Question about The Big Lebowski

Okay, WTF is the deal with this movie? To judge by its acolytes, if every other film were to vanish from the Earth, it would be okay as long as The Big Lebowski were still available.

I saw the film twice about seven and eight years ago, I guess, but I can barely remember it. Wasn't Jeff Bridges in it? Did he play a drunk? How about John Goodman--was he in it? He's one of the Coen brothers' go-to guys, isn't he?

I remember something vague about polishing bowling balls, but that's about it.


What about The Big Lebowski that makes it the paragon of cinematic art?

and it's about the characters, so colorful. The bowling ball polishing was done by "The Jesus" and his bowling partner. The Jesus, also being a registered sex offender.

Goodman was Walter Sobchack, a Vietnam vet ( who didn't go to Vietnam ) with a very short fuse. Donnie was just there to be told to shut the fuck up, as all Buscemi did in his movie before Lebowski with the Cohens was talk all the time.

Which seems like a trademark of Buscemi's characters in Coen Bros.' movies.

Every character in that movie is hysterical, from the Nihilists to Philip Seymour Hoffman's sycophantic toadie.

routines since Termite Terrace closed down - ferrets in the bathtub, gotta love it.

I about pissed myself laughing at that scene.

"Fuck it, man. Let's go bowling."

Now it's her favorite movie.

It's a combination of great characters, chaos, and absolutely awesome one-liners. i think it's one of John Goodman's best performances.

"This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!"

and we'd be doing quotes through the aisles while stocking shelves, but for that instance we'd use the censored for television version

Do see what happens Larry? Do you see what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps?

That just made my whole weekend.

:rofl:

now with youtube goodness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YHXdnWLvH4

"This is what happens when you feed a stoner scrambled eggs!"

"New shit has come to light!"

What's this bullshit? I don't fuckin' care! It don't matter to Jesus. But you're not foolin' me, man. You might fool the fucks in the league office, but you don't fool Jesus. This bush league psyche-out stuff. Laughable, man - ha ha! I would have fucked you in the ass Saturday. I fuck you in the ass next Wednesday instead. Wooo! You got a date Wednesday, baby!
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It is quite possibly the most quotable movie in all of Los Angeles County, which would place it high in the running for the most quotable movie worldwide.

When I first saw it, I didn't know what to make of it. It's one of those movies that needs multiple viewings to really appreciate it. By about the 7th or 8th time, you realize it is one of the greatest movies ever made.

Why is it one of the greatest? It's an incredibly smart movie that doesn't come off as smart. It's not pretentious or overdone. But the writing is top notch. For example, how they subtly repeat dialogue. After the Asian henchmen of Jackie Treehorn comes in and urinates on The Dude's rug, The Dude is relaying the story to Walter and refers to the "Chinaman who peed on his rug." Walter then launches into a tyrade but stops mid-sentence to give The Dude a public service announcement--"Also, Dude, Chinaman is not the proper nomenclature. Asian-American, please." Then, when they both go to see The Big Lebowski, they ask about his legs, and he responds "Some Chinaman shot it off in Korea!" Brilliant, witty yet subtle stuff.

Terrific, awesome movie. Don't take it at face value.

:thumbsup:

I was going to go into the repeated viewings needed to notice the little subtleties... but then I thought maybe others didn't appreciate that kind of thing so much.

I love the way the Dude repeats what he hears later in the movie to other characters.

took me 2 or 3 viewings to pick up on that...

A bunch of visual motifs repeat too, like the Dude's cableguy outfit and Maude's bowling-ball bustier in Gutterballs.

Good synopsis though. It's a movie that comes off as an amiable, lightweight comedy. but that has a lot more detail and spit-and-polish than lightweight comedies usually do. A bunch of great comedic performances by actors that are largely known for dramatic roles too.

(Netflix). I told my husband it's somewhat of a cult classic. We need to get around to watching it this weekend.

I wouldn't call it 'the paragon of cinematic art'... but it's definitely one hell of a fucking great movie.

:)

:D It's got some great quote possibilities.

:hi:

Of course this is true of most of their movies. The Busby Berkeley bit (and the Brazil ref!) in the dream sequence, the copious Kubrick references, and the whole plot and most of the major characters are a spoof of "The Big Sleep."

Raising Arizona, Fargo, Lebowski...

Ever since I saw it, "my drink" has been a white russian. Nine times out of ten when I order it, someone comments, "Yeah! Big Lebowski!" Whether sarcastic or sincere, it's never failed to be a good conversation starter.

Not only the dialogue and the characters are excellent, but the plot, taken from Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" (hence "The Big" Lebowski) is fairly complex.

The subtlely repeated one-liners are throughout the whole movie and a joy to look out for.

The dream sequences incorporate all kinds of stuff from the movie (visual items, characters, dialogue) and it's fun to watch the dreams while pointing out everything and where it came from in the movie. For example, in one sequence there is a guy in red chasing Jeff Bridges with a pair of scissors - you recognize the guy in red is a character, but you don't realize that the scissors were mounted on a wall in a red case somewhere in the movie until about the 5th or 6th viewing.

Philosophically, it makes for good discussion. Each character has an "opposite" that they cancel out by the end. I talked this over with my roommates for about 2 hours after watching it one night.

A splendid mix of high and lowbrow art. If anything, it gets funnier after repeated viewings, when you notice the little stuff.

And it makes for an excellent ice-breaker - 9 times out of 10 people who get Lebowski references turn out to be pretty cool.

...I don't think Walter does, either.

A world. Of pain.