedly understandable) abandoning of a David very clearly in need of help. Similarly, even the "bad" people are sympathetic and mostly mean well: Julie's suffering Love Makes You Evil more than she's actually a villain.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_7464705c
type
Arc Words
 Vanilla Sky / int_7464705c
comment
Arc Words: "Open your eyes." "I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats." "Every passing minute is a another chance to turn it all around." "What is happiness to you, David?" "The sweet isn't as sweet without the sour." "This is a revolution of the mind." "The subconscious is a powerful thing. "People will read again." "David Jr. was a real delight as a child." "Wake up."
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 Vanilla Sky / int_7b6e47a5
type
Armor-Piercing Question
 Vanilla Sky / int_7b6e47a5
comment
Armor-Piercing Question: Dr. McCabe insists that he is real, that he is not a creation placed in David's dream world. He has his Tomato in the Mirror moment when he states again that he has two daughters and Tech Support says "What are their names?"
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 Vanilla Sky / int_7ec94d53
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Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
 Vanilla Sky / int_7ec94d53
comment
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Not only does Julianna destroy her own life and David's, her memory also destroys a certain universe.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_7f34a9e0
type
Climactic Elevator Ride
 Vanilla Sky / int_7f34a9e0
comment
Climactic Elevator Ride: Tom Cruise's character meets with "Tech Support", who proceeds to explain what exactly's been happening to him throughout the film. To drive it home, the elevator ride is impossibly long, making it clear that Cruise is in a dreamworld.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_80251be3
type
How We Got Here
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comment
How We Got Here: The beginning is told from David to Curtis.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_82accf22
type
Gainax Ending
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comment
Gainax Ending: See “Ambiguous Ending” above.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Vanilla Sky / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: Subverted, leading to Fridge Brilliance. After the accident, David mentions that, in addition to getting his face disfigured, he broke his arm, which affected his mobility thereof somewhat. He's later seen moving the arm in question rather awkwardly, and his medical team offer to do something about it when he complains about his facial disfigurement. Upon waking up the morning after the nightclub scene, however, his arm is never brought up again and he seems to have inexplicably regained full use of it, despite never receiving additional surgery on it. This is a subtle hint that he is, in fact, dreaming.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_87a38662
type
Murder-Suicide
 Vanilla Sky / int_87a38662
comment
Murder-Suicide: Julie deliberately drives her car off a bridge with David inside in an attempt to kill both of them. David survives (albeit disfigured), while she does not.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_8c170cb1
type
Ethical Slut
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comment
Ethical Slut: Here seen working better in theory than in a reality where people are lying to themselves.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_8e1aef2d
type
Reference Overdosed
 Vanilla Sky / int_8e1aef2d
comment
Reference Overdosed: According to Word of God, there are 429 pop-culture references in the film, 428 of which were intentional. Bizarrely, many of these references actually directly influence the plot, almost to the point of deconstructing the idea of pop-culture references in fiction: tech support explains that many of the characters and situations he created in his lucid dream were derived from the popular culture he experienced when younger. One scene duplicates the album cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Which turns out to be the clue to David's character that he has dreamt his memories about Sofia, because his memory of the two of them walking on Times Square is just a memory of Dylan's album cover, which he confused with reality.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_94e4c8ab
type
Betty and Veronica
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comment
Betty and Veronica: Subverted — David makes it clear from the very beginning that he has no real interest in Julianna (the "Veronica" of the two) and is really just using her for casual sex.
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type
Foreshadowing
 Vanilla Sky / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: "Ellie". Fun drinking game: count how many times someone mentions dreams or nightmares, or admonishes David to wake up.
 Vanilla Sky / int_9d12bbc1
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 Vanilla Sky / int_9fb8b0ac
type
Textual Celebrity Resemblance
 Vanilla Sky / int_9fb8b0ac
comment
Textual Celebrity Resemblance: In the nightclub, Sofia asks Brian where the bathroom is and he says it's behind "the girl who looks like Björk".
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 Vanilla Sky / int_a1a1491e
type
Homage
 Vanilla Sky / int_a1a1491e
comment
Homage: David is a fan of French new wave films, which later influenced the characters and situations he creates within the lucid dream. In reference to this, jump cuts reminiscent of Godard films pop up here and there.
