The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

“You know the story, but people can't get enough of them, like little children. Because, well, they connect the stories to themselves, I suppose, and we all love hearing about ourselves, so long as the people in the stories are us, but not us. Not us in the end, especially.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is another Netflix movie that was released recently because nothing is new in theaters. This is an anthology of six short films that take place in 19th-century post-Civil War era during the settling of the Old West. The Coen Brothers realize that they're too good for Hollywood and make films for Netflix now where they can do whatever they want and not be bossed around.

This is a film that I really took a liking to. The Coen Brothers are probably the best writers working in film today and this film is like a perfect sampler plate of everything great about the pair. The film is separated into six short stories which took me by surprise because I didn't know it was an anthology, so my expectations were subverted within the first twenty minutes in a satisfying and satirical way.

This may be one of my favorite Coen Brothers movies because of how quaint their writing is. There are many of these shorts that take place in one location with just two-four characters, and it is more emotionally satisfying at the end of each short than most theatrical two hour films with 200 million dollar budgets.

The cast is very large with Liam Neeson, James Franco, Tom Waits, Brendan Gleeson (Mad Eye Moody from HP), Harry Melling (Dudley from HP). Just a really solid cast who are all great.

There was a point in one of the longer shorts where it felt like some filler, but it was very minimal. The ending to that short was as incredibly impactful, but if I have any criticism about the film, that would be it.

With this streaming war going on with Netflix and Disney, if Netflix keeps making quality like this and The Haunting of Hill House and hires filmmakers that know what they're doing, I think I'll stick with Netflix for a while. There is a Scorsese film coming out for Netflix soon and a Soderbergh film too.

It' strange because as the year reaches a close, I'm finding more films that I really enjoy, making it difficult to find my favorite of the year. However, this film was really enjoyable as it plays with western tropes and has a lot of witty dialogue and humor that makes a modern Blockbuster look like a MockBuster.

Rating: See It

-Nolan