“I saw Tom Ford‘s Nocturnal Animals last night,” the email begins. “A BAFTA and British Oscar voters event. Ford, Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhal and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were all there. Great group of talent. The film was well received and I liked it a lot, but Ford’s handling of the material makes it feel more emotional in retrospect than it was on the screen.

“By making a story about a woman so cold that she’s lost touch with everything in her life, we end up with a cold movie. The music, cinematography and actors, however, elevate it to a level of fascination that kept me in. I hope Michael Shannon gets some award attention. He was amazing as always.

Amy Adams in Nocturnal Amnials

“I asked you about an Arrival screening. Anything coming up?”

My reply: The only really interesting thing about Nocturnal Animals, which may strike a chord with this or that industry person but is going to more or less die when Joe Popcorn enters the equation, is the ending when [redacted but it involves something that happens between Gyllenhaal and Adams]. That’s it. That’s the only thing that grabbed me. Okay, that and Shannon’s cancer-ridden sheriff. But then Shannon is always good so it’s almost de rigeur when he scores yet again.

Again, my initial Toronto review.

I dislike the neeedling, nagging voice of the guy asking the questions, but this Vogue thing is a good showcase for the charms of La La Land‘s Emma Stone. I’ve noted before that she has the Best Actress Oscar in the bag, and I feel obliged to repeat this.

I stayed in Goleta last night. 90 minutes hence I’ll be attending a Pablo Larrain double-header at Santa Barbara’s Riviera theatre — a 10 am screening of Neruda (The Orchard, 12.6), and then a combination luncheon, schmoozer and q & a (SBIFF honcho Roger Durling interviewing Larrain), followed by a 2 pm screening of Jackie (Fox Searchlight, 12.2).

Has anyone even seen Inferno, which has a 20% Rotten Tomatoes rating? What discerning person would do that? To what end? Projections say it’ll wind up with around $15 million by tonight. There’s a general notion that the second sequel (i.e., the third entry) in a franchise will tend to blow chunks. Yes, the masses are gullible, but every now and then they can smell a turd from a mile away,

Variety‘s Seth Kelley has speculated that “this weekend’s overall slump could be attributed to any number of factors including sequel fatigue, the calm before the awards-season-contenders storm, the Presidential election, Halloween weekend or the World Series which sees the Chicago Cubs, a major market, in competition for the first time since 1945.” 

It’s the Cubs, definitely the Cubs plus Halloween plus a strong populist suspicion that Inferno sucks.

“Watching [Tom] Hanks bummed me out. An actor without a role is a sad thing to watch, and Hanks isn’t the type to throw in some fruity Brando-like inflections or look like he’s trying to amuse himself. He’s not a comedian anymore. He’s a terribly earnest fellow, and he’s bent on serving the terribly earnest Ron Howard, who’s bent on serving this terrible material. Their symbiotic blandness eats into your brain. Together with Dan Brown, they might have inadvertently discovered the tenth circle of hell.” — from David Edelstein‘s Vulture review of Inferno, which is currently tanking or underperforming, depending on what box-office report you’re reading.

I somehow missed this, a brief Martin Scorsese tutorial about Marlon Brando‘s One-Eyed Jacks (1961), when it popped ten days ago. Scorsese, who oversaw the One-Eyed Jacks restoration with Steven Spielberg, defends the “painstaking” decision to go with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio (the film could have easily and harmlessly been cropped at 1.75:1 or, better yet, 1.66:1) because that’s how it was projected at Leows’ Capitol in 1961. (Or something like that.) This despite Scorsese’s admission that he initially thought 1.66:1 would have been more appropriate. I’ve mentioned three or four times that Criterion’s OEJ Bluray will pop on 11.22 — one more time!

From Huffpost‘s Daniel Marans, reported earlier today: “Attorney General Loretta Lynch wanted F.B.I. director James Comey to follow Department of Justice protocols and traditions and not reveal the discovery of new emails that might be pertinent to Clinton’s case, The Huffington Post was able to confirm on Saturday, following the account of a Justice Department official in The Washington Post.”

From “Comey, Clinton and This Steaming Mess,” a 10.29 N.Y. Times column by Frank Bruni: “Comey said in an internal memo that he was hoping, with his announcement, not ‘to create a misleading impression’ of some hugely significant discovery. But that’s exactly and predictably what he did.

Eric is actually the guy in the UNITED T-shirt, not the BLACK GUNS MATTER one.

