lucianomarzo92

As you may know, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is an anthology film, consisting of six shorts, which range wildly in quality. The first short is entertaining but suffers from excessive violence that doesn't mesh with the film's tone, over-the-top, unnecessary songs, and an overabundance of camp. The second short is one of the best: darkly funny, unpredictable, and quite clever. The third short I did not care for at all, but found it to be slow, unengaging, weird, and bleak. The fourth short is a very slight piece of work. Phony and self-satirical, it contains a couple of surprises, and has an appealing connection to nature, but is, overall, a misfire. The fifth short tells a simple story, and it tells it fairly well if you can overcome stilted dialogue and acting and a soundtrack that doesn't always complement the events onscreen. It's just ok, nothing special. The sixth short is my favorite and ties with the second short as the best. While the story is not especially developed, the superior characters, performances, dialogue, and atmosphere more than make up for it. In sum, only three of the shorts are passable (2, 5, and 6), and only two are particularly good (2 and 6), making this an uneven work from The Coen Brothers.

Disclaimer: I am not a fan of anime. I like Studio Ghibli, but only because their films can be enjoyed and even loved by people who don't typically like anime. Having said that, the animation in this movie is flat-out amazing. Every frame is a work of art, demonstrating unbelievable mastery of the film medium. Though a visual masterpiece, Your Name's flaws are, unfortunately, wide-ranging and deep. In fact, the movie's convoluted plot, poor choice of songs, unappealing characters, and off-putting, melodramatic tone make it a chore to sit through. I realize anime is not for everyone, but this movie really didn't connect with me. And it's not just because it's an anime film. It's because it's a movie whose plot and characters fail to engage the viewer in any meaningful way, whose soundtrack, tone, and overall style actively resist any attempt made by the viewer to enjoy the movie. If you decide to watch this movie, I hope you like it more than I did. Visually, there is a lot to appreciate. The movie is so good visually, I regret that I am not able to leave it a better review.