Five alpha males and a marmoset

Experts in the body language, grooming habits, territorial behaviors and bonding rituals of adult male film directors will find the above fascinating. Tom Hooper's nervousness at the start is palpable. Tarantino talks as if the world would end were he to stop.  Russell watches him like someone taking notes for the character assassination he will later deliver to his therapist. Ang Lee seems oddly agitated an un-Zen (that $120 million weighs hard). Gus Van Sant plays the wise marmoset, sitting out the fight. Affleck is genial and self-deprecating — his actor's skills of self-presentation coming through — although he catches Tarantino's speaking patterns at one point, as if acting being a director.