TV Guide: Frances McDormand

Listing: Johnny Skidmarks

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:50:00 -0400

Thu Oct 23 02:50 AM HBOSGe

Listing: Short Cuts

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:15:00 -0400

Wed Oct 22 07:15 AM MOMAXe

Listing: Darkman

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:50:00 -0400

Tue Oct 21 02:50 AM CINEMAX

Listing: Fargo

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:15:00 -0400

Sun Oct 19 09:15 PM IFC

Listing: Almost Famous

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:45:00 -0400

Fri Oct 17 05:45 PM HBO2e

Listing: The Man Who Wasn't There

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:00:00 -0400

Thu Oct 16 02:00 PM SHOe

Video: Miss Pettigrew

Lifetime — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:05:34 -0400

Watch highlights from the comedy-drama "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams as two women in 1938 London whose lives intersect.

Video: Chattahoochee

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:53:08 -0400

Since Chattahoochee is a story based on true events, it may seem absurd to suggest that the actual events of Chattahoochee are pirated from other true-life tales like Gideon's Trumpet. But it certainly seems as if true stories are just as derivative as any fictional narrative coming out of Hollywood. The Chattahoochee saga details the Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) story. The film takes place in 1955, when Foley, a Korean war veteran depressed and shattered by continual unemployment, snaps and shoots up his neighborhood, hoping that the police will come and shoot him down like a crazed dog so that his wife Mae (Frances McDormand) can collect on the insurance money. Instead of being gunned down by the law enforcement officers, he is sent to Chattahoochee, a notorious prison for the mentally ill which makes The Snake Pit look like a vacation in Bermuda. The gruesome conditions in the jail send Foley into listlessness. But then his anger gets the better of him and, encouraged by a friend, Walker Benson (Dennis Hoppe

Video: City By The Sea

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:52:39 -0400

A man struggling to come to terms with the sins of his father makes the terrible discovery that his own son has fallen into a life of crime in a drama based on a true story. Vincent LaMarca (Robert DeNiro) is a dedicated and well-respected New York City police detective who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his past; four decades earlier, Vincent's father Angelo killed a young child, and since then Vincent has carried emotional scars from this incident that he refuses to show to the world. Vincent lives alone in a small apartment building, though he has nurtured a close if tentative relationship with his downstairs neighbor, Michelle (Frances McDormand). One day, Vincent and his partner, Reg Duffy (George Dzundza), are assigned to investigate a murder when the body of a young man is found dead in a dumpster. It turns out the body was that of a drug dealer, and the dealer's partner in crime, Spyder (William Forsythe), believes the killer was one of his regular customers -- a junkie would-be mu

Video: Almost Famous

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:43:42 -0400

Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to {~Rolling Stone} while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine {~Creem}, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the

Video: Beyond Rangoon

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:33:30 -0400

In a role originally intended for Meg Ryan, Patricia Arquette plays Dr. Laura Bowman in director John Boorman's film of an American abroad in a strange country. It's 1988 and Laura is desperate to flee the United States and the memory of her husband and son's murders. Accompanied by her sister, Andy (Frances McDormand), she heads for Burma just as the peaceful protests against the country's military government take a more violent turn. Andy and the rest of their party flee in a hurry, but Laura is forced to stay behind when she loses her passport. A former professor (Aung Ko) offers her guidance to the border of Thailand, where they both hope to make their escape. Boorman's scenes of action and violence are well-staged, but Arquette is not big enough to carry the film and her plight seems inconsequential next to that of the Burmese as the military begins its ruthless crackdown. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide.

Video: Laurel Canyon

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:19:07 -0400

Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko follows up her much-acclaimed 1997 debut High Art with this examination of a young couple seduced into a hedonistic, left-coast lifestyle. Taking its title from its central locale, Laurel Canyon focuses on a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Freshly minted from Harvard, Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are eager to continue their medical studies out West, but they need some lodging while they hunt for a home. Enter Jane (Frances McDormand), Sam's estranged, Age-of-Aquarius mom, who's more than willing to put the couple up in her lavish digs. Jane is a successful record producer whose latest charge -- both in the studio and in her bedroom -- is Ian (Alessandro Nivola), a brazen, libidinous twentysomething Brit-rocker. As Sam and Alex settle in at Jane's, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment. Alex takes to Ian and Jane, while Sam is wooed by co-worker Sara (Natasch

