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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
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Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
House of Sand, The
Sony Pictures Classics
 |
|
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for some graphic sexuality
Starring
Fernanda Montenegro,
Fernanda Torres,
Ruy Guerra,
Seu Jorge,
Stênio Garcia,
Luiz Melodia,
Enrique Díaz,
and
Emiliano Queiroz
Áurea's saga starts in 1910, when, in pursuing a dream she never shared, she arrives in a caravan at a labyrinth of sand in Maranhão, northern Brazil. Her husband, Vasco, believes this land to be prosperous and she is condemned to a life in this barren place, her only female company being her mother, Dona Maria. Pregnant and dissatisfied with her destiny, she tries everything to find a way out. (Sony Pictures Classics)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Elena Soarez (also story)
Luiz Carlos Barreto (story)
Andrucha Waddington (story)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Andrucha Waddington
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 12, 2006
Theatrical: August 11, 2006
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Brazil |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Portuguese (with English subtitles) |
Original title "Casa de Areia"; Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema - Dramatic), 2006 Sundance Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The story plays out in the sensuous textures and hypnotic rhythms as the rebellious youth Torres embodies eases into a serenity and acceptance that Montenegro brings so gently to her performance.

88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Sensual, dreamlike, both intimate and epic, The House of Sand is a cinematic tour de force.

88
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
In House of Sand, shifting sands are not a cliché; they provide the essential emotional and visual elements that make this film memorable.

83
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
Whether Waddington's film comes across as hypnotic or boring, mythic or pretentious, may depend on the viewer's mood or tolerance for quasi-allegorical storytelling. But, as the women in House of Sand learn, patience can sometimes be its own reward.

83
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Montenegro, the star of "Central Station," and her daughter make a remarkable pair. They hold your attention even when the emptily portentous story does not.

80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
At first House of Sand may seem like a stark tale of survival, but a surprisingly lush and colorful romance blossoms in its bleak and gorgeous desert setting.

80
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
As original as it is lovely.

80
Film Threat
Michael Ferraro
Full of looming symbolism, House of Sand is a brilliant tale following a family that brings a group of settlers into the middle of the desert to start a new life.

80
Variety
Robert Koehler
Magnificently renders a fresh view of life on planet Earth.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Visually dazzling, epic in its sweep and deeply romantic in its sensibility, The House of Sand is one of those films whose images and ideas linger long after the lights come on, having been burned into the viewer's consciousness.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
Soarez isn't really saying much with House of Sand, beyond marveling at the quirks of fate brought on by time. But the acting keeps it from floating into the ether.

75
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
It's a grand outdoor spectacle (the only real interiors are within tents, and those are hard to come by) and a perfectly juicy melodrama.

75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
This epic tale of survival, love and adjustment covers a 59-year period - from 1910, when a band of urban émigrés arrives to start a settlement, to 1969, when only one of them remains.

75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Ricardo Della Rosa's sumptuous, wide-screen cinematography takes full advantage of the sandy vista, complementing beautiful acting by Montenegro and Torres.

70
LA Weekly
Rob Nelson
Andrucha Waddington's admirably pretentious epic of woman in nature makes the rare attempt to impart a purely visual experience

70
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
It's an impressive film, beautifully photographed and marvelously acted. But is it more than a set of undeniably gorgeous affectations?

67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
House Of Sand is a gorgeous piece of cinema, but by the end, it just dries up and blows away.

67
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
The House of Sand is a more transparently ambitious, prestigious "woman's picture" than Waddington's previous feature, 2000's "Me You Them."

63
TV Guide
Ken Fox
After a positively thrilling first half, Brazilian director Andrucha Waddington's follow-up to his acclaimed 2000 debut "Me You Them" badly stumbles over an unfortunate casting strategy.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Whatever The House of Sand may lack in curb appeal, that view from the roof will have you gasping in wonderment.

58
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The House of Sand's director, Andrucha Waddington, lays on the Awesome Visual Poetry and throws in a welter of story gimmicks, but it's all a bit too fancifully arid.

50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
This pretentious 2005 art movie is somewhat interesting for its wide-screen photography of the striking locale, but the storytelling is awkward and confusing.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Most viewers will have no more fun watching this story than the characters do living it.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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