ANTHOLOGIES ATTACK! - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Will you wait? Miss?

Welcome back midnight viewers to Anthologies Attack, where we take a look at anthologies of every media and every genre. I'm father alone and with me is my co host Antonio Lapour. How are you doing, Antonio?

Hi?

Well, Holly alone, how are you?

I'm doing very well considering what we're going to be talking about tonight. This is two in a row for filmmakers, though this one is an actual anthology. This one was released on November ninth, twenty eighteen. This is the ballad of Buster Scrugs.

People are so easily distracted, So I'm the distractor with a little story. People can't get enough of them because well, they connect the stories to themselves, I suppose, and we

Us, you will tail to tail. I'm bust, bust, your scruggs, your.

Shoe and iron work.

Payers to do years?

Do you have anything to say for sentences carried out?

What's my sense? Thanks?

I have away escalate?

Not here in the west, oh name it's AUSI Mandus king o King.

That man is wonderful. I will just have to seem crazy.

Business first, time. Yes, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was

Yeah, well it.

Was technically released in theater sports limited on and then writes in Netflix, but calling not straight the video, everything straight the streaming now'sas's last movie went straight the max, just like, at least get.

A nice little.

But that's a whole another thing, a whole other discussion. This is their last beating other too so far so Corney, anybody I've read that they've got something in the works again.

They went and flunched their muscles on their own. Joel did the just phenomenal, sonomenal, sonomenal, phenomenal The Death with Denzel Washington and Francis mcdormott and Ethan did.

Drive Away Dolls, Driveway Doll, which is great.

Yeah. Is that christ over a Christian store?

No, no, no, no no, it's Margaret quality.

Margaret Qualley okay was creating it.

Oh yeah, And a lot of the sort of clever Coen Brothers dialogue, A lot of those clever Coen Brothers plot twists okay, fully on display. The more show body of the of their cinema, I think is in Ethan's Corner.

Interesting.

I think if there's a there's a moment in a Coen Brothers movie like cinematically where you go like WHOA, why did that? Was cool? Probably even behind it all the solid filmmaking seems to be coming from Joel though, well.

Because that was solid, and the way he does the one lady playing the three waitches, it's just all so good. Back from Buster Scrugs, which is a delightfully fun movie about death's.

Hey, it certainly is that there are six tales presented to us. One of them is hopeful, only one really, and that one is provided by Jack London. Not exactly the like a laugh riot of a man, not even remotely.

A laugh light of a man, but an amazing performance.

From Tom Waits, absolutely.

Comp her daughter was Tom Waits because I watched it. I haven't seen it in a minute a year. I've seen it a few junks, but every time I'm kind of he said, I wish sheepen than bour things.

Yeah, as do. I always think about his performance in Rumblefish and Dracula and.

The Cop Club, all the Cotton Club, Yeah.

And.

Yeah, and the other thing I think I'm thinking about lately because later this week I'm recording a podcast about pet Cemetery, the nineteen eighty nine movie is Fred Winn's performance in The Cotton Club is so fucking good as Bob hoskins right hand.

Man, Cheed Gwinny's was a lot better than that pop culture understands.

They just were all that was a guy from the Munsters.

I'm like, yeah, yeah, but he had this long ass career as a character actor too, Like he's was his last one?

Was he the last way went the Judge in My cousin.

Vimy, that's the last one I remember him in. Yeah, but.

Us anyway, Yeah.

A perfect Southerner, and he's a perfect old Northern main fella in pet Cemetery anyway, That's neither here there we're talking about Buster Scruggs here, folks talking about the American West, talking about the Cohen Brothers. We're talking about let's just talk about the fact that and I love this movie starts and they've presented the film as if it's a book.

Yeah, the death of the Old West, death of the Western genre.

That specifically, I think is what I mean. What we're given here in each of the stories are plays not only on the on the mythic elements of the American Old West, but on the way that it's been presented to us over and over again. We really in each of these segments we get little different genres of Old West storytelling that we've seen probably hundreds of time, but that their natural conclusions.

On everybody does but Tom waits, But that's still that that death is the big part of it, and it is and it's just everything is oppened. Oh, and that's the way it goes. It's almost like a weird companion fist A Million Ways to Die in the West.

It's like Parlotte movie. And again that's another movie about the Old West and death and the genre itself, like the examination of the genre. This is a very traditional Hollywood zone that it looks like it kind of just been made by MGMI.

