Frances McDormand & McDonagh's "Three Billboards..."

Chris here. Provocateur playwright/filmmaker Martin McDonagh has a new movie coming this year, and like some of his plays the title is a mouthful. Get ready for [deep breath] Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, about a woman seeking justice for the local authorities' poor handling of her child's death.

What's most exciting about this round of McDonagh acidity is that the typically male-focused writer-director is giving us a female protagonist. And star Frances McDormand is quite a perfect fit to deliver his tricky balance of dry humor, tragedy, and bitter allegory. Her work looks to be a real showcase. Are you already picturing a bleep-heavy Oscar clip? She's surrounded by a solid ensemble which includes Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and John Hawkes.

It's strange the film has no release date considering we have a full-length trailer, so maybe this one is Cannes bound before awards season? McDonagh won an Oscar for his short Six Shooter before bringing In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths to the screen. This looks like another step up with some gorgeous, brooding visuals and typically ferocious dialogue. Could this be a potential awards player for more than McDormand? Take a look at the first foulmouthed NSFW trailer...

every guy here'd love to link you, Gaston

Today's Must Read
BuzzFeed good piece by Allison Willmore on the maddening response to absolutely nothing moments proclaimed to be LGBT "firsts!" in movies. Two parts of the problems she doesn't mention though are 1) the internet demands for constant content incentivize journalists to blow everything out of proportion including super stupid things like "LeFou is gay!" and 2) too many pop culture journalists are operating from a place of zero knowledge about pop culture before they were, like, 12. 

more links after the jump including insightful pieces on Feud and an investigation of Logan's family jewels...

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Joan Crawford, National Puppy Day, Oscar Nights, and More...

Today is both National Puppy Day and the immortal star Joan Crawford's birthday (though the exact date i.e. year is disputed). So here is a photo combining those two wonderful things...

Joan Crawford totally loved dogs. If you do a search for "Joan Crawford puppies" or "Joan Crawford dogs" you will be surprised at how many images come up and from all decades, too, and how relaxed the famously rigid star looks with them in many of the photos...

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"Fargo" Teases Third Season of Polite Crime, Red Snow, and Twice the Ewan McGregor

by Daniel Crooke

For all of those hunkered snug in the cold and goin’ crazy down by the lake after a year of anticipation over the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo -- inspired, of course, by the Coen Brothers dark comedy of the same name, not to mention a buffet-filled bevy of narrative and thematic homages that span across their entire filmography -- here’s a home baked slice of warm comfort: the official trailer for the long-awaited return has finally been released.

While the idea of adapting the iconic Midwestern crime saga for the small screen may have once seemed to border on the sacrilegious, the first two seasons delivered enough satisfying, respectful riffs on the source material to silence its naysayers while also surprising audiences with its acute yet divergent grasp on the world and wit that made the original film so great. For my money, the second season’s political allegory around the bait and switch of small town community values with a nationalized corporate identity in 1980s America resonates even more presciently today than it did upon first air not too long ago. The teaser seems to hint at a desire to grapple further with contemporary themes in the United States, this time about class and the routine desperation growing within the gulf that separates economic strata.

Fargo series creator Noah Hawley wasn’t met with the same critical hosannas for his latest television project, the superhero-adjacent Legion on FX, but this trailer is rife with enough idiosyncratic potential to soothe any doubt one may hold for his next one. For starters, the mere prospect of Ewan McGregor playing against himself as hero and villain -- identical twins with opposing haircuts, no less – is enough to make you see double. Throw in the equisite supporting cast of Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and A Serious Man star Michael Stuhlbarg, and I’m counting down the days to the premiere on April 19.

The first two seasons of FX’s Fargo: ground worth retreading or not up to the legacy of the classic Coens film. What's your take?

I'm With Her: Brie Larson Playing 1st Female POTUS Candidate

By Spencer Coile 

Fresh off the heels of an Oscar victory, stone-facing Casey Affleck, and battling Kong, it appears Brie Larson is coming back stronger than ever-- ready to test her political prowess. 

Amazon Studios has obtained rights to Victoria Woodhull, aptly named after the first female to ever run for the U.S. presidency. Larson, not only serving as a producer for the film, will jump into the title role of Victoria. Although very little is known about the upcoming project thus far, below are some initial thoughts and predictions about this latest venture from Larson and company.

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