Video: North Country

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:03:08 -0400

A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly ha

Video: Mississippi Burning

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:00:30 -0400

Mississippi Burning is an all-names-changed dramatization of the Ku Klux Klan's murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. Investigating the mysterious disappearances of the three activists are FBI agents Gene Hackman (older, wiser) and Willem Dafoe (younger, idealistic). A Southerner himself, Hackman charms and cajoles his way through the tight-lipped residents of a dusty Mississippi town while Dafoe acts upon the evidence gleaned by his partner. Hackman solves the case by exerting his influence upon beauty-parlor worker Frances McDormand, who wishes to exact revenge for the beatings inflicted upon her by her Klan-connected husband Brad Dourif. Many critics took the film to task for its implication that the Civil Rights movement might never have gained momentum without its white participants; nor were the critics happy that the FBI was shown to utilize tactics as brutal as the Klan's. The title Mississippi Burning is certainly appropriate: nearly half the film is taken up with scenes of smoke and flame.

Video: Short Cuts

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:56:59 -0400

Based on stories by Raymond Carver, Short Cuts follows 22 Los Angeles residents whose lives intersect over the course of a few days. Ann and Howard Finnegan (Andie MacDowell and Bruce Davison) are preparing for their son Casey's birthday party when the boy is injured in an auto accident and falls into a coma. Meanwhile, Andy (Lyle Lovett), a baker, seethes with anger over the birthday cake that wasn't claimed, and Howard's father, Paul (Jack Lemmon), decides that a visit with his ailing grandson is a good time to discuss his infidelities. Lois (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a new mother who watches over her baby when not making money doing phone sex, which bothers her husband, Jerry (Chris Penn), though he knows they need the money. Pilot Stormy Weathers (Peter Gallagher) takes a very literal approach to dividing up community property with his ex-wife (Frances McDormand). Doreen (Lily Tomlin) is trying on to hold her marriage with Earl (Tom Waits), who is a good man on the rare occasions that he's sober. Zoe (Lori

Video: Madeline

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:37:12 -0400

Daisy von Sherler Mayer directed this family film, an adaptation of the famed book series that Austrian-born writer-illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) launched in 1939 with the opening lines, In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine -- the smallest one was Madeline. This live-action film interpretation, set during the mid-1950s, expands on plot elements found throughout several books in the series. Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) plans to sell the small French boarding school where the young orphan Madeline (nine-year-old British actress Hatty Jones) lives with other girls under the supervision of sympathetic schoolmistress Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Hospitalized after an appendectomy, Madeline wa

Video: Fargo

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:34:03 -0400

Filmmaking siblings Joel Coen and Ethan Coen both embraced and poked satirical fun at their rural Minnesota roots with this comedy-drama-thriller that earned seven Oscar nominations, winning for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor masks a whip-smart mind. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a case involving a pair of dopey would-be kidnappers, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Bergman stock player Peter Stormare). They've been hired by Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman under the thumb of his wealthy, overbearing boss and father-in-law, Wade (Harve Presnell). Jerry's raised some money illegally through a petty scam he's run on General Motors and he's about to get caught. When Wade sours a business deal that could save his son-in-law's hide, the desperate Jerry hires Carl and Gaear to kidnap his wife and hold her f

Video: Hidden Agenda

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:31:27 -0400

This political thriller is set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland's Troubles and directed in the documentary fashion common to British filmmaker Ken Loach's films. Paul Sullivan (Brad Dourif) and Ingrid Jessner (Frances McDormand) are American attorneys serving on a human rights group working to monitor cases of prisoner mistreatment in war-torn Belfast. When Paul learns of some information that may be injurious to the Thatcher government, he is killed, and a top-secret tape disappears. Assigned to the case, Inspector Kerrigan (Brian Cox) is joined by Ingrid in probing Paul's death, which seems to be related to rumors of a high-ranking cabal within the British government working to undermine the Irish Republican Army and liberal policies toward Irish separatists through violent and illegal means. Ingrid meets with Harris (Maurice Roeves), a former British Secret Service agent who's now turned on his former cronies. Together, they look for the top-secret tape. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide.

