Quicklinks
Top Links
biographyby votesawardsNewsDeskmessage boardFilmographies
categorizedby typeby yearby ratingsby votesby TV series awards titles for saleby genre by keyword power search credited with tv scheduleBiographical
biography other works publicity contact photo gallery resume NewsDeskmessage boardExternal Links
official sites miscellaneous photographs sound clips video clipsNews for
Frances McDormand More at IMDbPro »
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001 | 2000 | 1997
1-20 of 46 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
The Best Films of the Decade (aka "The Naughties")
14 hours ago | The Hollywood Interview | See recent The Hollywood Interview news »
Best Films Of The Decade (aka The Naughties) From Alex & Terry
List # 1
By Alex Simon
When Terry and I initially discussed writing these lists, I had a tough time thinking back on 20 films over the past decade which I was really taken with, thinking that movies have sunk so low over the past ten years, that even choosing a dozen would be a short-order job. Thirty minutes into it, my list had nearly 60 titles! After much cutting, pasting, and re-cutting and pasting, here are my top 20 films (in no particular order) of the first decade of the 21st century, dubbed by many as “the naughties.” --A.S.
1.No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007) An elegiac blend of stark beauty and full-throttle despair from two of our finest filmmakers, set in the contemporary American West. Every frame is damn near flawless, and would have been an even more perfect vehicle for the late Sam Peckinpah. »
- The Hollywood Interview.com
Movies We Love: Fargo
2 December 2009 10:01 AM, PST | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »
Fargo (1996) I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. Synopsis Facing a mountain of debt, Minneapolis car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hires thugs Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrüd) and ransom her for money from his wealthy father-in-law Wade (Harve Presnell). When Carl and Gaear leave three bodies in their wake on the car ride to their hideout in Brainerd, Minnesota, the pregnant local police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) gets involved in the case. Why We Love It When he first reviewed it in 1996, Roger Ebert wrote “films like Fargo are why I love the movies.” I couldn’t say it any better myself. The crowning achievement in the illustrious careers of Joel and Ethan Coen, it’s the movie that most fully displays their preternatural knack for blending insightful character depictions with a keen sense of the ways genre work. It »
- Robert Levin
Birthday Suits: The Blonde and the Bookish
29 November 2009 4:24 AM, PST | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Celebrating cinematic birthdays for 11/29. Which celebrity would you most like to spank today?
Blond³: Diane, Anna and Cathy
1832 Louisa May Alcott wrote the oft-adapted Little Women
1895 Busby Berkeley, legendary choreographer/director. What would the early musicals have been without him?
1898 C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia which were made into unfortunately generic movies. He also wrote The Screwtape Letters which I personally pray will never see the silver screen despite Hollywood's efforts. Some books just deserve the undiluted perfection of their original form. Sir Anthony Hopkins played him in the weepy bio Shadowlands (1993)
1901 Mildred Harris, silent film actress and Mrs Charlie Chaplin (for a few years)
1918 Madeleine L'Engle prolific author, most famous for Wrinkle in Time
1931 Shintarô Katsu the original blind swordsman Zatoichi
1932 Diane Ladd, if you don't love her Oscar nom'ed performances in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Rambling Rose and Wild at Heart, well... what's wrong with you? »
- NATHANIEL R
Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, cougars, and dames
17 November 2009 9:31 PM, PST | EW.com - The Movie Critics | See recent EW.com - The Movie Critics news »
I had a theory all worked out: The lifestyle of a cougar -- you know, an "older" woman (i.e., past 40, or is it 30 and the camera adds 10 years?) who fancies younger men-is a titillating sociological phenomenon made for TV shows, not movies. I mean, I can sort of see the appeal of Cougar Town on ABC, and I certainly understand the allure of Samantha-the-manhunter on Sex and the City. But I can't imagine (or maybe don't want to imagine) Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, or most any other serious, over-40 screen actress buying into the trend as a career freshener. »
- Lisa Schwarzbaum
A serious actor, Mystic critics, Unhappy Haneke | Trailer Trash
14 November 2009 4:07 PM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
>>A serious actor Michael Stuhlbarg is being talked of for Oscar nominations following his impressive performance as Larry Gopnik in the Coen brothers' latest comedy A Serious Man. Stuhlbarg is a little-known actor, despite a 20-year career on and off Broadway. He met Joel Coen after performing with the film-maker's wife, Frances McDormand, in a community theatre project. "It was the 52nd Street Project in which kids wrote the plays and professional actors would come in to perform their work," the actor tells me. "It was quite a thrill and I became good friends with Frances." She took her husband to see Stuhlbarg in a David Mamet adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance. Joel called Stuhlbarg in initially to play the Yiddish husband in A Serious Man's Yiddish prologue but was so impressed that he eventually gave him the lead. "I'm still reeling from it, and it's certainly the biggest break of my film career, »
- Jason Solomons
Discuss: The Characters We Wish Were Serialized
29 October 2009 3:32 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
There are times when our fandom gets satiated. We see a world stretch out before us on the big screen, come to adore a character, and then get to follow him or her through a number of films. In some cases, they might even start to feel like an old friend, popping up over and over again. We'll become attuned to their swagger, the tone of their voice, the moments they love or loathe. Other characters, their presence in our lives is deliciously, yet painfully brief -- destined only for repeat viewings of the same scenes, the same reactions, the same outcome over and over again.
