The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

I liked the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit, tho I later learned to prefer the original. This other western has sat on my list for a while; I hesitated because it's only moderately popular and these guys are a gamble to me. Kind of an ugly title, too. But the continuing use of the "First time?" meme increased my curiosity.

Buster (Tim Blake Nelson) actually doesn't appear for long, because this is an anthology of six stories, each with completely different characters and actors (among them Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, James Franco, Stephen Root, Clancy Brown, Tyne Daly, and Brendan Gleeson). Two of them are based on literary short stories. The others seem to pay more homage to movies. Apart from the Old West setting, the main unifying theme is death.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Not once does anyone on screen mention licorice or pizza. The title comes from a real-life record store chain that existed in the story's setting of 1973 SoCal. That's the kind of unappealing randomness I sooner expect from the Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino than from Paul Thomas Anderson. But Anderson was trying something a little more comedic than he ever directed before, so I'll give him that. And once I read a description, it seemed as good a place as any to start catching up on Best Picture nominees.

The Netflix jacket turns out to be misleading again. Yes, Gary (Cooper Hoffman) is a high-earning Hollywood actor in high school, but the focus is not on his acting career, his schoolwork, or even his classmate interactions. Rather, he aggressively courts Alana (Alana Haim), in her late 20s, as soon as he lays eyes on her, and then he recruits her assistance in business ventures unrelated to his acting, like waterbed sales. Basically, he wants to grow up even faster.

Down by Law (1986)

Yeah, another R-rated, male-heavy, female-nudity-including crime flick already. But that's about where the similarity ends. This one is directed by Jim Jarmusch, whom I hear about often enough that I wasn't content to have seen only his Broken Flowers.

Zack (Tom Waits, whom Jarmusch also directed in a couple music videos), a fired DJ in New Orleans, accepts an odd job delivering a car and then gets arrested, because the police knew of a body in the car that he didn't. He's soon joined in a cell by Jack (John Lurie), a pimp caught trying to do business with a girl he then learns is underage. Their next cellmate is Bob (Roberto Benigni), who did kill somebody, but he claims self-defense. They don't get along easily, but when Bob sees an opportunity to escape, they band together and brave the bayou.

The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

I had enjoyed many movies featuring Robert Redford, mostly from the Silver Age but up to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. These did not make me eager to see what's touted as the last time he'll appear on the silver screen. No, my main reason for watching this in a theater was a Meetup invitation; I hadn't accepted one of those in months.

Set mainly in 1981 in the western U.S., it follows Forrest Tucker decades after he made a name for himself as a prison escapee many times over. Now rather old (if much younger than Redford really is), he counts on people not knowing who he is when he robs banks, usually with two other old guys (Danny Glover and Tom Waits). He takes interest in a less criminal woman (Sissy Spacek) who isn't sure what to make of him. Nearly half the movie focuses on John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who doesn't care much for his police work until he gets the chance to, well, hunt the robbers, primarily Tucker.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009)

Much as I dug Monty Python in my teens, I get nervous about checking out Terry Gilliam-directed movies. I liked Twelve Monkeys but found Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas unwatchable. This one, despite its so-so reception, intrigued me with the visual artistry shown in the preview; I could at least expect that much.

The titular object is a sort of magic mirror that allows you to step into a realm shaped by the imaginations of you and whoever else is there. Despite this fascinating quality, few modern Londoners show any interest in the old-fashioned carnival-style presentation by Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his comrades. Those who do enter tend to be given a choice between a tough self-improvement plan and the seductive path of sin...to death, which may explain why the police keep showing up. But these aren't the heaviest things weighing on Parnassus' mind: The devil (Tom Waits), going by "Mr. Nick," is about to call on him for an immortality fee, namely daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), because this is one of those stories where you can sell others' souls. Things start to look up when Mr. Nick offers a new wager: The first to draw five souls to the corresponding goal in the Imaginarium wins Valentina. And the souls start coming fast with an enigmatic new barker, Tony (Heath Ledger*).

The Outsiders (1983)

Nothing to do with Band of Outsiders, except that both feature young criminals. I chose to see this one mainly because Francis Ford Coppola directed, but its claim to semi-fame is the casting of a bunch of guys who became household names only later: Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, even pre-Risky Business Tom Cruise. (Among the ladies, I'm afraid Diane Lane's about it.) There's also an early acting role for Tom Waits.

Based on an S.E. Hinton book set in mid-'60s Oklahoma, it focuses on the creatively real-named Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Johnny (Macchio, one of the oldest but seeming youngest), members of a gang not so creatively named the Greasers. After an especially harmful clash with the Socs (pronounced "Soashes" because they're socialites), they take the advice of more experienced Dallas (Dillon) and leave town for a while. This seems to have a salubrious effect on their souls, as they discover classic literature and their capacity for heroism, but it doesn't mean the worst has come and gone for them or the people they care about.