Coen brothers. Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

After the series of flops--though one must admit that these are flops only for Coen brothers--they attempted a redemption. The movie is very uneven: the titular segment is such a garish collection of commonplaces of the westerns that whether it is ironic or serious is hard to understand.

By the end it gets much better. Beginning with the scabrous, enigmatic character of Liam Neeson, the movie acquires its wings lost in the first segment. John Waits' segment is plain--but many people could say of John Waits what I already said of Charlize Theron--anything deeper than their counting on screen makes their fans drool. Two last segments are wonderful.

Cuaron, Roma.

Perfect, but boring movie. Yalitza Aparicio in the principal role is great. Yet, despite all critics' prognoses for it bagging the Big Oscar, it was given to inept, but politically correct "Greenbook."

Note: Obviously, Cuaron was traumatized by his father walking out from his family with a much younger mistress but himself repeated this exploit at least twice.