The more our movie world leans towards sequels, the more part of me wishes certain characters could have continuing life on the big screen. (Played by the same actor, of course. No Vince Vaughn/Norman Bates recasts allowed.) On the mind from earlier this month, »
- Monika Bartyzel
In My Opinion: The Top Ten Coen Bros. Films
30 September 2009 1:49 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
Ethan and Joel Coen circa 1990 while promoting Miller's Crossing Top Ten Coen Bros. Films With the upcoming release of A Serious Man, the brand new film from the Coen brothers, I decided to put together my personal top ten list of their films. A task that proved much harder than I would have originally imagined. I agonized over this list. Why? Because love isn't a strong enough word for how I feel about the Coen films. No, something more akin to reverence mixed with a healthy bit of obsessive adoration would be much closer to my relationship with their work. They are the kind are filmmakers who make us think, as we sit in the theater, they are unspooling the yarn just for us. Sure, the Coens weave tales of great violence and isolation, but somewhere in there a quiet grace is achieved too. Places 11, 12 and 13 Photo: Universal Pictures / Touchstone »
- Laremy Legel
A Single Actress (Julianne Moore and Oscar)
27 September 2009 10:49 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
There can be only one ...winner, that is.
This year's supporting actress contest (new predictions!), if you believe early hype, is down to Mo'Nique vs. ummmm? She's way out front for her abusive mother role in Precious. But with Julianne Moore's supposedly vivid contribution to Tom Ford's A Single Man newly exciting festival auds, we could see the redhead goddess nab her 5th career nomination. That's quite an honor, even if she never wins that elusive statue.
The Man That Got Away Keeps Getting Away
A couple of years ago I asked readers who the next Deborah Kerr would be. Which modern important actress will be forever appreciated but never fully embraced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Back then Kate Winslet was sort of gunning for the honor. Now that the English Rose has noisily moved into the winner's circle, the imaginary competition is back on. »
- NATHANIEL R
MovieWeb's 2009 Fall Movie Guide!
1 September 2009 7:54 AM, PDT | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
Labor Day weekend is coming up, and it's a holiday that marks the end of the summer movie season along with summer itself. All the kids are heading back to the classroom for another dreaded year of school and (for those in L.A. like myself) the weather starts to cool... hopefully. While fall usually isn't seen as a cinematic hotbed, with the blockbuster summer season over, there are still plenty of quality films to check out at the box office. This year we have Megan Fox's possessed body, a sensational animated film and a new zombie adventure. There's a lot more that I'm looking forward to this fall, so here is a comphrehensive look at what you can expect from this fall movie season.
Starring: Gerard Butler, Kyra Sedgwick, Michael C. Hall, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Leguizamo, Amber Valletta, Terry Crews, Logan Lerman, »
Fall Movie Preview: Deception And Dark Laughs in Coen Brothers Comedy, 'A Serious Man'
28 August 2009 11:00 AM, PDT | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson. Tom Hanks. George Clooney again. Billy Bob Thornton. George Clooney a third time.
Joel and Ethan Coen like Hollywood leading men in their movies, those Oscar winners and tabloid staples who put butts in theaters seats and bring their twisty dark tales to life. After "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers" and "No Country for Old Men" and "Burn After Reading" comes "A Serious Man" and its star... Michael Stuhlbarg?
Yup, the Coen brothers are switching gears, at least when it comes to casting. Their story, though, hits themes—deception, betrayal, crime, humiliation, alienation, pride—that the writer/directors have returned to again and again in their work.
"I just didn't want to be the one who messed everything up," Stuhlbarg told MTV News.
A New York-based theater actor, »
- Eric Ditzian
Come Join the Party!
17 August 2009 5:47 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Hello, Jose here to remind you all that it's Madonna's birthday!