Considering that I own a 65″ Sony 4K TV, it’s conceivable that I may eventually spring for a 4K Bluray player. Down the road, I mean. Because all the 4K Blurays on sale now are action-driven or CG fantasy spectacles, and almost none are aimed at serious film fans like myself. When and if I purchase a 4K Bluray player it’ll be great to own the 4K disc of Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas, which will pop in early December. The only problem, of course, is that this will almost certainly be a 4K rendering of Brownfellas, the remastered Bluray version of Scorsese’s 1990 classic that came out last year. This version looks like it was marinated in gravy, lentil soup and butterscotch sauce and then left to bake in the afternoon sun. So I’m sorry but no. If Warner Home Video was to announce a 4K version that will remove the brownish effect that covered last year’s remastering, fine.

Five keepers from Robert Redford‘s “What I’ve Learned” quote piece, assembled by Matthew Belloni and published by Esquire in January 2011:

5 Robert Redford Quotes to Live By pic.twitter.com/wuSyaAiBVy

— Esquire (@esquire) October 29, 2016

Lesson/quote #1: “Life is essentially sad. Happiness is sporadic. It comes in moments and that’s it. Extract the blood from every moment.”

Lesson/quote #2: “I was in a small charter plane flying from Santa Fe to Santa Rosa, and the engines went out for nine minutes. You go through that checklist. Then you get down to what it’s gonna feel like. What’s it gonna feel like? I still wonder.”

Lesson/quote #3: “I grew up in a pretty cynical environment. All my friends gave each other a horribly bad time. We’d destroy each other with criticisms, but for me it was a sign of friendship. If someone gave me a hard time, I’d say, ‘Well, I guess he’s my friend.’ I think Paul and I had that relationship.

Lesson/quote #4: “Humor. Skill. Wit. Sex appeal. In that order.”

Lesson/quote #5: “People don’t remember who the critics were.” [HE response: Oh, yeah? Pauline Kael, A.O. Scott, Otis Ferguson, Anthony Lane, Penelope Gilliatt, Eric Kohn, Judith Christ, Joe Bob Briggs, Andrew Sarris, James Agee, Andre Bazin, David Denby in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, Vincent Canby, Manohla Dargis, Arthouse Trump, etc.

From Kurt Eichenwald’s 10.28 Newsweek story: “Friday’s disclosure that the FBI had discovered potential new evidence in its inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s handling of her personal email when she was Secretary of State has virtually nothing to do with any actions taken by the Democratic nominee, according to government records and an official with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity.

“The revelation that the FBI has discovered additional emails convulsed the political world, and led to widespread (and erroneous) claims and speculation. Many Republicans proclaimed that the discovery suggests Clinton may have broken the law, while Democrats condemned FBI Director James Comey for disclosing this information less than two weeks before the election, claiming he did it for political purposes.

“There is no indication the emails in question were withheld by Clinton during the investigation, the law enforcement official told Newsweek, nor does the discovery suggest she did anything illegal. Also, none of the emails were to or from Clinton, the official said. Moreover, despite the widespread claims in the media that this development had prompted the FBI to ‘reopen’ the case, it did not; such investigations are never actually closed, and it is common for law enforcement to discover new information that needs to be examined.”

Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg‘s Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing (HBO, 11.21) screened at the just-concluded Savannah Film Festival, so it’s fair game. I was interested because I was looking to experience a doc that wouldn’t do the “Boston fuck yeah!” thing, which is what everyone expects from Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg‘s Patriot’s Day (CBS Films, 12.21). I wanted to sink into a film that would tell the real, ground-level story of the April 2013 Boylston Street bombing — the prelude, the motivational particulars, the aftermath and whatnot. The whole detailed blow-by-blow.

I was therefore surprised to discover that it’s essentially a documentary about the victims’ medical and emotional recovery from the bomb blasts, and only secondarily a detailed investigation into the whole story — who, what, when, where, why, how, etc. Shot over a three year period, the doc focuses “on a newlywed couple, a mother and daughter and two brothers — all gravely injured by the blast — face the challenges of physical and emotional recovery as they and their families strive to reclaim their lives,” blah blah. Coping with terror, shock, pain, missing limbs, prosthetics, health costs, feeling morose.

So instead of a “Boston fuck yeah!” film, Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing is a “recovery fuck yeah!” thing. A movie that wears a banner across its chest that says “life can be brutal but the spirit of love and family lives on!”

Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg‘s Patriot’s Day (CBS Films, 12.21), a drama about the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, will be the closing-night attraction at AFI Fest on Thursday, 11.17. Hollywood Elsewhere will be covering the Key West Film Festival (11.16 thru 11.20) that night, but maybe CBS Films will afford an earlier opportunity. Here’s hoping (and I mean this) that Berg/Wahlberg surprise us all by not delivering a “Boston fuck yeah!” rah-rah patriotism film, and that Patriot’s Day at least tries to simulate the antsy editing and fleet pacing of a Paul Greengrass– or classic Costa Gavras-styled thriller.