The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

As you probably know if you have been following me for a while, I'm not the biggest fan of westerns, which is why I decided to pass The Ballad of Buster Scruggs when it released. Yes, even though the Coen brothers made it. And the cast is stellar. It's been popping out in my Netflix homepage quite often lately so I decided to give it a shot.

It is a western anthology that features six stories taking place in the Old West: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs follows a cheerful and singing gunslinger (Tim Blake Nelson); Near Algodones follows a nameless cowboy (James Franco) who gets caught in a bank robbery; Meal Ticket follows an impresario (Liam Neeson) and his armless and legless young artist (Harry Melling) who travel from town to town to recite classics; All Gold Canyon follows an elderly prospector (Tom Waits) at a remote creek; The Gal Who Got Rattled follows the journey of a young woman (Zoe Kazan) on a westward-bound wagon train; The Mortal Remains follows the five passengers of a stagecoach.

Gangs of New York (2002)

I finally watched Lars von Trier's Dogville last week and I loved it, so I figured it was about time to watch another of those movies I've been putting off for years because of its length, Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. 

It is set in 1863 when gangs ran the streets of New York and the government couldn't or wouldn't gain control of the city, and it mainly focuses on Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young man whose father (Liam Neeson) was killed sixteen years before by Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), the leader of the most powerful gang in New York, and is now seeking revenge. 

Gun Shy (2000)

I wanted to watch Gun Shy many years ago when my obsession with Sandra Bullock started but at the time I couldn't find it anywhere. And by anywhere I mean the video rental shop in my town as streaming services were not a thing here, and if they were, I was too young anyway to subscribe. 

The story follows Charlie Mayeaux (Liam Neeson), a DEA agent on the verge of a nervous breakdown ever since he nearly got killed in one of his assignments. This time, he goes undercover to bring down a Colombian drug cartel represented by Fidel Vaillar (José Zúñiga), and a New York City Mafia family represented by Fulvio Nesstra (Oliver Platt). To continue with his mission, Charlie will need the help of group therapy and Judy (Sandra Bullock), a nurse whom he falls in love with as she starts taking care of his gut health.

The Commuter (2018)

There was a time when I loved watching action flicks, especially those starring Liam Neeson. I don’t know why but I just loved the man. I no longer am a fan of those movies and I think Neeson is at his best when he is far away from the action —Schindler’s List, Love, Actually— but I decided to check out The Commuter anyway as it looked like a silly movie to enjoy during the holidays. Silly, it is. Enjoyable, not so much.

The film follows Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), a former cop turned insurance salesman. He goes through the same routine every day, a routine that includes taking the same commuter train and interacting with the other commuters. One day he’s fired from his job and, on his way home, he is approached by a woman (Vera Farmiga) who offers him £ 100,000 to identify which passenger does not belong.