Thinking about taking a movie break this wintry weekend?

I’ve seen two movies at local cinemas this weekend and can give a robust recommendation to one and a qualified recommendation to the other.

During a scene early in Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri, one of the characters is reading a paperback copy of Flannery O’Connor’s collection of short stories A Good Man is Hard to Find. Knowing the tone of the stories, especially the one carrying the name of the collection, provides viewers with a clue for how to view the film.

Writer-director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) uses his lead actors (notably Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, and Woody Harrelson) to great effect in this unusually dark and sometimes funny tragedy.

It is also important to mention the technical beauty of the film. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is extremely well crafted, and the formal properties of the movie are striking but consistently complement rather than overwhelm (or undermine) the central narrative.

I can’t say the same for Loving Vincent. Take a look at the image below and imagine it coming to life.

The idea is clever and it is magnificently rendered — tell a story about Vincent van Gogh’s final days and his art through animated oil paintings. Sequences of the film are breathtaking, and that may be enough to lure some viewers to the screen with satisfying results.

For me, the story does not match the imagery, but I’m still glad to have seen Loving Vincent for the novelty of its approach.