MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (15) (Netflix Original)
THIS new Netflix offering, available from today, isn’t one story but half a dozen, crammed into a single film, a richly varied American western anthology created by the inimitable Coen Brothers. The first, the comic title piece, is about a gunslinging songster, with Tim Blake Nelson as Scruggs himself. Further tales that follow include the gothic-toned Meal Ticket, featuring Liam Neeson and Harry Melling, plus Near Algodones, with James Franco playing a would-be bank robber who looks set to get his comeuppance. Other famous faces you’ll spot include Tyne Daly, Tom Waits, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Ineson. All in all, a gloriously unpredictable collection.
LEAVE NO TRACE (12) (Download and DVD)
BEN Foster is Will, a traumatised Iraq War veteran. Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is Tom, his 13-year-old daughter. And together they lead an isolated but contented existence in woodland on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. Until, that is, a passing stranger spots them, the authorities get involved and they end up being evicted. Social services put them in alternative accommodation, find Ben a job and arrange schooling for Tom (who, thanks to her dad’s teaching, is actually well advanced). But Ben finds their new life oppressive and tells Tom they’re heading back to the wild.
THE KOMINSKY METHOD (15)
(Netflix Original)
ONCE an actor of some distinction Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas) is now a respected acting coach in Los Angeles. Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin) is his long-suffering agent and closest buddy. And neither guy is terribly thrilled about getting old, particularly in a city where youth and vitality are considered the most valuable currency. This new eight-part comedydrama, available on Netflix from today, follows this pair as they negotiate the process together, reluctant to let the sun go down yet.
RAMBO (15/18) (Download, DVD and Blu-ray)
THE first three movies from this hit 1980s franchise, with Sylvester Stallone as merciless Vietnam War veteran John Rambo, are re-issued after a digital polish up. THE WEEK AFTER: Creed II.