Donald Clagett

"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" is the Coen Brothers tip of the Stetson to the Old West. It is six unrelated short stories about prospecting, wagon trains, Indian attacks, gunslingers, stagecoach rides, side shows, necktie parties, bounty hunters, and cattle rustling. The episodes are filled with irony, humor, music, top notch acting, and awesome cinematography. Some segments are better than others (I have watched the Buster Scruggs episode with Tim Nelson Blake, 5 times and I laugh every time). I'm guessing that the Coen brothers like some of the same movies that I like, including "Stagecoach", "The Searchers", and "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and wanted to pay homage to those movies and TV westerns of the 50's and 60's.