I really like Tom McCarthy. He’s a truly gifted filmmaker, and his first three features — The Station Agent, The Visitor and Win Win — are perfect little character studies about mismatched strangers becoming unlikely families. You should see them. They are great.

It was thus a little awkward to talk to him this week about The Cobbler, which is a godawful abomination that flopped its way into TIFF last year, and which has grown no better in the rear view. But he’s such a nice guy that we made it happen anyway, and that interview runs in this week’s NOW.

I would say that talking to McCarthy was the highlight of my week, except that I also got to talk to Jessica Chastain about another TIFF picture, Miss Julie, in which she plays Strindberg’s tragic heroine under the direction of Liv Ullmann. Now, if I can only figure out how to get her and McCarthy working together on something …

Oh, and I also chatted with Jaume Collet-Serra, director of the new Liam Neeson thriller Run All Night, which doesn’t quite reach the crazed heights of their most recent collaboration, Non-Stop, but has its share of moments. Enjoy!