It was lovely to see Yuma one more time on a big screen in a nice theater. Add to that, the house was full of people who clearly appreciated the film, with great reactions and laughter at all the right spots. I don't care how nice your home cinema is, you cannot beat a collective experience like that. Plus, out of all the events I've attended, second only to a concert by the band, I really dig Q&As.

I'm happy to say that O'Neill did not make a single snark about Russell. He started to obsess about the "dirty" appearance of the actors – which was weird – it is a western after all - and Mangold cut him off, saying his obsession with cleanliness was telling us more about him than about the film. (Go, Jim, go!) I've often noticed how the person who stands behind the camera often seems more comfortable addressing a live audience than the actors. I like James Mangold more every time he opens his mouth. At the Arclight Q&A back in October he made some wonderful comments about giving an audience enough credit to make up their minds about stories rather than attempting to manipulate their perspective. Last night I very much enjoyed his thoughts about how detrimental it is to our society to churn out an endless stream of unrealistic hero films.

Christian seemed the most reticent to talk. He wore a baseball cap pulled low and looked mainly at his knees. To one question about preparation, he replied that actors who talk about their process make him want to smash his head into a wall, which drew chuckles. I appreciate what an unassuming guy he is, very admirable in his way, and while I understand why they'd want to keep it to themselves at times, it has always fascinated me to hear about process.

What I enjoyed most were Christian and Ben's comments about the horses. Christian said he went out for a look at the horses before any of the other actors because while he did not think his character should have an especially fine looking horse, he did want an easy one. He says he enjoys working with the horses but he has suffered some mishaps in the past. He said his horse was wonderful, and that by the time they were a few days into the shoot, all he had to do was think which direction he wanted to go and the horse would respond accordingly.

Ben, who also seems shy, was more engaging. (I'm utterly charmed by him.) They had some laughs at Ben's expense, as he did not apparently have such an easy time of it with the horses. Ben imitated Christian's mind-meld with his horse and then demonstrated how he would think, "a little to the left or a little to the right," and instead of symbiotic cooperation, his horse would start dancing nervously every time. An enjoyable example of process talk was Ben's story about his last scene. Can you believe they shot that entire thing – the chase to the train – in only six hours daylight? Jim said they were worried about the train freezing up, there was the weather to contend with, and it was utter chaos, with people running around and things going on in every direction. Ben said he asked for thirty seconds to get in the proper mental space for his last scene, and then he pantomimed walking, dragging the contraption that squirts the blood and makes the explosion for the gunshots, along with him as he stepped to the side and gathered himself. He spoke sincerely about how important that moment was – when Charlie and Ben finally make eye contact – and how important that was to his character, "this man who means more to him than anyone in the world, and then, you know, he shoots him!"