 Vanilla Sky / int_a1a1491e
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 Vanilla Sky / int_a4ffefce
type
Dream Intro
 Vanilla Sky / int_a4ffefce
comment
Dream Intro: The film opens with David recounting a dream to his psychologist in which he woke up to find very post-apocalyptic like New York that is completely abandoned.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_a5e0c01
type
As Himself
 Vanilla Sky / int_a5e0c01
comment
As Himself: Conan O'Brien makes a quick cameo. Spielberg's cameo might also be an example of this.
 Vanilla Sky / int_a5e0c01
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 Vanilla Sky / int_a8dcb1d7
type
Love at First Sight
 Vanilla Sky / int_a8dcb1d7
comment
Love at First Sight: David and Sofia more or less fall in love with each other after just one meeting.
 Vanilla Sky / int_a8dcb1d7
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_abad35b4
type
Soundtrack Dissonance
 Vanilla Sky / int_abad35b4
comment
Soundtrack Dissonance: Frequently when licensed music is used. Special note go to Sofia's death and the sequence in which David realizes he's dreaming — to the sounds of "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys.
 Vanilla Sky / int_abad35b4
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 Vanilla Sky / int_aeef473a
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ShakyCam
 Vanilla Sky / int_aeef473a
comment
Shaky Cam: Handheld cameras are used more and more frequently as David's mental state deteriorates.
 Vanilla Sky / int_aeef473a
featureApplicability
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 Vanilla Sky / int_b1e8c9b1
type
Dream Emergency Exit
 Vanilla Sky / int_b1e8c9b1
comment
Dream Emergency Exit: The protagonist realizes at the end of the film that he's in a lucid dream, after giving his body to a program called "Life Extension". First, he calls out for "Tech Support" in which case most of the dream stops and a man enters his dream to explain the situation and his current options. The protagonist opts to return to real life, despite knowing that 150 years have passed since he entered the dream; he's then told to kill himself in the dream to wake up, so he throws him from the roof and is next shown opening his eyes in presumably the real world.
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type
Cuckoo Nest
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comment
Cuckoo Nest
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 Vanilla Sky / int_b4696332
type
My Greatest Second Chance
 Vanilla Sky / int_b4696332
comment
My Greatest Second Chance: Maybe?
 Vanilla Sky / int_b4696332
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 Vanilla Sky / int_bc74ef27
type
Berserk Button
 Vanilla Sky / int_bc74ef27
comment
Berserk Button: Do NOT have the audacity to call an obvious mask an "aesthetic regenerative shield"...
 Vanilla Sky / int_bc74ef27
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 Vanilla Sky / int_be23e9f6
type
Millionaire Playboy
 Vanilla Sky / int_be23e9f6
comment
Millionaire Playboy: David.
 Vanilla Sky / int_be23e9f6
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 Vanilla Sky / int_bef696dd
type
Mind Screw
 Vanilla Sky / int_bef696dd
comment
Mind Screw: Most of the second half up to The Reveal.
 Vanilla Sky / int_bef696dd
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 Vanilla Sky / int_c19bdbe1
type
Good Cop/Bad Cop
 Vanilla Sky / int_c19bdbe1
comment
Good Cop/Bad Cop: When David begins to become rowdy and aggressive during his first session with McCabe, the supervising police officer in the next room comes inside and yells at him, before the mild-mannered McCabe intervenes and asks him to leave, before resuming his line of questioning. David lampshades the "good cop, bad cop" approach immediately afterwards. Makes sense: the entire encounter is part of David's dreams which he's constructed from the popular culture he's experienced — of course the cops act like the cops in the movies, because he expects them to.
 Vanilla Sky / int_c19bdbe1
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 Vanilla Sky / int_c25c7890
type
Fun with Acronyms
 Vanilla Sky / int_c25c7890
comment
Fun with Acronyms: "Ellie" for L.E.
