The Story of Son
Book
First released in the anthology Dead After Dark, dive into this hot novella from #1 New York Times...
The year’s best Fantasy and Horrror 2006 19th annual collection
Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
Book
The legendary anthology is back, with witches and warlocks, fairy rings and gothic tales. "The...
Enemy Red (Mark of Lycos #1)
Book
The magic of love lies in the arms of his fiery enemy. No one likes an arranged marriage, and...
Adult Paranormal Romance Shifters Novella
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) in Movies
Jan 10, 2019 (Updated Jan 10, 2019)
But...I am glad I finally got around to it...for THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS is a strong film, taking on a heavy subject (death) in a variety of ways - light-hearted, poignant and deadly (pun intended) serious. The tone of this film - or, more accurately, these 6 short films - worked for me and I felt they wove together very well to tell an overarching story of man's relationship with death - as seen through the eyes of Wild, Wild West characters.
And what characters they are! From Tim Blake Nelson's titular character, Buster Scruggs, to James Franco's hapless (but lucky) Outlaw to Liam Neeson's traveling theatrical show to Tom Waite's grizzled prospector to Zoe Kazan's lonesome Prairie Widow to the group of passengers on the Stagecoach in the last vignette, all are interesting to watch, and listen to.
Credit, of course, needs to go to Joel and Ethan Cohen. These characters are interesting to watch, because these two put wonderful scenes and scenery up on the screen with dialogue (or lack of dialogue) that perfectly reflects what is going on and what the characters are feeling. In my opinion, the Coen Brothers are at their best when they focus on gritty subjects with poignancy (BARTON FINK) but fail when they try to get "wacky" or "over-serious" (BURN AFTER READING, A SERIOUS MAN), this film is full of the former and has very little of the latter.
I'm sure, like all Coen Brothers films, that this anthology of short films is not for everyone - and not every film will work for everyone - but they did for me. I thought each short film was the better than the one before it. I caught the vibe of what the Coen's were after and I fell under their spell.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars out of 10 and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
Ride the Revolution: The Inside Stories from Women in Cycling
Book
When Marie Marvingt decided to ride the 1908 Tour de France she was told 'absolument, non!' by M....
The Bitch is Back: Older, Wiser, and (Getting) Happier
Book
More than a decade after the New York Times bestselling anthology The Bitch in the House spoke up...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The King in Yellow in Books
Aug 12, 2019 (Updated Aug 12, 2019)
The best of these stories do have a sense of subliminal encroaching madness and unease, as symbolised by the mysterious play mentioned in the title and its associated motifs, which is very impressively created. However, much of the remainder is a set of essentially interchangeable tales of rich young Americans studying art in Paris and swooning over beautiful young mademoiselles; they are quite heavy going and possibly not worth the effort of reading. The opening few fantasy stories are very good, on the whole; the rest not so much.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated Midwinter Mysteries in Books
Jan 7, 2020
Radio Film School: Stories About Filmmaking, Creative Arts & Pursuing Your Passion
Podcast
This is the radio documentary anthology series about filmmaking, cinema, and the creative arts....
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties
Book
As dazzling as the decade they dominated, The Beatles almost single-handedly created pop music as we...