I'm surprised that it's not shot in Academy yet surprising it's not a one three three because just sort of a little bit more.

I think, Yeah, I think once you commit to that, though, you're you're restraining yourself. And because and when I think of American Old West pictures, I tend to think of the john Ford and I think of VistaVision, you know, yeah, exactly technoscope.

Well, what's the word how the West was One?

Was it?

The How the West was One? Which is three academies like smashed next to each other.

Yeah, with three Bridge pictures sink down madness?

Well, absolutely madness. I don't know, I watched that in school. Yeah, you're right, But the sinners Algary's beautiful. This is Deacons and It's clearly Dickens is like the reads like Dickens or Robert Richardson. Robert Richardson is ali twig in the book and gives you the most. This is what Cinder is capable of with all my magic. And I love him and I think Casino might be the most beautiful

Abuse, and he's just tasty. He no hood pa Deacons, no no, no no flares, no no no iris, the store shirt on, the anti mormic.

Everything he does is clean and pristine, even with the santuating because a lot of it in Rust's products isn't super saturated. It's still wildly colorful. Like he just does a really great job. His stuff is always just a beauty to so just lovely the way he's I love he. I already talking about Deacons and then Richardson being almost the opposite and still being equally amazing, And I'm gonna talk about those two dudes all day.

And his talents are certainly being flexed here with with this sort of landscape. All of this is shot on location. God bless them well. When I heard that they were making a movie for Netflix, I think my reaction was like, Okay, good, whatever, just give us another Coen Brothers movie.

Yeah and yeah, I see a Colin Brothers movies in the cinema, but I see them over and over and over and over, and I rewatch their movies.

That was not good.

With my buddy Y, we were having We're having Drac's Pizza, and we were talking about cinema versus television and how great.

Television has got.

And I'm like, yeah, but you don't go back to watch Waking Bad every Christmas. You might revisit it once or twice over ten years, but you're not going to go back to it and watch.

It regularly like you do a Colm Butters movie.

I go, how new time you've seen Raising Amazonagy and fifteen times, I'm like, exactly, cinemas, were you adjusted it again?

You study it, you watch it over and over, and you discover new things in it. That's what I learned about the Coen Butters someone. We are so insanely rewatchable. Oh, you learn so much every single time you watch with something new, every time you see it. All tend of new stuff in this movie. The first time I watched it, I didn't realize that it was a creatus arm out.

That's because it's like I was fucking breezy as a movie like it is a remarkable kind of shiny nihilism that up with like where there is no happy ending, but somehow that's a happy ending.

Yeah, on my favorite piece. It's sure's everybody's favorite piece.

But the Scark is one with the guy's name whose name he mispronounced, because his name is actually the great.

Tim Blake Nelson.

Not just too great.

I think he might be the finest or the worst anchor gaining character actor there, and I just love him so very very much. How do you steal a movie from both George Corney, I am John Depouro and John Goodman and everyone light forget it.

That is just him and it'll roll out.

Thousands of the greatest of all time. I'd hear he should have got it on different spark for Buster Scark. What just amazing delivery From the first time he says that was it my dranger. The first note he belts out, wall just ah, I know it all to to I don't really like where Rogers movies and the way it ends to hugs Bunny and touch every.

Cartoons definitely texts Avery. There's a moment where there's a moment where a buster claps his chest and a puff of dust comes off behind him, shaped exactly like him that he steps away from. It is straight from text Avery, and and it's just.

Every play with this ya this, This was just a short film on its own, like the greatest short film ever.

I just I adore every second of it. But I wonder how long they the Cohens.

Have been hanging onto that that then done on the table where he takes the table and the shoes clansy wear on.

Old the pistol, hold on the limit, holding onto that gag.

I feel like they came over with that guy where they were a kid and we're just wonder to day we're gonna make a Western and we're gonna do this because ah it's so good and again Template just kill me what that's and his monologue was so delightful, and it's just he's such a love skirt and yeah, those same guy and.

He's just so charming and adorable. Ah, it's a great piece of movie.

Naked evidently in an interview I read with Tim Blake Nelson. He was given this piece whole cloth in two thousand and two and was told, but we've got to come up with more.

Wow, they start on it for that long story him.