 Vanilla Sky / int_c25c7890
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1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_c3c18143
type
Hope Spot
 Vanilla Sky / int_c3c18143
comment
Hope Spot: The morning after the nightclub, it looks like things are starting to turn around for David: he undergoes facial reconstruction, begins a relationship with Sofia, and he and Brian repair their friendship. Then Julie makes a reappearance. And in the end the trope is subverted in that it turns out that the whole sequence after the nightclub had been deliberately constructed on David's request in the first place.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_ca3a6dbd
type
Informed Ability
 Vanilla Sky / int_ca3a6dbd
comment
Informed Ability: Sofia is supposed to be a professional dancer, but her moves on the dance floor in the nightclub don't indicate this. Granted, in this case, she's merely dancing for fun, whereas there's an earlier scene showing her practising in a ballet studio.
 Vanilla Sky / int_ca3a6dbd
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 Vanilla Sky / int_caf89e54
type
Taking You with Me
 Vanilla Sky / int_caf89e54
comment
Taking You with Me: Julianna.
 Vanilla Sky / int_caf89e54
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 Vanilla Sky / int_cb70651c
type
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
 Vanilla Sky / int_cb70651c
comment
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Twist Ending still leaves just enough room for this trope to fit.
 Vanilla Sky / int_cb70651c
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 Vanilla Sky / int_ccdd6905
type
Epileptic Trees
 Vanilla Sky / int_ccdd6905
comment
And in the end, we cannot say for sure that David has woken up. After all, he wakes with Sofia telling him to "open his eyes" — and we didn't see him hit the ground (he is terrified about the impact, not about the heights). Maybe the entire movie was just the tech support fixing the glitch? According to IMDB, the voice at the end was provided by Laura Fraser, not Cameron Diaz or anyone else from the rest of the film. Not that it invalidates the above argument, but it does lose one of its legs.
 Vanilla Sky / int_ccdd6905
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 Vanilla Sky / int_cdfe12c3
type
Nothing Is Scarier
 Vanilla Sky / int_cdfe12c3
comment
Nothing Is Scarier: The opening dream sequence. Seeing Times Square completely empty rivals seeing London completely abandoned just a year later for creepiness. Or four years later, if we take the scene of the original Spanish movie, which takes place in the Gran Vía, Madrid's equivalent of the Fifth Avenue.
 Vanilla Sky / int_cdfe12c3
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 Vanilla Sky / int_ce6555f0
type
Lighter and Softer
 Vanilla Sky / int_ce6555f0
comment
Lighter and Softer: Compared to the original Open Your Eyes, which was darker, crueler, and scarier.
 Vanilla Sky / int_ce6555f0
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1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_d028ca10
type
Deliberately Monochrome
 Vanilla Sky / int_d028ca10
comment
Deliberately Monochrome: A brief sequence when Brian chases after Sofia.
 Vanilla Sky / int_d028ca10
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 Vanilla Sky / int_d129e13e
type
"Eureka!" Moment
 Vanilla Sky / int_d129e13e
comment
"Eureka!" Moment: David realizes he's dreaming while Rebecca Dearborn from Life Extension is giving her sales pitch.
 Vanilla Sky / int_d129e13e
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 Vanilla Sky / int_d1affec1
type
That Came Out Wrong
 Vanilla Sky / int_d1affec1
comment
That Came Out Wrong: Said verbatim by Bryan after he unintentionally insults David in the nightclub.
 Vanilla Sky / int_d1affec1
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_d54f84cb
type
Dream Within a Dream
 Vanilla Sky / int_d54f84cb
comment
Dream Within a Dream: David has several dreams during the movie. And in the end, we cannot say for sure that David has woken up. After all, he wakes with Sofia telling him to "open his eyes" — and we didn't see him hit the ground (he is terrified about the impact, not about the heights). Maybe the entire movie was just the tech support fixing the glitch? According to IMDB, the voice at the end was provided by Laura Fraser, not Cameron Diaz or anyone else from the rest of the film. Not that it invalidates the above argument, but it does lose one of its legs.
 Vanilla Sky / int_d54f84cb
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1.0
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featureConfidence
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 Vanilla Sky / int_d75a1703
type
Year Outside, Hour Inside
 Vanilla Sky / int_d75a1703
comment
Year Outside, Hour Inside: While David has only spent a few years (maximum) in his dream, 150 have passed outside.
