House of Sand and Fog (2003)

The House of Sand and Fog, I guess.

Never heard of it...

Carmela said:but that one scene near the end just didn't sit right with me.
It's that moment where Jennifer responds to the question in that "no, this isn't my house" kind of way.

Personally, I would've had Jennifer just stay silent. In my opinion, it’s always more impactful to let the audience fill in the blanks themselves... even when it's just a trivial line like that.

kozz said:I thought the guy playing the Connelly-esque lover was a total casting fail.

I'm with you there... he wasn't a disaster by any means, but they definitely could have cast someone stronger for that part.

...

dustyscout53 made a great point earlier—you really need to sit through about 20 "standard" action flicks before you can truly appreciate something as devastatingly beautiful and soul-crushing as this one.

Here is a little trivia for you... a mother and her son actually star in the same episodes during season 4 of 24.

kozz said:By the way, this is already the third movie where we see a shot of Jennifer Connelly just standing there on a dock.

The previous two were Dark City and Requiem for a Dream.
At first, I thought it was some kind of inside joke among film buffs—but turns out all three cases were just pure coincidence. 😲

I'm starting to think it's a sign.

Damn you, kozz! 😁

When I saw they were airing this on NBC, I actually felt a little nauseous at first—you know how it is when a movie is so good it gives you butterflies before you even watch it? Then I remembered that damn Jennifer Connelly thing and this post and just started laughing. Honestly, your comment is so spot on it practically hits you in the gut. 👍

P.S. maybe they've filmed a few more movies where Jennifer is standing on a dock in the meantime... It's highly likely, too. There's one title right on the tip of my tongue, but man, I just can't remember it. 😳

Aha, so you’re talking about those lovers? That soldier guy and the girl who got kicked out of her apartment? I caught a few clips of it and honestly, I passed. I just can't deal with those heavy-handed dramas that try way too hard to pull at your heartstrings...

kozz said:By the way, this marks the third time I've seen a shot of Jennifer Connelly standing on a pier...

True—and it's the second one where she ends up tangled in bed sheets following Requiem for a Dream. Personally, I consider her one of the most stunning actresses out there, and I have to say, the sheer caliber of the acting from the entire lead cast was a pleasant surprise...👍

Honestly, this movie is garbage. There is absolutely zero logic behind the plot. This woman loses her house just because she wasn't checking her mail for a few weeks—even though they supposedly sent plenty of notices about the legal proceedings and changes coming her way. And honestly, how much unpaid debt matters? If you lose your house, you lose your house. It’s your own fault. Period.& the end 🙄 The only reason she’s fighting to get the place back is to keep up appearances for her parents and pretend everything is fine. The whole thing was just Soul Proprietor; I could barely even finish watching it. 🙄 Why is she still obsessing over the house when it isn't hers anymore? 😕 And why act so shocked when she sees the new owners redecorating? That’s their house now, so what’s the big deal??? The movie lacks any kind of believable foundation. Just a stupid movie.

Also, fun fact: the producers of the show 24 basically scouted this movie to cast Shohreh Aghdashloo and her cinematic son, since they play relatives in the fourth season of that show too.

I have to say, seeing Shohreh Aghdashloo pop up in The Exorcism of Emily Rose was actually a nice little surprise.

This movie is total crap. 🙂

ASd said:Likuša lost her house just because she didn't run her own damn mail service

Whoa, now that’s an interesting take👍 I might actually check out that movie when it hits streaming again in two months👍

A total disaster 👎 👎. The script was completely hollow, and even Ben Kingsley couldn't save it from being overacted.

walter said:Watching movies like this sucks because you just know the gun is cocked in the first act. You're just waiting to see whose head gets blown off. Whatever, only God knows. 😛 That’s why it feels "overdone," right?
Heavy stuff. Honestly, I'm not even a fan of these heavy dramas. I've sat through it five times now, usually just flipping to something lighter. Why can't we be friends? 😁 😁

Same. I watched it last night and it just totally drained me. Felt tense from the very first frame.