They spent the next two decades basically coming up with other stories worthy of that opening for a movie. Let's talk about the opening. It is an ode to Roy Rogers. It starts with buster scrugs, ballad, buster script. We know he's this legendary character, they've told us in the fucking title of the movie. And so he comes in singing a song, and we get him going to a he's

Well, I don't think they'd ever really shied away the first couple of big brillers crossing the gangster movies.

No, not violence. I expect violence from him since blood simple, I've expected the violence, but the gore, yeah, the over the top up like going for it, like I did not expect the Peter Jackson version of the Cohen Brothers. Well, Sam, I think you're right. The Sam Raimi version that's more perfect.

Because because there is that cartoon level of violence in it. But again, I yes, it's a boy Rodgers, but I again see Junck Savery and Chuck Jones in here, took along with Daffy and the one went bugs buddy and can ask them Nasty can Aska whatever his name was, and then of course TEDx Adan too is various ones, But there's definitely a cartoon element to it, and that's what I think.

The violence was definitely like a cartoon violence. Seventy.

Sam Level even put that thing where he's just kicking at the table and he's doing it.

With that's elite. But I'm just it's a great gag. It is a great he is a fan of violent movie gangs. That's a pretty good one.

Yeah, And there's something to be sent for enthusiasm, right. It's why we love ed Wood as much as we do now because of how much gusto he goes with everything he does. The fact that Buster Scruggs is effectively just a sociopath out there amongst the wilderness, that he does it with such Elaan makes up for it, right, Like we forgive him a lot though the characters in the film aren't buying any of his renown.

Are the the one he.

Takes him out to step outside for a draw and it's a here for lawnch and that guy because he's like kissing his heads the entire side and he just shoots off his hand like anywhere he noticed he does

I don't want to be too going through his ear, but.

It's just good bad And then the other gun yeah, right up until the trope of the new Gunslinger coming to look for the take came out and I love that.

Is you ready?

You need a you need a minute?

Nope?

Okay, bang and basically he outbusters him and.

The pointing isn't that's called the kid is forty.

And just like, yeah, just to put the cherry on the comic the comic book cartoon aspect of it, buster floats off to heaven with animated wings, singing a song with a fucking liar.

Yeah, but not only thinking a lot of seeing a duet, but the other the guy who shot them man with the guy.

Yeah, and there's just an incredible aerial shot, honestly, Yeah.

Absolutely, you never we see that in town.

The next town that we go into that they Yeah, the aerial shot of the town made me think that we never really get aerial shots in westerns too much.

No, I'm wondering where that town settings.

That's like, where the that's like it looks like the New Mexico set and see it, there's nothing.

It was a New Mexico set that gets used to it. I think that might be it, and that feel like they ray every used parts of the town over too.

I believe they shunt most of it in utah O Wo Sawo.

I wear finding where that town is, because that's a great location.

It is, indeed. But speaking of the let's head on over to near Algadones. This is our first proper story because buster is kind of a prologue, just to wet our appetite at what kind of fucking bizarre bullshit is about to come for the rest of this twisted take on American Western folklore. What would you call this one? The most unlucky man in the West, something like that, but the world's worst criminals?

We had the world's worst criminal, just another likable idiot in the long line of likable idiots in over their head man like. His problem was that he didn't turn around and leave once Stephen when we realized Stephen who was behind of the counter the here If you don't know anything about guys, and Stephen lays were owner the guy who wre not to be trip.

They are not that they barked with. They will set the paper clip company on hire. They will go all hell and Destroy You Man. I love that Active the great. He's always another Cliver down on one of the great character actors working with.

He's always playing a meek guy who could explode in Kill You. But I would urge everyone to check him out on news Radio, the TV series he did during the early nineteen nineties where he played the station owner Jimmy James.

Only Mac Crow, I forgot about this rate, that's right. I also recommend him on Barring HBO's barried by my god, what's his name now, Bill Hayter Biel Hater. Yeah, my favorite senter and I last.

Twenties three years, best since actually yeah, best Iss Hartman, best since Hartman, wos best in Zach Ray. It's always this utility player who shines in my eyes as far as yeah, he goes.

Well, they all can't be, they all can't be.

Eddie Murphy, No, whoever is Eddie k Eddie Murphy was my hero and I was like hate or Eddie Murvey's like who is doing in the world?

