Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Frances McDormand gives a searing performance as vengeance personified

"...Directed by: Martin McDonagh. Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Lucas Hedges, Peter Dinklage,..."

Nov. 17, 2017 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

City by the Sea

"...Dushku, William Forsythe, Patti Lupone, George Dzundza, James Franco, Frances Mcdormand and Robert Deniro. The theme of parental guilt..."

Sept. 13, 2002 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Martin McDonagh on Directing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The film, starring Frances McDormand, could hardly be more timely or controversial

"...hardly be more timely or controversial. Blue-collar Mis­souri­an Mildred (Frances McDormand) has suffered an incalculable loss: Her daughter, raped,..."

Nov. 17, 2017 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Laurel Canyon

"...Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko. Starring: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natscha McElhone, Alessandro Nivola,..."

April 11, 2003 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Burn After Reading

The Coen brothers may be masters of black comedy, but there are times when there’s no point in taking them seriously.

"...by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins,..."

Sept. 12, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Frances McDormand's Miss Pettigrew is an unemployed nanny who bluffs her way into a job as the "social secretary" for the brain-dead, proto-fashionista, Yank-on-holiday starlet Delysia Lafosse, played by Amy Adams.

"...Directed by: Bharat Nalluri. Starring: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Shirley Henderson, Lee Pace, Mark Strong..."

March 7, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Almost Famous

This sweet, amiable, and knowing coming-of-age tale is Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical boyz-to-men story about how he grew into the role of a rock & roll journalist in 1973.

"...Directed by: Cameron Crowe. Starring: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Philip Seymour..."

Sept. 22, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

This Must Be the Place

In this odd but intriguing concoction, Sean Penn disappears into the strange body of a retired goth rock god who leaves his Dublin castle and goes on a road trip across America to hunt a Nazi prison guard.

"...Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino. Starring: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, Eve Hewson, Kerry Condon, Harry Dean..."

Nov. 16, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Madeline

"...Directed by: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer. Starring: Frances McDormand, Hattie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Daniels, Chantal Neuwirth,..."

July 10, 1998 Movie Review by Hollis Chacona

Nomadland

Story of America's itinerant population wanders too much

"...Directed by: Chloé Zhao. Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Bob Wells, Swankie and..."

Feb. 19, 2021 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Blood Simple: The Director's Cut

"...Coen. Starring: Samm-Art Williams, M. Emmet Walsh, Dan Hedaya, Frances Mcdormand and John Getz. Back in the early Eighties..."

July 14, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Blood Simple

"...Directed by: Joel Coen. Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh and Samm-Art Williams...."

July 12, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Hail, Caesar!

The Coen brothers celebrate and eviscerate old Hollywood

"...Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill, Veronica Osorio, Heather Goldenhersh, Clancy Brown,..."

Feb. 5, 2016 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Scanlines

Norma Jean & Marilyn

"...Blood Simple D: Joel Coen; with John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams, M. Emmet Walsh. VHS..."

March 7, 1997 Screens Feature

Fargo

The Coen brothers return to their Blood Simple roots with this bizarre, dialect-strewn tale of a kidnapping gone very wrong that's filled with the their trademark graveyard wit and unique camera angles.

"...Directed by: Joel Coen. Starring: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell, John Carroll..."

March 22, 1996 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Chronicle Recommends: The Best of Austin

Our recommendations of the finest movies from and about the ATX

"...The star of the neo-noir classic, Frances McDormand (in her screen debut), probably describes it best:..."

Nov. 4, 2018 Screens Post by Chronicle Film Staff

Split Decision for Austin Film Critics Association

Get Out, The Shape of Water top local critic awards

"...awards, so no single film dominated the performance categories. Frances McDormand's burning performance as a grieving, furious mother in..."

Jan. 12, 2018 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Marjorie Baumgarten’s Top 10 Films of 2017

"...Female characters dare to be unlikable: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards, Miranda Richardson in Stronger, and..."

Dec. 29, 2017 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Danielle White’s Top 10 Films of 2017

"...brutality, and the ineffectual criminal justice system. Oh, and Frances McDormand is a total badass. 2) The Big Sick..."

Dec. 29, 2017 Screens Feature by Danielle White

Uptown Girls

"...role that only reminded me of how truly sensational Frances McDormand was as a similarly employed exec in Laurel..."

Aug. 15, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

A Fan's Notes

In Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe tells the story of his first assignment for Rolling Stone in 1973 and a day when the youth of America believed rock & roll could change the world.

"...isn't soothing the fears of his wise, protective mother (Frances McDormand) or his magazine editors, he is sorting out..."

Sept. 1, 2000 Screens Feature by Sarah Hepola

Summer Sneaks

Apocalypse Whenever: Movies in the Season of Armageddon

"...D: Daisy Mayer; with Frances McDormand, Hatty Jones, Nigel Hawthorne...."

May 22, 1998 Screens Feature

Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson is back with another delightful movie about beautiful dreamers and full-time schemers.

"...Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban and Tilda..."

June 8, 2012 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Both ridiculous and ridiculously fun, this is over-the-top robotic mayhem.

"...Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Kevin Dunn. Former film director..."

July 1, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Friends With Money

Forget friends with money – how about friends with husbands, kids, mortgages, and so-called life plans? That’s the short list of differences between the depressed, single stoner, played by Jennifer Aniston, and her circle of female friends.

"...Directed by: Nicole Holofcener. Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs,..."

April 21, 2006 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

North Country

Charlize Theron stars in this fictionalized, rousing, but nevertheless predictable account of the first class-action sexual discrimination suit.

"...Directed by: Niki Caro. Starring: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson, Jeremy Renner, Richard Jenkins,..."

Oct. 21, 2005 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Man Who Wasn't There

The story is rife with the Coens' ripe ambivalence, a black seriocomic opera of fouled-up American dreams, and a meditation on ambivalence that is itself often as ambiguous as the emotional meanderings of its protagonist, a small-town barber. The film's black-and-white image processing is stunning.

"...Directed by: Joel Coen. Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Jon Polito, Michael Badalucco, Katherine Borowitz,..."

Nov. 2, 2001 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Paradise Road

"...Directed by: Bruce Beresford. Starring: Glenn Close, Frances Mcdormand, Pauline Collins, Julianna Margulies, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Ehle,..."

April 25, 1997 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Primal Fear

"...Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances Mcdormand, Edward Norton and Stanley Anderson. When a beloved..."

April 5, 1996 Movie Review by Alison Macor

Beyond Rangoon

"...by: John Boorman. Starring: Patricia Arquette, U Aung Ko, Frances Mcdormand, Spalding Gray and Adelle Lutz. Choosing Patricia Arquette..."

Aug. 25, 1995 Movie Review by Alison Macor

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