The Queen of pop/ businesswoman/ kabbalist/ mother/ 90's tabloid fodder/ safe sex advocate/ sex advocate/ entrepeneur/ icon is celebrating her 51st birthday today (and with those arms!). But along with everything she's done, many people forget (on purpose mostly...) that she's also an actress/director. The notorious perfectionist has never been able to master the cinematic arts, even if she tries and tries and tries. But since it's her birthday we should acknowledge that not all she's done for the silver screen is bad and since we can't take a holiday to get into the groove with her, here's...
51 Reasons to Celebrate Madonna... in the Movies!
51. Daring to take on a role created by Katharine Hepburn...sort of in Who's That Girl.
50. Her endorsement of Michael Moore.
49. Setting a whole new clothing trend with Desperately Seeking Susan.
48. Her deep love for classic films. »
- Jose
Top Ten Tuesday: Best Films From First-Time Directors
11 August 2009 7:32 AM, PDT | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »
A lot of times, a filmmaker’s first feature film is a passion project, something they’ve been working on for years. Many times, it is this time spent and devotion to this one project that will make this first film the best film of a director’s career. Today, in honor of Neill Blomkamp’s first feature film, District 9, we present our top 10 films by first-time directors.
10. Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1989)
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,” and so it was to be when, after it appeared that no one could ever improve on Sir Lawrence Olivier’s 1944 Shakespearean spectacle, Henry V, along came an unknown Irishman, actor, Kenneth Branagh in 1989 with his dark take on the English King. Branagh, like Olivier, both in their directorial debuts, starred as Henry the Fifth, the young king who leads his army to wage war on France and claim his rightful place. »
- Movie Geeks
The Coen Brothers and Their Coenesque Trailers
9 August 2009 9:47 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »
Recently, the trailer for the Coen Brothers' latest film, A Serious Man, was released. If you haven't seen it, go right ahead to the end of this article to do so—posthaste. What's really great about it is that it eschews the traditional trailer structure in favor of something more memorable (and hilarious). There's a playful sense of rhythm to it that's unmistakably Coen.
Starring Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man marks the Coens' 14th feature film. In their long and consistently fabulous oeuvre, the Coen Brothers have done both this type of unique trailer narrative and a more traditional one for their previous films, though even the latter ones are still fantastic. Case in point: the No Country for Old Men trailer exemplifies how generic thriller trailers can evoke great tension in just 3 minutes. You have to wonder if they cut these themselves.
Here are eight of their Coenesque trailers, »
- Arya Ponto
Tues Top Ten: Pregnancies
4 August 2009 8:30 PM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
In honor of Penélope Cruz's recently announced pregnancy and the DVD release of Lindsay Lohan's latest Labor Pains (don't everybody rush out to snatch it up at once. I promise you they'll have enough copies) in which she fakes a pregnancy to keep a job, I thought a top ten list celebrating the miracle of childbirth -- or future childbirth rather -- was called for.
But first a bit more about Ms. Lohan. Rich at fourfour collected the Labor Pain lines that were more applicable to Lindsay the celebrity than the character she happens to be playing.
...not that Lindsay plays characters these days. The Actress wrapped things up with Mean Girls, only The Celebrity lives on.
*
Ten Best Pregnant Movie Characters
The general three act journey of zeitgeist movies goes like so... Act I: instant hype, audience love and acclaim births a new pop »
- NATHANIEL R
A Serious Man Trailer from the Coen Brothers
30 July 2009 10:05 AM, PDT | Beyond Hollywood | See recent Beyond Hollywood news »
Those wacky Coen boys. What will they think up next? “A Serious Man”, it would appear. It’s a black comedy set in 1967 and opens with the leading man getting his head rammed repeatedly into a blackboard. Yup, it’s the Coens. Enjoy the debut trailer below. The only thing missing from the movie? I don’t see any appearances by Frances McDormand. No Frances McDormand in a Coen Brothers movie? What, is that even allowed? “A Serious Man” is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and “F-Troop” is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed »
- Nix
Throwback Thursday: ‘Miller’s Crossing’ (1990)
30 July 2009 6:00 AM, PDT | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »
Just listening to Carter Burwell’s score for this film alone is enough to make my day. I just recently watched Miller’S Crossing again for the umptee-nth time and I swear to you the DVD menu played in it’s loop for a good 15-20 minutes before I even hit play, listening to the Opening Titles track. Burwell’s score is haunting and enchanting at the same time, drawing from traditional Irish music and notched up with a bit of cinematic flair. The film however, proved somewhat challenging for the Coen Brothers, who suffered writer’s block during the scripting of the film. As a remedy, Joel and Ethan took a few weeks off and in that time wrote a film about writer’s block called Barton Fink.
