The latest Coen Bros. feature began life as a limited anthology series for Netflix and it feels like it, for better or worse (mostly better I think). Structured as several chapters in a book of stories about the Old West -- or at least the Coens' idea of what the Old West actually was -- the episodes range from a brutal Roy Rogers-esque gunslinger to a Fred Dobbs/Gabby Hayes-ish gold prospector. Probably the most fully realized chapter is Zoe Kazan's turn as a prairie girl on the Oregon Trail (no dysentary, alas). Because of the episodic nature, "Buster Scruggs" never feels as fully realized or coherent as a typical Coens film, but all the usual elements are present -- graphic violence, black deadpan humor, and a bleak unforgiving "Old Testament" moral code. And, like most Coen Bros films, the specter of death hangs over everything.
Because Netflix wants to put the Coens and "Buster Scruggs" in awards contention, they are screening it for a week in NY/LA theaters but mostly it will be consumed at home, either on laptops or maybe some big screen TVs. that's a shame. the desert and prairie vistas aren't perhaps John Ford-level sweeping but it still benefits greatly from the theatrical experience. Netflix should do far better by their awards-season releases
Because Netflix wants to put the Coens and "Buster Scruggs" in awards contention, they are screening it for a week in NY/LA theaters but mostly it will be consumed at home, either on laptops or maybe some big screen TVs. that's a shame. the desert and prairie vistas aren't perhaps John Ford-level sweeping but it still benefits greatly from the theatrical experience. Netflix should do far better by their awards-season releases
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