 Vanilla Sky / int_d75a1703
featureApplicability
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 Vanilla Sky / int_dbca2c99
type
Red Herring
 Vanilla Sky / int_dbca2c99
comment
Red Herring: The Seven Dwarves. Although David suspects them of being involved, they actually have nothing to do with the strange things that happen to him.
 Vanilla Sky / int_dbca2c99
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 Vanilla Sky / int_dcbe8a6e
type
Chekhov's Gunman
 Vanilla Sky / int_dcbe8a6e
comment
Chekhov's Gunman: Benny, the dog. And, by extension, "Life Extension" company.
 Vanilla Sky / int_dcbe8a6e
featureApplicability
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 Vanilla Sky / int_e28f88b8
type
Last-Name Basis
 Vanilla Sky / int_e28f88b8
comment
Last-Name Basis: Played With almost to the point of subversion. We tend to think that this is how things go between David and McCabe because the latter is an authority figure of sorts. Only after The Reveal do we realize that in reality it's an example of another trope - One Name Only, as McCabe, being just a figment of David's imagination, literally has no first name.
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 Vanilla Sky / int_e4fc9fbc
type
A Glitch in the Matrix
 Vanilla Sky / int_e4fc9fbc
comment
A Glitch in the Matrix: Becomes increasingly common as the movie progresses.
 Vanilla Sky / int_e4fc9fbc
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 Vanilla Sky / int_e640b487
type
Infodump
 Vanilla Sky / int_e640b487
comment
Infodump: During the exceptionally long Climactic Elevator Ride, tech support explains all the Mind Screw in the film up to that point in truly exhaustive detail, and then continues when the elevator reaches the roof.
 Vanilla Sky / int_e640b487
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 Vanilla Sky / int_e8e3807
type
Aside Glance
 Vanilla Sky / int_e8e3807
comment
Aside Glance: Rebecca Dearborn looks directly at the camera just as David is having his "Eureka!" Moment.
 Vanilla Sky / int_e8e3807
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1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_ea85d6ea
type
All Just a Dream
 Vanilla Sky / int_ea85d6ea
comment
A specific example: David's car has a sticker on it which reads 2/30/01. As the 30th of February does not occur in the Gregorian calendar, this may be a subtle hint that the entire film is All Just a Dream.
 Vanilla Sky / int_ea85d6ea
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 Vanilla Sky / int_f42f96fa
type
Would Hit a Girl
 Vanilla Sky / int_f42f96fa
comment
Would Hit a Girl: David apparently beats Sofia, but has no memory of it and resoundingly denies it. Later, he smothers her to death with a pillow. Of course, both of these events only happened in his dream.
 Vanilla Sky / int_f42f96fa
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1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_f506d08c
type
Broken Masquerade
 Vanilla Sky / int_f506d08c
comment
Broken Masquerade: Of the Artificial Realm variety.
 Vanilla Sky / int_f506d08c
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_f792bc7b
type
Dying Dream
 Vanilla Sky / int_f792bc7b
comment
Dying Dream: Possibly.
 Vanilla Sky / int_f792bc7b
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_f7f8c062
type
Intimate Marks
 Vanilla Sky / int_f7f8c062
comment
Intimate Marks: David notices a mole between Sofia's breasts. It becomes a somewhat important plot point during the Mind Screw climax.
 Vanilla Sky / int_f7f8c062
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Vanilla Sky / int_f96f8980
type
Love Makes You Crazy
 Vanilla Sky / int_f96f8980
comment
Love Makes You Crazy: David strings Julia along and uses her for sex while having no particular attachment, while she secretly loves him. Her unrequited love for him eventually leads her to attempt a murder-suicide.
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ItemName
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Vanilla Sky

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Dream Apocalypse / int_a5b2bea0
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Framing Device / int_a5b2bea0
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Friends with Benefits / int_a5b2bea0
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Human Popsicle / int_a5b2bea0
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Intimate Marks / int_a5b2bea0
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My Life Flashed Before My Eyes / int_a5b2bea0
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Property of Love / int_a5b2bea0
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Standard '50s Father / int_a5b2bea0
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Through the Eyes of Madness / int_a5b2bea0
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Vorpal Pillow / int_a5b2bea0