And he was and he was so here. I'd like to see Mabbie Murky and I'm calling brothers. Yeah, I feel like he get delivered that dialogue really Well, he doesn't get enough good juicy character parts, and he should because he's.

Well he guy recently and dolament is my name. He needs writers like Scott Alexander and the Larry Karazheuski back in the mouth.

Yeah, but so is this like James Fining Cole's last legitimate big parter? Did he do anything wor that?

Or this is the last thing I can think of him in And even when it came out, it was already he was already embroiled in the problem. So it felt like the movie was a little bit tainted with his with his appearance in it.

Well, that's too bad.

He's a good actor and was a good movie star, and that's too bad. He was just so bag like you gent on an acting school and then teenage girls.

That's just not cool.

Yes, it's whatever. His situation is unfortunate, and I do agree because I too really love him as an actor. I've never seen a bad performance from him, and he can go easily between drama and in comedy, and he's really funny.

Yeah.

One hundred and twenty seven hours? Is that was that the title?

Yeah, that's where he cuts his own arm off.

Yeah, that's a great rue man said, he carried that entire picture just by himself.

Man, that's impressed the stuff.

That's Did you watch The Deuce, the series he headlined on HBO where he played twin.

Brothers. That show was great. It was one of those HBO shows that just didn't get enough time. Man, but it was really good.

Oh that No, they told the whole story on that show. Oh yeah, they said. Yeah, they set out with a definite beginning and end and they fucking nailed it. But anyway, and so near al Goadona's James Franco's character is simply named Cowboy. Is is a bank Robert? This is the I mentioned the illustrated frame of the illustrated panels we get in the book at the beginning. This is the

It's like it's almost a locative of his photo dollars more or he's drunker played underneath the pawnshell.

But it's just just bat out of hell with that ship.

Oh man.

But yeah again, I know that galactus.

Yeah you soon, Ralph Innocent Ralphson.

And then he's somewhat helpful in a tribal folks coming in there. It's ever was the natives as a as the duck in the window and here's the pot came to change up the story.

Yeah, well, just like in the way they've been portrayed in all those classic American westerns, Native Americans remain a chaotic element in here, but never a Oh they're just a bunch of sad savage is kind of a thing. Although they are pretty Although they are pretty savage. Now, another thing I've appreciated about the Coen Brothers movies is they're not willing to make a character of specific gender or race or whatever, worrying about how people are going to perceive that.

No, they just a new thing.

Yeah, when you get through their thing.

But they're good at it and they're not.

It's funny because they can make almost cartoon like characters wearing wacky wild characters, but they're never cartage. Every character they create is breath image, even whether whether it be you know High is a scumbagh a petty criminal to to to the cab driver and big Lebowski who who gets mad and him for not.

Liking the Eagles, there's so much not every little character they have could have their own soil, I guess, is what I'm trying to get at. I just their they're so rich that I don't em they do any bookmoon Shi or anything like that, and they're all equally y. Yeah, I'd like to see them trying different kinds of more deposed kind of characters, just because I'd like to see them five different kinds of matters of speech, damaster and see what kind of poetry.

Then come up with Liz. I think their best dialogue is He's Hard, even picked down on the movie has the best dialogue.

Yeah, it's it's so specific to whatever genre that they've decided to dip their toe into. The nineteen forties dialogue of Barton Fink is In is on part with everything going on, in Miller's Crossing in nineteen thirties Probation in Chicago.

But their dialogue I have oh brother, we're out there, that's pretty magical. That's a pretty magical piece of movie making.

Damn, we're in a bad fix to beat this place a geographical oddity. Three weeks from everywhere, A right, not Ronie.

I'm a comprehanda And it's just like the movies are admittedly quotable.

I love the way they do with really well Big Labasket too, but near they picked their line and then they pepper that line throughout the bill like I'm a dapper dand man, it's some months throughout throughout the picture of men.

Your lives was in her line, was in your hands? Now the other characters repeat that, carry's over.

Lebowski is great for that. Every line Lebowski hears he will repeat in that film. If you watch it from the beginning, listen to what everyone says to him, you'll hear him repeat that at some point.

Yees hey, you're right. And The Big Sleep baby, like I saw it. I was thinking the.

Noir cast class in school, so I'd see The Big Sleep, and I'm watching.

The Big Lebowski whead they were melting.

