The Harder They Fall - Netflix Review

Starring Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Idris Elba, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, Regina King, RJ Cyler, Edi Gathegi, Danielle Deadwyler, Deon Cole, and Damon Wayans Jr.

Written by Jeymes Samuel & Boaz Yakin.

Directed by Jeymes Samuel.

★★★

This stylized Sam Raimi-esque gun-totin' Western is cooler when you realize that most of these characters were real people. Sure, liberties have been taken to allow certain body counts to happen in a certain order, but for the most part, yeah, let's have some fun with real people.

Here we get Jonathan Majors (Loki) as Nat Love, an outlaw in his own right, but he's seeking revenge against someone badder - Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) , the man who killed his parents right in front of him. Turns out Buck has a gang that's sprung him from prison, so this is Nat's chance to find him and kill him himself.

Tons of other actors show up to have some shoot-em-fun. Never thought I'd want to see Zazie Beetz (Deadpool) and Regina King (Watchmen) dressed as cowgirls fighting to the death, but we get that here and that's what makes cinema fun, right? Lakeith Stanfield (Judas & the Black Messiah) is an actor I'll never tire of seeing. Delory Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) is that welcome old man who has one last gunfight in him. And so on.

I'm not really sure how Jeymes Samuel got to get this movie made - maybe there was some Jay-Z money behind it (he directed Jay-Z: Legacy) but his directorial debut was also a wild Western with an all-Black cast called They Die at Dawn, which I now want to hunt down.

This movie's a hoot.

2020 Emmy Nominations

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession

Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
Insecure
Schitt's Creek
The Good Place
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul's Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Limited Series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Julia Garner, Ozark
Sarah Snook, Succession
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale
Thandie Newton, Westworld

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Louis Gossett Jr., Watchmen

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Jean Smart, Watchmen

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Drunk History
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Amy Poehler, Making It
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Bobby Berk, Queer Eye
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Andrew Scott, Black Mirror
James Cromwell, Succession
Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian
Martin Short, The Morning Show
Jason Bateman, The Outsider
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away With Murder
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Cherry Jones, Succession
Harriet Walter, Succession
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid's Tale
Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Fred Willard, Modern Family
Dev Patel, Modern Love
Brad Pitt, Saturday Night Live
Adam Driver, Saturday Night Live
Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Angela Bassett, A Black Lady Sketch Show
Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph, The Good Place
Wanda Sykes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Bette Midler, The Politician

Complete List of 91st Academy Award Winners

BEST PICTURE - Green Book
BEST DIRECTOR - Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
BEST ACTOR - Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
BEST ACTRESS - Olivia Colman, The Favourite
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Mahershala Ali, Green Book
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Green Book
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - BlacKkKlansman
BEST ANIMATED FILM - Spider-Man into the Spiderverse
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - Roma
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM - Free Solo
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Roma
BEST FILM EDITING - Bohemian Rhapsody
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - First Man
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - Black Panther
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - Black Panther
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING - Vice
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Black Panther
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - "Shallow", A Star Is Born
BEST SOUND EDITING - Bohemian Rhapsody
BEST SOUND MIXING - Bohemian Rhapsody
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT - Period. End of Sentence.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT - Skin
BEST ANIMATED SHORT - Bao

Count:
4 - Bohemian Rhapsody
3 - Black Panther, Green Book, Roma

It wasn't too bad not having a host, although I did like the SNL trio of Tina, Amy, and Maya acting like the not-hosts.

Biggest surprises? Olivia Colman beating out Glenn Close, Bohemian Rhapsody winning the most trophies overall. All eight Best Picture nominees winning something. I had Green Book as my second-place guess for Best Picture, so I can't say I'm TOO surprised it beat Roma.