Ranking The Stories Within - The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

ORRFForever

Registered User
Oct 29, 2018
17,677
9,220
My Ranking...

1) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - funny, entertaining, full of energy.

2) The Mortal Remains - a nice spooky send off.

3) Near Algodones - short and sweet.

4) The Gal Who Got Rattled - a little too long but it's nice to see a story about some "kind" cowboys; after all, they couldn't have all been angry jerks, could they?

5) All Gold Canyon - just okay.

6) Meal Ticket - good but too sad for my liking.
 

KallioWeHardlyKnewYe

Hey! We won!
May 30, 2003
15,506
3,328
Though I liked the movie quite a bit, I don’t think I liked it as much as some other folks around these parts (review is a few pages back). All that said. I saw it about three weeks ago (was lucky enough to catch in on the big screen) and it still sticks with me, nipping at the back of my mind, demanding a rewatch. I suspect this would be an ever in flux ranking for me (especially the top 3), but at this point in time I would go with:

The Mortal Remains - a fitting, funny and eerie capper to the whole affair.

The Gal Who Got Rattled - the most grounded and affecting.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - the showiest, funniest, and likely the one that will be the best remembered.

Meal Ticket - dark, dark, dark. (I still can’t believe that kid was Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter movies).

Near Algodnoes - I laughed, but perhaps the most frivolous of the six.

All Gold Canyon - A good Tom Waits performance, but this one tried my patience a little.
 

ORRFForever

Registered User
Oct 29, 2018
17,677
9,220
Though I liked the movie quite a bit, I don’t think I liked it as much as some other folks around these parts (review is a few pages back). All that said. I saw it about three weeks ago (was lucky enough to catch in on the big screen) and it still sticks with me, nipping at the back of my mind, demanding a rewatch. I suspect this would be an ever in flux ranking for me (especially the top 3), but at this point in time I would go with:

The Mortal Remains - a fitting, funny and eerie capper to the whole affair.

The Gal Who Got Rattled - the most grounded and affecting.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - the showiest, funniest, and likely the one that will be the best remembered.

Meal Ticket - dark, dark, dark. (I still can’t believe that kid was Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter movies).

Near Algodnoes - I laughed, but perhaps the most frivolous of the six.

All Gold Canyon - A good Tom Waits performance, but this one tried my patience a little.

^^ Good analysis above. ^^

I rated the movie higher than I would have because of its originality. Without the extra credit, I would have given it a 7.

I also felt the movie could have been trimmed by 15 minutes.

Meal Ticket really bothered me.
 
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kihei

McEnroe: The older I get, the better I used to be.
Jun 14, 2006
42,535
10,130
Toronto
The Gal Who Got Rattled--the most moving and the one that has stayed in my head the most

Meal Ticket--now that is dark done to a tee

All Gold Canyon--just for the ecological/anti-human message elegantly presented at the beginning and end of the story

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs--went on a little too long but a fun send up of one of the Westerns sillier character types--the singing cowboy

Near Algodnoes--comes from the same brand of humour that came up with "Outside of that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

The Mortal Remains--still liked it very much, but it seemed slightly less memorable than its cohorts.

Anyway, six different flavours of darkly to insanely funny--a brilliant package.
 

KallioWeHardlyKnewYe

Hey! We won!
May 30, 2003
15,506
3,328
Re: Meal Ticket. It really sticks with you though.

What's weird for me about my reaction to Buster Scruggs (the whole movie, not the so-named segment) is that I went into it fairly blind. I hadn't even seen the preview. All I knew was Coens, Western and that it was originally conceived as a six-part series for Netflix that at some point just became a single movie. I like seeing movies as blind as humanly possible as a media consuming human. But I think it was that origin as a TV series that really dogged me through the experience and made me pass it off as a little more of a lark than it actually is. Had I not known that I think I would have done a better job focusing on what it is rather than what it was not.

With all-time greats like the Coens, there's also a maybe unfair tendency (at least for me) to assess any new work alongside all other existing work. As if there is some sort of shame for not being as good as say Miller's Crossing or No Country For Old Men? Maybe there's a little subconscious self-editing here on my part too, pushing back on praising everything that the Coens or Paul Thomas Anderson or my other favorite directors do...

These are the reasons I think my initial reaction was a little tempered. But as I said yesterday, the movie overall has really stuck with me in a good way. If that doesn't make it among the year's best, I'm not sure what does.
 