Yeah, and if you Red Harvest is the name of the dashal Hammett book, but or they made it as the Glass Key, I think, or basically Miller's Crossing is a riff on the dashal Hammett novel Red Harvest. But

I'm a big fan of that alten one.

Uh oh, The Long good Bye, the Longer Bye, fantastically it was to make good companion pieces.

Actually basketball, Yeah, Long of Bye is total laid back in life.

So California and just watch that, don't watch that, that pt Anderson movie with his waking.

Inherent vice.

Yeah, yeah, it's trying so hard to be the big Goodbye, are you? It's long fiery Butler the movies, and it's just failed minderable.

Yet the Longer By is like one of these things that I saw accidentally TCTM at two o'clock in the morning in high school analys.

So God, and again I think a prototype COVID bro this movie for sure.

Oh definitely. Yeah. That they're great book ends to the sort of the California Detective, the Los Angeles Detective that that Raymond.

Yeah, absolutely if you were seeing Marlow, the one with with the rock Crisiles, James Garner, James Garner from the.

Sixties to Marlow, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, while and it's not bad, but it's you want It's like Marlow and then DeLong died by it. I can't believe these movies all have two years apart.

Yeah, exactly, but might as well be one hundred.

Like the movie making is so striking.

I'll get down, all right, let's move on. It's basically a one note story. But I really like the joke, which is that he manages to get out of being killed for the crime that he committed and ends up being killed for the crime he did.

Yeah, and it's and it's memorable, like it's I'm very famous me now the first time.

Yeah.

The only thing that maybe I might have would have been interesting that he had avoided that three times just because he watched it all about the Buddy cartoon or so semester tweedy cartoon, And the guy repeats three times, really they but that's a great pit.

Yeah, and I love how it ends looking at the girl.

Yeah, it's sweet. That's the thing. It's like, as depressing as these all should be, none of them really feel it. It all feels it jubilant in a weird way.

What's the magic of what we make? Okay, not all of.

Them feel jubilant. The next story, Meal Ticket, starring William Neeson and Harry Melling is not so jubilant. It is the bleakest story here.

Yeah, it is, and comically bleaks too, because they get replaced with a tic tac toe chick in this.

Progress a bit.

Yeah, that dude looks like a ranted boss.

You're talking about Harry Melling.

Harry Relling.

He's got that kind of triangle face with little curly hair and the big ears.

I believe he was Harry Potter's prick of a cousin.

Oh my not that sures.

Wow.

Wow, it's a great like it looks really disturbing, but that's a really simple special effect on him, making him the quarter polegic, like the cameras never moving where he's doing it, Like I have to pull that off in probably a couple of hours and after place, it's not.

That not an hard at tould do it, and they do it so effectively and it's so disturbing and it's just hard because you're watching the whole movie he's you know what I mean, like they really like, oh, it's a lot and the whole time that lid I seen the chip and you know, estate like.

He couldn't leave over in a down like for Fox.

Thanks we're talking about Okay. The setup of the story is it's like a traveling side show. In this case, it's a that's being traveling thespian who's going to perform orations from famous Shakespearean plays and and speeches and such. The deal being that he has no arms in lengths, so he is entirely dependent upon his caretaker, played by Liam Neeson, who is at best completely bored and at worst deeply deeply resentful at the fact that he is

Yeah, and this one's hard.

I don't it's a hard one to rewatch knowing where we're going.

Yeah, and it's just super brutal. And the edit at the end were just because market and the way he walks from.

The cliffs and puts his arms behind his back and t hearts is over a little bit and then give us that kind of half smile as we get that, not to a quick plade like a quick fade out.

It's a very deliberate editing choice.

I'm a part of the Roderick James to make by out is that it lets you, it lets you live with that drig just the second and an insistance cut chicken and Lea Eesen is ugly as fuck do in this.

Oh he's scruffy man And yeah, a great example of the costumes on display here, all lived in, all feel real, as real as everything else. I know we shout out the production, shouting out the cinematography here, but their production designer and costume designers as good as it gets and absolutely definitely adding to the scrubby, gruffy grossness of Liam

Now, hey, Khalait's another one that gives you.

There you go. Yeah, but jeez, how did that slip out of my mind?

Cleaning and red Dead reduction too. The video game has a lot of takes inspiration from the settlements like that.

