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  • Tommy Lee Jones Is A ‘Total Softy’ Says Hilary Swank

    Some of us may remember Tommy Lee Jones as the no-nonsense U.S. Marshall from his Academy Award-winning performance in The Fugitive.

    Others may know Jones as the tough and stubborn Captain Woodrow F. Call from the beloved miniseries Lonesome Dove

    On screen, Tommy Lee Jones is more likely to portray characters that are steely-eyed and perhaps a bit intimidating.

    But his co-star in the Western movie Homesman has a secret.

    According to Hilary Swank, Jones is actually a big “softy”.

    “He shows what he wants to show to the press or to the world,” said Swank, “[Y]et he comes alive on set in a totally different way.”

    Hilary Swank also said that she considers Jones a “visionary” and “artisan”.

    Said Swank, “I [was just] a sponge in his presence.”

    When told about Hilary’s comments, Tommy Lee didn’t exactly disagree.

    That’s not a word that I would use to describe anybody, much less myself,” said Jones “But it sounds positive right?”

    Jones then reportedly smiled and said, “All right, I’m a ‘softy’. Yeah, I’ll accept that.”

    Even though Tommy Lee Jones isn’t really the stern, tough guy he comes across as in many of his movies, that doesn’t mean you should underestimate him.

    “[Jones] doesn’t suffer fools,” said Swank. “That’s a really good way to say it.”’

    She added, “”I think his time is precious, [a]nd he just chooses specifically how he wants to spend it.”

    Tommy Lee Jones is both the director and star of The Homesman, a movie that is described as being in the tradition of True Grit.

    In the movie, he plays a claim jumper and mercenary named Brigg who is hired by a plain-faced devout Christian and rancher named Mary (Hilary Swank) to transport three pioneer women who have gone insane back to civilization.

    Although the character taps into an image of Tommy Lee Jones that we’ve come to know, at least we have the reassurance that underneath all of it is more or less a rather gentle soul.

  • Tommy Lee Jones Makes Directorial Return With “The Homesman”

    Tommy Lee Jones may just have made his own feminist take on the western. The western is an iconic genre that has been around since the early days of American cinema, and while it’s a genre that’s mostly peppered with hard-living cowboys and bounty hunters, it’s rare that we get to see the female perspective regarding the old west. The Homesman, Jones’ latest directorial effort, opts to shine the light on the plight of the average American female during the Wild West.

    The Homesman is about Mary Lee Cuddy (played by Hilary Swank) who takes it upon herself to transport three women who were driven mad by the harsh realities of frontier life to the care of a woman in Iowa who has offered to take the women in. Cuddy and the three women are escorted by a deserter named George (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and together they face Native American tribes, freighters, and many other threats.

    Jones claimed that he is not interested in the western as a genre. “What I do have an interest in is making movies about the history of my country, where I live. Anyone who wants to be an artist makes work about where he lives,” Jones said about the film’s style and subject matter. He added, “The Homesman isn’t a western movie, but a movie that is about the history of women in my family. I don’t think there is a woman around who hasn’t been objectified or trivialized because of her gender.”

    Ever since debuting at Cannes, The Homesman garnered mixed to positive reviews. The New York Post praised Jones’ direction and called the film “a rare 21st-century Western without shootouts or explosions”.  Film blog The Playlist, however, called it a flawed but enjoyable film that still has its merits. According to the review, “It’s an odd enough bird that it’s more than worth the watch”.

  • Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones Star in ‘The Homesman’

    Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones star opposite each other in The Homesman. The international trailer for the upcoming film hit the internet on Tuesday. A release date for the film has yet to be announced.

    Jones not only stars in the film, he serves as director and producer–and he co-wrote it as well. He plays the role of a claim jumper who has to help a pioneer woman–played by Hillary Swank–escort three mentally disturbed women all the way from Nebraska to Iowa in order to pay her back for saving his life. Jones’s character was about to be hanged when Swank’s character intervened and saved him.

    In addition to Swank and Jones, The Homesman also stars Meryl Streep, William Fichtner, and Hailee Steinfeld.

    The last film Hilary Swank starred in was You’re Not You back in 2013. Her biggest film credit to date was Million Dollar Baby back in 2004, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.

    Rumor has it that The Homesman may be headed to Cannes. One of Tommy Lee Jones’s previous stints at directing–The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada–debuted on the Croisette in 2005, so the notion certainly isn’t a far fetched one. The scenery in The Homesman is said to be positively amazing as it follows Jones and Swank’s character’s journey from Nebraska to Iowa. Brilliant cinematography has led some films to debut in Cannes in previous years.

    The Homesman is adapted from the novel by the same name, written by Glendon Swarthout. The lead character in the book–Mary Bee Cuddy–is the one upon which Hilary Swank’s character is based.

    Are you a fan of Hilary Swank and/or Tommy Lee Jones? Based on the first trailer for The Homesman, does this look like a film you might be interested in seeing once it hits theaters?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • De Niro and Pfeiffer Discuss New Movie

    De Niro and Pfeiffer Discuss New Movie

    No strangers to mafia/gangster movies, actor Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas) and actress Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface) got together for an interview on Fox411 to discuss their upcoming movie “The Family”. “The Family” was produced by Martin Scorsese and stars De Niro as an ex-crime boss of the Mafia (a role that De Niro has made his own many times) along with his family: wife (Michelle Pfeiffer), son (John D’Leo), and daughter (Dianna Agron). De Niro plays a character alias known as Fred Blake, who is really the former boss turned confidential informant Giovanni Manzoni. Manzoni and his family are placed in a small French community as a part of a witness protection program. From then on the Manzonis are known as the Blakes and the story discusses the mishaps associated with the new adjustments in the new environment.

    In the interview on Fox411, Pfeiffer decided to expose a secret that De Niro had never known. Pfeiffer said to De Niro: “I actually auditioned for “Raging Bull”, that was when I very first met you…I always dreamed of working with [you (De Niro)], so I was just very excited.” Of course, Pfeiffer didn’t get the part which would end up being played by Cathy Moriarty. “Raging Bull” was filmed in 1980 and De Niro had been completely unaware of Pfeiffer’s audition, but was flattered that she had expressed such a desire to work with him.

    Also starring in the film alongside the protagonist, Mr. Blake, is Tommy Lee Jones starring as ‘Agent Stansfield’. ‘Agent Stansfield’ is assigned to the Blake family case and is responsible for advising, watching over, and their location). With this legendary trio of film, “The Family” is expected to be one of the most promising comedies of the season.

  • Tommy Lee Jones Meme Probably Fails to Impress Tommy Lee Jones

    When Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig performed one of the better pre-award schticks of last night’s Golden Globes, most people in the audience seemed to enjoy it. Ferrell and Wiig’s bit had the two attempting to describe the nominated movies in their category – although it was obvious that neither of them had really seen the movies. At least that was the bit.

    Cue an audience shot. It’s Tommy Lee Jones. And he’s not entertained. Or maybe he is, but it’s just how he shows his amusement.

    Either way, this image of Jones is now part of the rich meme history of the interwebs after it blew up on Twitter:

    (image)

    Or, if you prefer the GIF:

    (image)

    And thus the “Tommy Lee Jones is not impressed” meme is born.

    You can check out the moment that birthed the meme below (at around 3:30).

    It was arguably one of the best moments from the entire show – at least the best one not involving a Tina Fey/Amy Poehler joke. Grumpy Tommy Lee Jones, we love you.