The 15th best film the Coens have ever made. Or maybe the 12th best. Possibly higher.

When news first broke about the new Coen brothers project for Netflix, it looked like it was going to be not a proper film, but a limited-run series. This was all perfectly well and good, but how would that work with existing rankings of the Coens filmographies? Turns out we needn’t have worried. THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS is not a series, but an anthology film made up of six distinct stories, all set in the 19th century American west, all peppered with the Coens trademark wordplay and all deeply concerned with death. Adam and Josh debate whether the anthology’s morbid preoccupation is ultimately nihilistic or hopeful, but they agree that the film is leavened by moments of grace (and some really good jokes). Plus Adam on CREED II and a review of Lee Chang-dong’s BURNING.     

0:00-1:14 - Billboard
1:14-33:46 - Review: “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Willie Watson & Tim Blake Nelson, “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings”
34:44-35:14 - Donations
35:14-38:59 - Next Week / Live Show
38:59-43:37 - Nicholas Roeg, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ricky Jay
43:37-52:29 - Polls [Oscar Follow-Ups, Alfonso Cuaron]
52:29-58:49 - Adam Recommends: “Creed II”
58:49-1:10:38 - Review: “Burning”
1:10:38-1:13:45 - Close / Outtake

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