Screen Junkies » Frances McDormand

Aw Geez, FX To Launch ‘Fargo’ TV Show, Don’tcha Know?

Penn Collins — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:37:44 +0000

If you’re skeptical, then you’re probably in the right, as one would think that turning the acclaimed, quirky Coen brothers crime saga into a weekly show is not really all that possible. History is also on your side, as Edie Falco signed on in the Frances McDormand role in 2003, but the Fargo pilot never got picked up.

Nonetheless, FX is moving forward with the undertaking, having signed on writer and Executive Producer Noah Hawley, who didn’t find much success with his previous work, My Generation and The Unusuals.

However misguided this project appears to be, it’s always fun to guess which of the original cast will sign up for the TV show due to a lack of success since the film, a la Stacey Dash in Clueless. My money is on either Norm, Marge’s husband, or the chubby blonde whore. I would view the involvement of either one as a coup.

Sean Penn Is Like ‘The Crow’ In ‘This Must Be The Place’ Trailer

Wookie Johnson — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:26:00 +0000

Our first look at Al Pacino as Phil Spector came up short in the silly wig department, but Sean Penn is here to help. Check out Penn as a once-famous new wave goth musician in the first full trailer for This Must Be The Place. In the film, Penn’s aging rocker sets out to find the SS officer who tormented his deceased father while he was held at Auschwitz.

Wait a minute. Goth on a vengeance mission? Is this The Crow? You laugh but it makes more sense than casting Bradley Cooper. (Twitch)

Sean Penn Acts Weird Even By Sean Penn Standards In ‘This Must Be The Place’

Penn Collins — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:34:48 +0000

The greatest minds of our generation wouldn’t be able to determine exactly what is unfolding here. The plot of This Must Be the Place follows Sean Penn’s drug-addled aging rock star as he hunts his father’s executioner, who happens to be a Nazi. I’m not sold on the likelihood that a baby-talking Robert Smith clone would really be all that effective in tracking and hunting Nazis. Sean Penn appears to have Frances McDormand on his side, which, Fargo demonstrated, is nothing to sneeze at. The woman can kick ass when she needs to.

There isn’t much more to analyze in this clip, so perhaps you can get back to the :24 mark and enjoy the strangest laugh in the history of cinema. I’ve tried to duplicate it several times while sitting at my computer, and I’m just not getting it.

Focus Features Buys Wes Anderson’s ‘Moonlight Kingdom’ With Indie Dollars

Geoffrey Golden — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:40:09 +0000

In case you’re wondering, indie dollars are like regular dollars, but they can only be used to buy stuff that’s indie or whatever. Like vinyl LPs, mustache wax and the worldwide rights to a Wes Anderson movie.

Focus Features has acquired the rights to put Anderson’s latest film, Moonlight Kingdom, into US and foreign theaters. Anderson co-wrote the screenplay with Roman Coppola and will direct. Moonlight Kingdom stars Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Anderson’s super turbo BFF Bill Murray. The film’s about a young, small town couple who everyone thinks has disappeared, but really they just ran away together.

I hear rumors that the film will feature a preciously cool soundtrack and purposefully off-center framing, though I seriously doubt either rumor is true. (Hollywood Reporter)

Will Anyone Go See A Movie About ‘Good People’?

Joseph Gibson — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:35:53 +0000

David Lindsay-Abaire is so hot right now. The movie based on his play Rabbit Hole received widespread critical acclaim (also, it’s really good), and now his latest play Good People is coming to the big screen too, and largely with the same cast as the play – perhaps most importantly, Frances McDormand as Margie Walsh. Wait, Frances McDormand is playing another character with the name “Margie” after Fargo? This is career suicide! Anyway, here’s what the play is about:

“Margie Walsh is a sharp-tongued South Boston single mother of a mentally disabled daughter. Walsh dropped out on high school to care for her child and has struggled to get by ever since. When she’s fired from her minimum-wage job, she seeks out employment from a former classmate and rich yuppie (Tate Donovan) in an interaction that quickly becomes a tangled web of race and class.”

It’s easy to see why Hollywood would want to get its hands on this play: In addition to being by Abaire which makes it automatic awards-bait, it’s set in Boston, which Hollywood has been getting a lot of mileage out of lately. So I’d like to take this time to preemptively nominate Frances McDormand for a Screen Junkies Excellence in Acting Award. Congratulations, Frances! Good luck in beating out Steve Austin and Danny Trejo for the award. (LA Times)

Jason Schwartzman Joins New Wes Anderson Film In Casting Shocker

Geoffrey Golden — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:10:37 +0000

Actor Jason Schwartzman has been getting his Frequent Wes Anderson Cast Member Card punched for years. It’s hard to find an actor who’s very good at standing off-center in a shot. Bill Murray also has that talent. Maybe that’s why both actors are coming back for director Anderson‘s latest film.

The new movie, with the totally not hipster-y title Moonrise Kingdom, stars Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and we’ve now learned, Schwartzman. Moonrise Kingdom takes place in the 60s, where two young people decide to run away together. This causes everyone in their town to panic and form a rescue party to find them. Hopefully there will be more than one scene in which Willis and Murray team-up to do awesome stuff.

Moonrise Kingdom begins shooting this Spring in Rhode Island. (Examiner)

Coen Brothers Working On A Movie Scarier Than ‘The Big Lebowski’?

Joseph Gibson — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:19:41 +0000

The movie The Big Lebowski is seen by many as the definitive portrait of man’s descent into madness. It portrays a world in which little is explained, and chaos reigns over all. So it’s alarming to say the least that the creators of that terrifying film, Joel and Ethan Coen, are reportedly considering doing a full-on horror movie. Ethan Coen recently said about the project:

“‘[W]e’re working on a couple of scripts now, one of which it would be fair to call a full-on horror movie. Frances McDormand is the monster.”

It’s been pointed out that Frances McDormand is Ethan Coen’s sister-in-law, so that part might be a joke. The rest of it sounds pretty cool, though – the Coens are formal masters, and horror movies are nothing if not a showcase for formal mastery. And True Grit showed that they can do a straightforward genre movie if they want to (although I hope this horror movie doesn’t turn out to be quite as straightforward as True Grit). (via Empire)

Malkovich, McDormand, and Jeong Je-oin ‘Transformers 3′

Reza F. — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:55:02 +0000

Though his Spiderman 4 role never became a reality, it looks like John Malkovich won’t be missing out on a blockbuster payday. Deadline reports that Oscar nominee and Oscar winner Frances McDormand will slum it for Michael Bay in Transformers 3. I guess Malkovich wants something worse than Con-Air on his resume. Malkovich will play LaBeouf’s first boss while McDormand will play the National Intelligence Director.

Ken Jeong of The Hangover and Community is also joining the cast. This news worries me given Bay’s penchant for representing ethnic characters as racial stereotypes. Here’s hoping he doesn’t go the angry, yelling Korean guy route. If so, he could have saved some money by hiring Dat Phan.