Video: Wonder Boys

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:12:26 -0400

In this comedy, a middle-aged man juggles his problems with women, literature, and a career, while a younger man chases the artifact of his dreams. Pittsburgh college professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is currently single following his divorce from his third wife; after publishing an acclaimed first novel, Grady has been working on a follow-up, but he's been sidelined by a severe case of writer's block. Grady has more than his writing career to think about; his affair with one of the (married) chancellors at the University of Pittsburgh (Frances McDormand), has resulted in her pregnancy, while Hannah (Katie Holmes), a student boarding at Grady's house, has developed a crush on him. While Grady is obsessed with his book, one of his students (Tobey Maguire) has an obsession of his own: finding a jacket once owned by Marilyn Monroe. Based on the novel by Michael Chabon, The Wonder Boys also features Robert Downey Jr., Rip Torn, and Richard Thomas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: Something's Gotta Give

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:06:45 -0400

In keeping with the light and slick tones of her earlier film What Women Want, Nancy Meyers writes and directs the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give. Jack Nicholson plays Harry Langer, a swinging sixtysomething entertainment executive surrounded by plenty of young girlfriends. His latest romance is young petite sophisticate Marin (Amanda Peet), who takes him to her mother's beach house in the Hamptons for a weekend fling. However, Marin's successful Broadway playwright mother Erica Barry (Diane Keaton) is already vacationing at the house with her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand). Marin and Harry stay anyway, and Harry ends up having a heart attack. He goes to the hospital and is looked after by thirtysomething doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves). Impressed by her writing, Dr. Mercer finds himself pursuing a romance with Erica. Because of his serious health condition, he orders Harry to stay near the hospital. While Marin returns to Manhattan, Erica agrees to stay on and look after Harry. Of course they are

Video: Butcher's Wife, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:58:24 -0400

As a clairvoyant, Demi Moore awaits signs from beyond that her true love, whomever he may be, is waiting for her, somewhere. When New York butcher George Dzundza shows up on the tiny North Carolina island where Demi lives, she is convinced that he is the man predestined to be her husband. After the wedding, Demi moves into George's blue-collar neighborhood, where she successfully commisserates with such eccentrics as withdrawn teenager Max Perlich, frustrated singer Mary Steenburgen, unlucky-in-love actress Margaret Colin, over-analytical psychiatrist Jeff Daniels, and lesbian Frances McDormand. As Demi helpfully tries to chart the destinies of her new friends, she fails to notice that Dzundza is falling in love with Steenburgen. Though there are many traumatic detours along the way, Demi's psychic talents have very positive effects on at least one of the characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:42:52 -0400

A late-'30s-era London governess hired to work in the home of a high-profile nightclub chanteuse gets a taste of the good life when she is assigned the task of sorting out the singer's many unseemly affairs in a period comedy starring Frances McDormand and adapted from the novel by Winifred Watson. Unfairly and unceremoniously dismissed from her latest position without so much as a penny of severance pay, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) realizes that in order to stay financially afloat she'll need to find a new job fast. Though she has worn out her welcome at the unemployment office due to her propensity to loose jobs, she's determined to seize the day and keep an open mind. Before she's booted from the office, she takes note of a job opening that is a little outside of her experience, but decides to pursue it, pretending she is the prospective employee the office was planning to recommend. Becoming a social secretary may not be exactly what Miss Pettigrew had in mind when the time came to seek out a new

Video: Delysia and Michael Quarrel

iVillage — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:21:51 -0400

Can you get a life and discover love, all in one day? Two women are about to find out in the new comedy from Focus Features 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,' starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Video: Next Stop, Hollywood!

iVillage — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:21:50 -0400

Can you get a life and discover love, all in one day? Two women are about to find out in the new comedy from Focus Features 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,' starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Video: Plans to Go Shopping

iVillage — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:21:48 -0400

Can you get a life and discover love, all in one day? Two women are about to find out in the new comedy from Focus Features 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,' starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Video: Preview: 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'

iVillage — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:21:47 -0400

Can you get a life and discover love, all in one day? Two women are about to find out in the new comedy from Focus Features 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,' starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Photo: Steve Buscemi, Joel Coen, and Frances McDormand - The 69th Annual Academy Awards -1997

courtesy Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Steve Buscemi, Joel Coen, and Frances McDormand

Photo: Frances McDormand - The 3rd Annual SAG Awards - 1997

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Frances McDormand

Photo: Geoffrey Rush and Frances McDormand - The 69th Annual Academy Awards - Elton John AIDS Foundation Party - March 1997

courtesy Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Geoffrey Rush, Frances McDormand

Photo: Frances McDormand & Patrick Fugit - 2000

courtesy Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

Frances McDormand, Patrick Fugit

Photo: Alessandro Nivola and Frances McDormand - 2002

courtesy Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

Alessandro Nivola and Frances McDormand

Photo: Billy Bob Thornton & Frances McDormand - 2001

courtesy Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand

Photo: Frances McDormand - 2001

courtesy Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

Frances McDormand