Good movie... honestly don't know how I missed it until now...
The cop playing the savior was supposed to be Giovanni Ribisi 😁 when the kid pulled the gun and yelled "nooo"... Jennifer Connelly is at her best when she’s pale... those wide eyes while standing by the ocean

Absolutely stunning. I watched it with this heavy sense of dread, just waiting for the other shoe to drop... and man, did it😢

What really struck me was how there isn't some cartoonish villain. It’s more like both sides are essentially architects of their own misery.
By the time the credits rolled, I was just completely numb... and honestly, that almost never happens to me.😁

Skittles... where do I even begin with those little sugar-coated pebbles? It’s funny how something so seemingly innocent can trigger such a specific, visceral reaction in people—some swear by them, others look at that neon color palette and immediately think of a chemical spill in a Detroit factory... personally, I find myself drifting back and forth on the matter. Sometimes you just need that quick hit of artificial fruit flavor to get through a long afternoon of staring at spreadsheets, but then again—there’s a certain heaviness to the aftertaste, isn't there? Almost like a lingering reminder of everything we've sacrificed for the sake of convenience and mass production. It's a strange little microcosm of the American snacking experience—bright, loud, slightly overwhelming, and ultimately, just a fleeting distraction from the actual work at hand... anyway, I digress. Just a thought while I sit here wondering why they ever decided "Lime" needed to be that particular shade of green... The user said:
Yeah, there’s that other one too—where she ends up all tangled up in bed after the events of Requiem for a Dream. Honestly, I consider her one of the most stunning actresses out there, and I have to say, the movie itself caught me off guard... the sheer caliber of the acting from the entire main cast was just genuinely impressive...👍

over at rogerebert.com...

The Movie Answer Man... Roger Ebert...

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert once pointed out this strange, recurring visual pattern—how Jennifer Connelly always seems to end up photographed standing at the edge of a dock or a pier in movies like Dark City, Requiem for a Dream, and House of Sand and Fog... it’s almost like a cinematic motif, isn't it? And it reminded me of something else—if you dig into a deleted scene on the DVD of A Beautiful Mind, there’s actually this specific sequence where Russell Crowe's character dreams about Jennifer Connelly running toward a dock on a lake... just a strange coincidence of imagery, I suppose...
David Jacoby, Lafayette, USA.

It’s starting to happen... I’m actually beginning to have that same dream.

Jennifer is absolutely incredible! 😍

The movie was solid... I wish they aired more stuff like this on PBS.

But Requiem for a Dream is truly one of a kind...

👍

Ben Kingsley was truly outstanding. You have to admit, the craftsmanship of the film is top-notch.
But, I can't quite say I was blown away by it.

When a movie leans this hard into being heavy and tragic, the only thing that really makes it work for me is that "eye-opener" effect regarding certain aspects of American culture that trigger these kinds of tragedies—kind of like what you see in Crash or Mystic River.

I guess the basic goal of all that heaviness and tragedy is just to give a little adrenaline shock to people who are lacking it... you know, teenagers, or maybe middle-class folks living somewhat mundane lives.

It feels like the tragedy is just being forced; like someone already pointed out—the "femme fatale" doesn't even show up for months.
Then, the government forecloses on a house over a mere 500 bucks, kicks a woman out, and then immediately wants to cancel the shares.

And then, there's the rational, decent Colonel who just can't seem to explain to the woman and the cop that he's the legal owner, and that they should be directing their anger toward the state instead. I mean, how can you expect a guy to just throw away roughly 130 thousand dollars????
How does Kingsley's little boy not realize his father is trying to help this woman, who's basically a "broken bird," rather than trying to stop him with a gun?
And how can he not use his authority to just tell the kid to drop the gun??

rapidbad badger45 said:Honestly? Giovanni Ribisi should have been the one playing that savior cop role. 😁

Totally. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Look, the movie is actually pretty solid. Everything about it feels professionally crafted, you know? The acting is top-tier, the production is tight—all that good stuff. But there was one thing that absolutely drove me up the wall from start to finish: the female lead is just impossibly, mind-numbingly stupid. Like, she’s so clueless that her sheer lack of common sense is the sole reason she loses her house. Seriously, she's like those walking clichés you see in bad jokes. Once that clicked for me, the whole movie just lost its magic.

I mean, what’s so tragic about an idiot screwing up? When you see how many other people get dragged down by her stupidity, you almost want to rewind the film just to give her a reality check! And don't even get me started on the director—the nerve of him to portray her as some kind of hero! Honestly, if the ancient Greeks had written such shallow tragedies, they wouldn't have lasted until the era of Alexander the Great, let alone survived to this day.

This one is definitely up there among my favorites. I actually read the book first, too. Anyone else here a reader? The ending feels a little different from the source material. 🙂

The plot actually makes sense in the book, and you actually get why the characters are doing what they're doing (I guess that's just what happens when an author isn't rushed for space)... plus, the lead girl doesn't come across as such a total airhead