Yeah, And the other movie I would recommend is Ravenous with Guy Pierce and oh what's his name? Robert Carlisle?

Oh yeah, how about the Daughter Party?

Yes, the Cannibals and the Windy Go. That one's a wooded, snowy a Western. So ultimately, the only thing I took away from this one of meaning to myself is how brutally cold everything looked and how grubby everything was. Because I don't like spending time with these characters. I just feel bad the entire time. This is the one with there is near redemption.

And the one, but it doesn't lead us into our next one though, All Gold Canyon, All Gold is perfect.

My god, we're gonna get a character piece. You can't

Yeah, it's almost enough to cheat that he dumps it back in the water there for more and Tony hits that mother alone. But is it's also I'll talk without it's an argan type of Western character. So Walter Houston obviously being the most famous in the Treasure of Sierra Madra, which have you notice.

Pa Oh, golleygue, what a great movie.

But it's so it's definitely a very's an archetype, going back from Walter Houston all the way up to Chelsea Grammar his Whost Story movie as the prospector there too, a very important Western architect, so we got to spend time with him.

And Tom Waits is just so crusty and cranky and and really fun to watch.

And it's an archetype we see usually as just that the crusty, angry, lunatic person. It's rare a movie will focus on the prospector give that character the time of day, not to mention, give it this kind of time of day where his struggle becomes ours. I'm rooting for this guy like I've rooted for no one in any Cohen Brothers movie.

To mister Pompkins, because normally he jump to the character as old Coot's see and it's the or the weird guy by the side of the road that the hero might meet and get some information from.

But yeah, I really like it. And and where he gets shot, Oh if your heart ah much, And that little clik just sitting there looking like Will Poeter, Well I thought it wasn't first.

I did too. Yeah, it's such a well, it's a It's a shot in the back, isn't it. It's really dreadful. But at least, if we haven't mentioned we're spoiling all of these, at least he's not dead man. At least it was it went right through. At least he's gonna pull through. And he's got that fucking gold. Now, these are hard things to have to overcome a man of his advanced stage out in the wilderness without any antiseptic.

Oh yeah, absolutely, ye ye prie us gone.

Oh mom, though, when they guy leaves down on the glade of motherfucker's just ups oft a lot, but the jaws.

Of death or reclaim what it is. Man, it's just what a great triumph And it's like, yeah, everywhere he dies.

At the last Anthologies attack. We talked about inside Leewin Davis and that movie. We talked about the importance of music in the Coen Brothers movies, and they tend to pick a theme and run with it, whether it's folk music or bluegrass or church music. In the case of the The Lady Killers, here we're getting, of course, classic American songs. In the case of this particular one, we get Tom Waits singing a classic do you recognize it's

Also music or in the case of No Country's role meant the Latin.

That is a musicless movie, right, it's just the end Krebs. And even then it was only commissioned as that we need something.

Yeah, and then James Milanko doesn't have it. It starts with all it starts with just all really sound effects.

Yeah, but in each of the segments effectively will have a song in it, even though Liam Neesen sings in the last one, okay, yeah, Ensured does Yeah. And then so we get Tom Waits here and we've pretty much covered that particular story. But our next one, oh boy, the gal who got rattled, Yeah.

That's this is I think it's one I think plays a little too.

Long, slightly too law Yeah. We never get you never really get romances anymore in in Western pictures as sweet as this romance.

Yeah, and subtle and he's useless.

Oh, Yeah, certainly, but uh, it's okay if they're playing on tropes in all of these different stories that this is our wagon train story. Yeah, this is our this is our land rush homesteaders tail and and the perils that they face out there, and some perils that we

Yeah, he's all right.

I like her a lot, you really, Yeah, I've seen her some of her her the pieces she's written, the film she's written, I've liked it quite a bit. So anyway, I just think she's a fresh face. And she does have a period face. That's another thing that Comen Brothers do so much.

She does.

Everyone looks so period specifically perfect here.

Yeah, absolutely, they do a really good job of the same that starts the sequence is in the boarding house. Everything is from that, and that Getter table is magnificent, especially the bat guy with the mustache is just outstanding.

Yeah, they cast locals, and they cast them well man.

In every pay. Yeah, they did a really good job. But it's a little long. It's like it's not a half hour or more.

Yeah, it's the scenter piece. It's the crate of this movie or creep show.

