Tommy Lee Jones made his Cannes directorial debut in 2005 with "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" and was awarded best screenplay for it (Guillermo Arriaga was scribe) and the best actor nod. It's taken him nine years to turn out his new opus "The Homesman," as director. After Faulkner, he's adapted a novel by Glendon Swarthout and revisits the Western genre. The resulting film, a moral and ... more >
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CANNES DAY 5 – THE HOMESMAN
Tommy Lee Jones steps behind the camera
Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Emperor
Bearing the ultimate choice
Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox
Directed by Peter Webber
It’s been an interesting few months for history on film. A series of releases have raised the ever-present question of historical depiction. One film, "Zero Dark Thirty," was threatened with Congressional investigations over its portrayal of torture. "Argo" takes vast liberties with the Iranian hostage crisis, but no one except the Iranians seems to mind. No film is quite as dependent on ... more >
Men in Black 3
A very franchisey kind of franchise
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
“Men in Black 3” is a paycheck movie for everyone involved, except the audience, who again get another middling, phoned-in sequel looking to drain their wallets with its average 3-D-ness. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones again return as agents J and K, except Jones much more briefly. His Agent K has been extinguished, all part of a plan by alien baddie Boris the Animal (the always-funny Jemaine ... more >
Hope Springs
Hope is the thing with feathers
Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by David Frankel
It isn’t every day you get the likes of Meryll Streep and Tommy Lee Jones in a romantic comedy, even the very idea seems like two actors doing a bit of slumming, but instead they make “Hope Springs” really pop with an honest, funny, and moving portrayal of a marriage on the rocks. They play Kay and Arnold, a couple married thirty-one years who have hit a bit of a rough patch. They’ve been ... more >
Captain America: The First Avenger
Stand up and believe
Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan
Directed by Joe Johnston
Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. But he likely invented modern life. He then used his fortune to build Greenfield Village, a park dedicated to the preservation of the horse and buggy world he had nudged to the past. The further we go with technology, the more we have a fascination with the past. As the future becomes more artificial, we come to know the past as the only thing more ... more >
“In the electric mist”
Detective Robicheaux is on the prowl
John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard and Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
There are several versions of Bertrand Tavernier’s “In the Electric Mist” floating about, appropriately enough given the title. Don’t know which one I’ve just seen but it is safe to assume that they are all as confusing. I would advise avoiding trying to tie together the several story lines, sitting back and enjoying the New Orleans setting, the great performances by John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard ... more >