THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS Trailer
Joel and Ethan Coen are back with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and its release date is close enough to start drooling in anticipation.
The film is an anthology of six separate westerns, at one time sold to Netflix as a series but now condensed into a single movie. Reports are that each section is quite different, not only with separate characters but also wildly different tones. The trailer we have seems to emphasize its more lighthearted moments, or at least the moments when the Coens wink and nod at the well-worn tropes of the genre.
The brothers have been down some dusty trails already with classic fare like True Grit and the modern western No Country for Old Men. Still, Buster Scruggs seems like a significant departure for the duo, not in the least since it will primarily be seen through Netflix. The streamer is trotting it out to some big festivals (you have to give the Coens some theatrical play, I guess), but the anthology experiment will either thrive or die in people’s living rooms.
The streaming release does leave it vulnerable to being ignored by non-film junkies who aren’t sold by the Coens’ name alone, but the massive ensemble required for a six part anthology means there’s lots of famous faces to showcase. James Franco, Liam Neeson, and Tyne Daly alone are enough to attract a wide variety of viewers, and those names only scratch the surface of who’s slated to appear.
With Buster Scruggs being made so readily available, it’s hard to imagine this not being widely seen. The question is, will the anthology format show the Coens’ best sides?
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and stars Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, and Brendan Gleeson. It will be released on Netflix on November 16th, 2018.
Do you think the Coens will pull off this anthology? Let us know in the comments!
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