Yeah, okay, that's a good that's a good assessment. And it just ends tragically. It's just put a sad editing. Although President Pierce is the best character.

The dog, the dog. Yeah, they this one. I don't know, man, Yeah, this one tears my heart up. It's it's not fair, Yeah, it's not.

It just ends like is your brother? They gotta look like he was sixty.

Yeah, And I will say this as far as the bitterness goes, not the bitterness, but the sort of melancholy this one represents. It gets worse when the story ends and we're peeling back the pages where we get the final page of it and it says that this man is not he's wondering how he's going to explain.

Yeah, what happens. Yeah, it's a bummer.

In case you weren't pondering it, you should ponder it some more because the characters still our even after the story is over, like what a fuck you to the Cohens.

But that's what makes your stuf memorable though they know they get yet, but it's weird and wacky and he's smoking that your emotions, that's I think why they resonate.

That leads us. Now you mentioned your favorite story. Here is the buster scrug segment that begins they My favorite segment is the ending the Mortal remain. This one is no exit. Yeah, it's right, Yeah, it's fucking It's fascinating to me that I love this one as much as I do. The fact that it's for the first time in this on location film. We're on a sound stage. This is all artifice, and as well it should be, because these are speaking of death here. These characters are

I like the of the coach. The coachman Uri remarketive of Dacula.

That's when he's driving the coach and it's every version of Dracula, like they all do it. So it's very stan Edie looks great with the whip and just the pape and here was the face and sandwiches.

Everybody here there.

It's exacular funny. So what's the guy with David Bruhols. Yes, the chubby Joyce New York guy with a must bag playing a Frenchman. And then here we have this other dude, I am the Joxy part.

Did you not notice that the Saul Ruben that character, absolutely, yeah, that might have been that character at the end of his life.

Yeah, because they were very similar than the actual matterisms and everything, but they related.

It was the same character. They might be the same.

Character very well could be. And everyone's cast perfectly again playing off of sort of Western stereotypes with this sort of dandified fella and the spinster and the old trapper, the crazy the old trapper character who smells terrible tyn daily keeps giving us cues just how bad he smelled, over and over again.

It's a fascinating piece of Yes, very very very costan poker. And when you hear every willing.

Story, she's like, all my husband's been gone for three years I'm going to join him, and did she kill her?

He could be sounds like it might be the trapper with his maiden girl. They couldn't speak spoke the international language. And this professor character. But the other two occupants in the carriage, as I said, Brendan Gleeson and John Joe O'Neil as thig Pen and Clarence, who offered themselves as bounty hunters, or at least let the other occupants allow themselves to come up with the idea that they're bounty hunters. So what they say is they're reapers and collectors of sould.

But and it's funny because that comes across as being so hind him too, and he's the guy that beats him over the hedge.

Well the other guy watches.

Yeah, And when I love a this one is that this is another aspect of the Old West, the storytelling, the around the campfire tale, and generally those are supernatural in nature. This one is as supernatural as this movie is going to get. And this makes me, this segment makes me want the fucking Coen brothers to get back together right now and give us a horror movie, because they have one in them and They've bounced around in every goddamn genre. They're best friends with Sam Raimi, They're

I'm sure they get back together. I'm sure they wanted to see what they were going to do, but you know, it's too long working together. I'm sure they miss each other, but they always, they always more.

Damn music plays a part here. We get two songs in this very limited segment, Big Penn and Clarence both sing us a song, and weirdly, the one that Brendan Gleason sings. I had on a cassette tape of Irish folk songs Oh Wow, that I bought at some like Sam Goodie a million fucking years ago in the nineteen eighties that I used to listen to on a loop. So it was a little weird to suddenly hear that

Yeah.

On the door there's the clin door. There's up like an image engraving of an angel, and then our the other's eye or the other door, there's a goat they walk out there.

That was interesting.

On the double door, right so the door, Aaron, Well, what's interesting to me is as they enter that one splendid room, it's all staircase. Effectively, it all heads to that staircase leading up the stairs to a glowing white light. Right now, the implication here is that we've reached the afterlife. And the fact is that thick Pen and Clarence mentioned that the guy that they've come for it he was well wanted, meaning this was a sinner that they've come for,

But they're carrying them up the stairs. Maybe he's innocent and they're murderers.

There are so many questions going, brothers, I love you so much.