Pattysaurus

Registered User
Oct 28, 2007
2,112
37
New York
1. The Gal Who Got Rattled
2. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
3. Meal Ticket
4. All Good Canyon
5. Near Algodones
6. The Mortal Remains

Felt like the first three are close in order and very memorable. Wasn't a fan of any of the bottom three.
 

ORRFForever

Registered User
Oct 29, 2018
17,677
9,220
When Meal Ticket first started, I assumed it was a con. That the character had arms and legs. Sadly, I was wrong.

The scene when he stuck out his tongue to catch snow flakes, cut me to the core.
 
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Nalens Oga

Registered User
Jan 5, 2010
16,780
1,053
Canada
Why was it implied that he threw him over the bridge in one of those stories? That was so unnecessary. Like why wouldn't you just leave him in town or something at that point.
 

ORRFForever

Registered User
Oct 29, 2018
17,677
9,220
Why was it implied that he threw him over the bridge in one of those stories? That was so unnecessary. Like why wouldn't you just leave him in town or something at that point.
Liam Neeson's character felt something for the boy (he took care of him - cooling/blowing on his food) and, perhaps, he felt ending the boy's life was being humane?

Anyway, the finale to Meal Ticket is certainly bothersome.
 

Puck

Ninja
Jun 10, 2003
10,770
415
Ottawa
I have a few spoilers here I think so I thought maybe I should blank it

1. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - this segment had me at hello

2. The Mortal Remains - this reminded me of The Hateful Eight and I enjoyed the ride. At first I thought the two Bounty Hunters had spooked the three other travellers that they might be next to have a contract put on them, but then figured the Bounty Hunters could be grim reapers, and the stagecoach was just bringing the three (already deceased) souls to their final destination, even spookier. (the dreaded look in their eye when they realise the truth)

3. All Gold Canyon - the amount of detail the Coens put in this one was amazing. It's the one positive story where the hard working prospector with initiative lives with his fortune and the lazy, unethical one loses. Of course the humans disrupt nature in their economic goals, but nature withstands the damage nonchalantly too in the end. False American dream?

4. Meal Ticket - I originally put this last on the list because it was so sad but it's also one that made me think the most after, so I had to bump it up. It was grim and horrifying to see the guy realise he was being replaced by a chicken. Another interpretation is that the Coens were taking a swipe at the idea that more artistic, intelligent art form was being replaced by a more lowbrow one, which is more lucrative in the entertainment industry? Nasty either way.

5. The Gal Who Got Rattled - this one might not deserve to be before last. It was probably the most grounded and realistic story of the bunch. In the end, the dog that was supposed to be put down, outlives his masters. Life in the West was a hard b*tch.

6. Near Algodones - short and sweet. Last on the list but James Franco got the best line, "First time? " In most westerns, the bad guy's fate is sealed from the start, end of story.

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Spring in Fialta

A malign star kept him
Apr 1, 2007
25,085
14,267
Montreal, QC
The Gal Who Got Rattled--the most moving and the one that has stayed in my head the most

Meal Ticket--now that is dark done to a tee

All Gold Canyon--just for the ecological/anti-human message elegantly presented at the beginning and end of the story

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs--went on a little too long but a fun send up of one of the Westerns sillier character types--the singing cowboy

Near Algodnoes--comes from the same brand of humour that came up with "Outside of that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

The Mortal Remains--still liked it very much, but it seemed slightly less memorable than its cohorts.

Anyway, six different flavours of darkly to insanely funny--a brilliant package.

I loved the point the frenchman makes about admiration and love in the The Mortal Remains. Very humorous delivery and a nice way to stick it to the uptight old lady.

My ranking:

The Gal Who Got Rattled
Meal Ticket
All Gold Canyon (Tom Waits is such a fine actor)
Near Algodones
The Mortal Remains
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
 

Prairie Habs

Registered User
Oct 3, 2010
11,935
12,249
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Near Algodones
The Mortal Remains
The Gal Who Go Rattled
All Gold Canyon
Meal Ticket

I liked all of them. Its weird, even though I have it ranked last, I think Meal Ticket has stuck with me the most. It stands a good chance of moving up the ranking.

If anyone is looking for a good discussion of the movie Michael Swaim (formerly of Cracked.com) has an episode on it on his podcast Small Beans.
 

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