My first foray back to the outside world involved a very crowded videotheque last Monday afternoon. Went to a screening of Abre Los Ojos, which was reworked by Cameron Crowe into Vanilla Sky. (A film to which I have a dubious love-hate thingie.) People sat on the floor and stared up at the white-washed walls. No matter if legs are cramped and I frequently had the urge to kick the person sitting in front of me.

Watching the original Spanish source material was one long deja vu, or like a 2 hour plus lucid dream where you keep expecting Tom Cruise to take over. Abre Los Ojos is more gritty where Vanilla Sky is a polished Hollywood dream. Penelope Cruz is somehow less annoying. No "the pleasure of Sofia" line, which we kept guffawing about. And no "Tech support!!!" lobby scene, thank goodness. Eduardo Noriega makes a fine Cesar who can be a cad and quite charming at that. You would understand why his friend Pelayo is envious at his friend's good looks and darn good luck at being born rich. Nuria (who would be Cameron Diaz's Julianna Gianni) first appeared in an Uma Thurman Pulp Fiction pose, with the hair and the red dress.

Anyhow, my friends and I thought we could do another version, splicing Abre Los Ojos and Vanilla Sky, taking all the good parts, and completely wiping out Penelope Cruz with such glee. Although I do have to give Cameron Crowe credit because I liked the framing/shot of Penelope Cruz standing on the rooftop in her trench coat against the lovely blue sky. If only for that, we'd retain her. But only in the trailer, and then we'll push her over the building.