Yeah then, but that's what they do for you, man. They can give me these ambiguous kind of endings, and it's all right, man, it's cool.

Right like and even they yes and always feel like a cheat. But for some reason, their ambiguous endings never do well.

They don't.

They feel like inevitability, which is the hallmark of any great movie.

Even the Big Lebowski that really has no resolution. Well, much like the.

Raising Arizona without children. Again, that last bit is a dream. Maybe it happened, doesn't matter.

The ending is nice, you know what I mean, Like, it doesn't matter. I like no country of old men, just that fucking ending out.

Yeah, there's nothing bigger, even chaos is is at a whim to chaos.

Yeah.

They're good stuff man that We're lucky to have them as filmmakers. I hope you know the rest of the world does.

They're good.

Yeah, this guy virtually no awards at all. Speaking of music, a guy who never gets really mentioned. Whenever the Coen Brothers do a big sort of music centric film, everyone starts shouting about t Bone Burnett. And I'm not denigrating t Bone Burnette. I love him. I think he's phenomenally talented as a musician and an arranger of music. But their composer is a fellow by the name of Carter Burwell and hiss are always innovative and always interesting, always

Oh I agree with one hundred percent. One hundred percent.

They find someone that does your voice, and they get your voice through music.

That's an important saying that.

Yeah, tem Olbert gets a lot of crier, but yeah, he just find he buys tracks to put him.

With this other guys, right stuff. Yeah, absolutely do. I agree.

And as well as they adapt to different genres, he adapts to their adaptation with the music and raised in Arizona, it's fucking yodeling man. And not only is there's a sequence that the famous sequence, the chase sequence, where High is being chased by dogs and police and everybody where.

Well, I agree one man, great stuff all around. And then Colort Brothers. They their genre of flipping is maddening.

They go all over and they all they haven't done is a horror film, and they haven't done a science fiction film. But other than that, they've hit it.

That's your assignment, Cohen's We're counting on you. Don't let us down. We know you have a two thousand and one and f shining in you. That shining right. I don't want to. I don't want a gory, slashery type movie from them. I want a ghostly, spooky type movie them. I want them to make That's scary again, because there's ways to do it. And I think they could.

Oh, they absolutely could. They absolutely could. I wouldn't be surprised if they do come.

Up with something please and now. Absolutely And I enjoy drugs huh and anything else about Buster Scruggs and you are.

I think it's a neat film, man. I think it's a really as a special little film. I think it's a great example of.

The show as one really shows you a lot of what they're capable of and what type of movies they make. But you have something they can touch you they can wacky characters. Here's some music, like all the different things that they're good at shows up in this movie. So I think that's as one of their films is a really nice e bucketed piece.

And as purveyors of anthologies, there's no clunker here. No, they're all good, all good. Some of them are bummers, but what the fuck are you gonna do? There's entertainment in that as well, everybody.

And it's in the Old West. The Old West is a bummer.

I think we'll leave it on that, all right, A hout and Sony. And when people are looking for you on the line, where can they do that?

You can find me at Swamp Media Group Audio, Instagram and Swampmedia Group dot com right on.

And if you want to support the show here give us five star reviews in any podcastry you're listening to, particularly on those Apple ones apparently that really bumps the algorithm or whatever the fuck. Hey, and if you have an extra dollar or two you want to donate it to the show, go to Patreon dot com slash fatherm Alone.

Of course, Early Joe the Gambler, he will gamble never more. His days of stirding holder may are done. It was long about last April.

He stepped into this alone, but he never really took do any one.

Surly Joe, Surly Joe wherever.

He's gambling now? I don't know.

He was slick, but I was slicker.

He drew quick, but I was quicker, and the table stopped his ticker.

Surly Joe, Curley Joe, Surrey.

Joe won't be missed by anyone. With Surrey Joe human kind. He frowned the pond, but not now his face is gone. Guess your frowning days are done, oh Surly Joe. Surdy Joe Surdy Joe. I said beyond to see a Curdie Joe.

He was mean in days of yore.

Now they're mopping up the floor.

One more sight to making sorrow.

Surrey Joe, Say Joe, Surrey Joe.

Where the heck's face has got to?

We don't know.

He was never any fun now his trunky races round, kiss or blown the kingdom.

Come o, Surdy Joe, Sis.

Sis, Sis

No no