The opening scene is very reminiscent of Coppola’s The Godfather, but does so with dignity and yet still has Coen Brothers written all over it. »
- Travis
Zhang Yimou Plans Chinese Remake Of Coen Brothers' 'Blood Simple'
29 July 2009 7:30 AM, PDT | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
It's hardly uncommon for the American film industry to remake popular foreign films. Take Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning "The Departed," based on the Hong Kong-spawned "Infernal Affairs" series. How often does it work the other way around though? Before you ask, yes, I am aware of "Indian Thriller."
Such a reverse remake is in the works via Sony Pictures Classics, which will distribute filmmaker Zhang Yimou's planned remake of "Blood Simple," the classic thriller that marked Joel and Ethan Coen's first co-directorial endeavor. The distribution deal means that the still untitled "Blood Simple" remake will see release in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
According to Variety, Yimou's take on "Blood Simple" sets the plot in a desert-bound Chinese noodle shop as the restaurant's owner plans to murder his adulterous wife and her lover.
The original "Blood Simple" -- not only the debut of the Coens as directors, »
- Josh Wigler
Zhang Yimou sets out to remake Coen Bros’ ‘Blood Simple’
29 July 2009 6:07 AM, PDT | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »
Here’s an interesting piece of movie news. In fact, I had a similar yet slightly more positive reaction to this news than I did learning that Werner Herzog is remaking Bad Lieutenant. As it turns out, one of my favorite directors is remaking my favorite filmmaking brothers’ first film Blood Simple. The Coen Brothers transitioned from shorts to their first feature-length film with Blood Simple in 1984.
The original stars John Getz as Ray and a young Frances McDormand as Abby, a couple in love who are trying to escape the evil clutches of Abby’s wealthy but jealous husband Julian, played by Dan Hedaya. In an effort to quench his disturbed curiosity and know for sure if his wife is cheating, Julian hires an unscrupulous private investigator, played by M. Emmet Walsh.
Zhang Yimou, a much celebrated filmmaker in China, isn’t nearly as well-known in the States but »
- Travis
In Memoriam: Harve Presnell (1933-2009)
3 July 2009 7:02 AM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
Actor, singer and Broadway star Harve Presnell died July 1, 2009 at the age of 75. Born September 14, 1933, Presnell started his career on stage, playing prominent roles on Broadway in shows such as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, before moving into film work in the late 1960s. Perhaps best known as the domineering father-in-law to William H. Macy's sheepish wannabe kidnapper in Fargo, Presnell enjoyed a career resurgence in the 1990s and became one of the more recognizable character actors of the last two decades.
Presnell's performance in Fargo was one of those that made even cinephiles wonder, who is this guy? Playing Wade Gunderson, the gruff and obstinate father of the film's kidnap victim, he complemented the desperate ambition of Macy's Jerry Lundegaard and the smalltown sensibleness of Frances McDormand's Marge Gunderson. That same year, he appeared in several other movies, including The Whole Wide World, Larger Than Life and The Chamber, »
- Todd Gilchrist
Julianne Moore + Annette Bening. Rejoice!
2 July 2009 8:00 AM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Lisa Cholodenko is flirting with me*. How else to explain the multi-orgasmic news that the writer/director of High Art, one of my all time favorite lesbian movies, is making another and she's making it with two actresses whom I practically can't worship more than I already do? Yesterday, production supposedly began on The Kids Are All Right which will star Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as lovers who've raised two kids together. Their two teenagers (played by Josh Hutcherson and Alice in Wonderland herself Mia Wasikowska) decide to meet the original sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo).
Psycho, The Hours, Running With Scissors
Both actresses have played lesbians before. Moore re-interpreted Psycho's Lila Crane as a record shop dyke and she definitely didn't want to sleep with her husband in The Hours Come to bed, Laura BrownFor Bening's part she ditched her screen husband for some self-actualizing labia time in Running With Scissors. »
- NATHANIEL R
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001 | 2000 | 1997
1-20 of 46 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles. News articles are published for the entertainment of our users only. The news items do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the site responsible for the article in question to report any concerns you may have.
Home
| Search
| Site Index
| Now Playing
| Top Movies
| My Movies
| Top 250 |
TV
| News
| Video |
Message Boards
Register
| 
RSS
| Advertising
| Content Licensing
| Help
| Jobs
| IMDbPro
| IMDb Resume
| Box Office Mojo
| Withoutabox
| Follow us on Twitter
International Sites: IMDb Germany
| IMDb Italy
| IMDb Spain
| IMDb France
| IMDb Portugal
Copyright © 1990-2009
IMDb.com, Inc.
Terms and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.
An 
company.
