I was extremely surprised to see this get nominated despite being a Coen Brothers joint. Then I remembered that the Academy absolutely loves Westerns and there haven't been any high-profile ones this year. It's an anthology, which is also weird. Like most anthologies, quality is inconsistent over the six stories. If you're only really interested in the Oscar-nominated bits, you can just watch the first segment, which is the eponymous one starring Tim Blake Nelson as the cheerfully murderous singing cowboy. That gives you a pretty good snapshot for all three categories.
Personally, I thought "Meal Ticket" was the most darkly funny. "The Gal Who Got Rattled" was my least favorite and that's saying something since "Near Algodoches" stars James Franco, whom I hate. It at least has the delightful Stephen Root to make up for it.
The framing devices of the book of tales was absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn't mind if that turned out to be a real book made up of the screenplay. That would make a nice gift.
The only category this has any chance in is Adapted Screenplay and even then, it's not good odds. Still, it's not a horrible film and the first section is quite good.
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