Posted on 09/14/2009 8:37:21 PM PDT by Saije
So there’s this guy named the Dude, and some dudes break into his apartment and pee on his rug, so the Dude, an LA burnout whose real name is Jeffrey Lebowski, goes to find the other Jeffrey Lebowski, a rich guy the intruder dudes were actually looking for, so he can get him to replace the soiled rug, which totally tied the room together.
That’s the basic premise of “The Big Lebowski,’’ the Coen Brothers’ 1998 stoner caper, which also involves bowling, nihilism, a kidnapping, and many, many White Russians - a cocktail whose parts combine more cogently than the film’s plot points.
To the uninitiated, “The Big Lebowski’’ probably doesn’t sound like the sort of cinematic watershed that would translate to an enduring cultural phenomenon. But the movie has become just that. And we’re not talking about action figures and keychains, although they’re yours for the ordering.
The film - which was released to mixed reviews and spent all of six weeks in theaters, barely recouping its $15 million budget - has spawned a vibrant subculture that draws both scholars and slackers to the fold. The Dude has been cited in hundreds of doctoral dissertations and academic papers over the past decade. There is a religion called Dudeism, boasting more than 50,000 ordained Dudeist priests, and a publication called the Dudespaper, “a lifestyle magazine for the deeply casual.’’ Film producer Jeff Dowd, the actual person on whom the character of the Dude is based, has launched a second career making personal appearances as The Real Lebowski. This weekend an annual convocation called Lebowski Fest rolls into Boston for the first time, to rally the faithful with a film screening at the House of Blues and a bowling party at Kings Lanes.
Clearly, the Dude abides. The question is: Why?
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Never seen it...
Just sayin’
“I said vee come back und cut off ze JOHNSON!”
DUDE!!!
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen.
Great soundtrack. Dead Flowers (Stones Tune) by Townes Van Zant is one of my favorites.
Love that movie! Hilarious. I highly recommend.
I did see it. And I swear I can’t remember a single line or a single scene. Other than the fat guy from the rosanne barr show, I don’t even remember who was in it. I had no idea what it was about until I read this thread.
the best movie EVER!
The Dude abides. The Dude abides.
Smokey, this is not Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.
The scene where they are spreading the ashes is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen!
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