Premieres 2018: November 16 - November 22

By Dave B.

"Premieres" will feature official trailers and synopses from what I feel looks like the most interesting (or the only, in some cases) original programming coming out in the subsequent week on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and elsewhere. In no way to these previews represent recommendations or reviews. My intent is to post this segment each Thursday or Friday, but we'll see. Enjoy!

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Netflix, November 16

Synopsis:
If you want to fathom the bottomless well that is the Coens’ imagination, look no further. As storytelling goes, this is wildly idiosyncratic, undeniably hilarious and often touchingly melancholic – a cinema-brio study of the American West. Every delectable chapter presents a different story from the wild frontier, with tone and style perfectly calibrated for each tale.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs finds Tim Blake Nelson playing a sharp-shooting songster. In Near Algodones, James Franco’s wannabe bank robber gets his due and then some. And just a little bit more for good measure. Lugubrious dark humor pervades the Liam Neeson starrer Meal Ticket, a gothic tale about two weary travelling performers. Tom Waits mines a rich seam of humor in All Gold Canyon, while Zoe Kazan finds an unexpected promise of love, along with a dose of life’s cruel irony, on a wagon train across the prairies in The Gal Who Got Rattled. Finally, ghostly laughs haunt The Mortal Remains as Tyne Daly rains judgment upon a motley crew of strangers undertaking a final carriage ride.
​Exquisitely shot by Bruno Delbonnel and intricately designed by Jess Gonchor (with art department contributing stunning color plate intertitles that introduce each sequence), this is one for true connoisseurs. Bedtime stories for cinema lovers.

The Bisexual: Season One - Hulu, November 16

Synopsis:
​Skewering stereotypes and unpicking them The Bisexual explores the difference between dating men and women from the perspective of someone who finds herself – for the first time - doing both, whilst examining the funny, painful, complexities of realising that the one you love, and the life you need, may be two very different things.

Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny Season One - Amazon Prime, November 16

Synopsis:
​The newest story from DreamWorks' Academy Award and Emmy winning franchise. It follows the story of Po who faces one of his biggest challenges yet, which is to teach four panda kids how to wield their newfound chi powers in order to save the world from an evil force.

Creed II - In Theaters, November 21

Synopsis:
​Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed. Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight, he is up against the challenge of his life. Facing an opponent with ties to his family's past only intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky Balboa is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what's worth fighting for, and discover that nothing's more important than family.