When it was announced that the Coen Brothers would be bringing their anthology series The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to Netflix, the sibling filmmakers declared in a press release, “We are streaming motherfuckers!” Well, it turns out that The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is no longer an anthology series but a feature film, the longest Coen Brothers film to date, and they’re still a pair of streaming motherfuckers. After debuting at the Venice Film Festival not too long ago, Netflix has unveiled the trailer for the Coen Brothers’ latest venture into the Wild West.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a six-part anthology western and the general reaction to the film’s screening in Venice was all over the place, with many praising it as another masterwork from Joel and Ethan Coen and other claiming that it was a minor work from the Oscar-winning filmmakers. Of course, it’s hard to take an initial reaction to Coen Brothers movie as set in stone, as their works get better with repeat viewings and movies of theirs that have been written off as minor in the past has proven to be some of their more enduring classics. Thankfully, we’ll be able to stream The Ballad of Buster Scruggs over and over and over again once it lands on the streaming giant on November 16, 2018.
The Coen Brothers have assembled, as usual, an impressive cast for their western anthology with Tim Blake Nelson as the eponymous Buster Scruggs. Other famous faces filling out the cast include James Franco, Brendan Gleeson, Zoe Kazan, Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, and Stephen Root. Behind the scenes the Coens are reunited with Inside Llewyn David cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and features an original score from their longtime collaborator Carter Burwell.
Netflix is hoping that The Ballad of Buster Scruggs will sing at this year’s Oscars, and stands to be one of the streaming service’s many awards season contenders along with Alfonso Cuarón‘s Roma. Whether or not The Ballad of Buster Scruggs strikes Oscar gold remains to be seen, but by bringing the latest Coen Brothers movie to their platform (and select theaters) is a big deal for Netflix’s ongoing push towards pop culture domination. Those streaming motherfuckers will unveil The Ballad of Buster Scruggs exclusively on Netflix on November 16, 2018.
The official synopsis for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs:
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a six-part Western anthology film, a series of tales about the American frontier told through the unique and incomparable voice of Joel and Ethan Coen. Each chapter tells a distinct story about the American West.
