The Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) talk about their 1998 comedy film 'The Big Lebowski'. Owned by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, this hilarious comedy stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Julianne Moore.
@@Loyal_Lion -- James is not the issue here! It's about drawing a line in the sand, dude. You WILL not cross...by the way, "James" is not the preferred nomenclature. "Mr. Howard" please.
+Dave Shouse *Well, you know, that's, just, like, your opinion, man* Woolsey, take a hike; if you don't get TBL you have no taste. Of course, that's, just, like, my opinion... But I'm right.
If you read the plot or someone explained it to you, you would never think it would be as great as it was. I adore this movie and i'm not even sure why
Holy shit, I just realized the Dude is in the second dream scene dressed like Karl Hungus in the Logjammer porno, only in his ideal world it's got a bowling theme.
I love the way that The Dude reuses language that he has heard previously throughout the movie. Ex: This aggression will not stand. In the parlance of our times . . . .
+Geo408 In the film, *The Dude's* car is stolen. He finds a kid named Larry's homework in the seat when the car is returned, so The Dude & Walter seek out Larry in order try to recover the ransom money that had been in the trunk. Larry won't talk, so Walter shouts "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS, LARRY!"* as he bashes (with a baseball bat) what he THINKS is Larry's new 'Vette, purchased, he figures, with the stolen loot. The quote is actually "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS, WHEN YOU F*** A STRANGER IN THE ASS!" but for the seldom-needed TV edit, John Goodman dubbed in the bizarre and inappropriate Alps quote I typed above. You oughta watch the movie, man, it's great!
There is humanity in the Coen Brothers films like there is in no other it's wonderful it's horrifying and yet it always shows you something that you may have been missing, overlooking, or detaining your heart from.
The original script actually refers to the narrator as "a Sam Elliott type". So I'm not sure if they knew they'd be able to get him for the role, but they based the character just on Elliot's performances in other movies.
I remember an anecdote that relates to what they're saying about the sort of lack of structure of The Big Sleep - when they were making the movie version of that book, they realised one of the characters died, but couldn't figure out from the book who had killed the character. So they called up Raymond Chandler, the author of the novel, and asked him. "Who killed this character ? Can you help us explain this ?" "I don't know", Chandler said, "I don't think it's in the novel". So nobody knew the intricacies of the plot, not even the original author. The anecdote is something like that, I might have a few details wrong but it's close.
all of the cast are genuinely at the top of the tree, the photography is great, the story is a bit confusing, hard to follow sometimes. In my opinion, taking into account those three criteria, Magnolia is better.
yeah i remember the first time i watched it i didn’t laugh when walter talks about being able to get a toe by 3 o’clock with nail polish and now it kills me. there’s other examples. the movie gets more as more hilarious and the years go by
I was amused for days after watching this movie - I would just keep getting flashbacks of various scenes and just start chuckling out loud - usually when I was in a queue somewhere. I must have got the reputation of being the village idiot ... awesome performances from all the characters and simply unbelievable script !!!
Those 2 guys are great, think about having a brother who shares and fuel your fantasies than being alone with it and nobody wants to hear your stories. That's why I think they are great writers / storytellers.
Loved it from day one! I remember watching it for the first time in the living room with a bunch of my older family and I was rolling in the floor and no one else as much as chuckled.. I just remember thinking you guys can't be serious this is the greatest thing ever.lol
I used to live in Venice, CA, on Venice Blvd., in a bungalow among a set of cottages set up exactly like in this film, where the landlord lived in the central bungalow. The only difference was the floor plan of the bungalows was slightly different. It may well have been the same bungalows, just that the movie transformed the bedroom into a bathroom. In which case, I lived in the same bungalow that they shot the movie in. It's always very strange seeing those scenes for me. I see on Google Earth that they've torn down those bungalows. Towards the last, they were painted purple and then still later, they were painted black. Also, I was a serious "pothead" for about a quarter century, so this film hit home for me.
5:36 "Oh, for fuck sake, he cut me off again! Guess I'll do my usual roll of the eyes and sigh, but gotta keep it only slight because they're filming this!" :(
Fargo is probably my favorite of their films and No Country for Old Men, but The Big Lebowski is one of the best comedies and all 3 films are some of the best films of all time.
These are the best. But I also have a soft spot for Burn After Reading. Parts of that film make me laugh so hard. I think I've watched it 4 or 5 times.
Isn't it wonderful how this story by the Cohens, that was based on a Dude they met, some actors they wanted to use and wrote parts for, an insane director in hollywood everyone knew (Goodman's character), all were thrown into a cheesy 1950's Film Noir detective plot along with a lot of 70's drug culture influence and it became this masterpiece that hangs together and presents a cohesive film, even though it has no earthly reason for doing so? I don't know about you, but I take comfort in knowing that they are out there, just tying it all together for us.
At 20:20 or so I thought the director was going to say that "getting his rug back would have really tied the movie together". lol He kinda missed out on a great reference opportunity.
Ha, I think if this had been recorded years after the fact, once the lore had set in, they may not have missed the opportunity. As it is, you can tell this was taped around the time of its release and they probably didn't grasp just yet how iconic that phrase would be.
Man... I wish this documentary had gone on for two hours. The Coens should have a UNESCO Heritage seal stamped on their foreheads. Something not mentioned - surely The Long Goodbye served as inspiration for The Big Lebowski, there are many private eye noir films to draw from, but the Robert Altman classic adaptation on the genre had an iconoclastic and hilarious streak to it, which the Coens took five steps further.
There's a very short list of men who, by my estimation, should not consider leaving the house without a mustache: 1. Tom Selleck 2. Sam Elliot 3. Alex Trebec
This movie is absolutely top 50 movies ever made. I mean man, every line in this movie is delivered and written perfectly. It’s just a perfect movie. Not a complaint.
The movie has a strange effect on me. First time I just thought it was ok. But some friends were obsessed about it and I watched it again and thought it was really good. And the more I watch it the more addicted I get. Now I'm obsessed too.
I watched this movie around 100 times (that's not a joke, I really did). Do I need to say how much I love it and that it's the best movie ever made? :)
I can relate to the scene of the cremated ashes blowing back into The Dude's face. Happened to me while I was filming two people pouring of ashes out a small hole in a plexiglas window in B-25 Mitchell in flight. We were doing an ash drop. When friends went to dump ashes out the window most of the ashes ended up on my face while I was filming. The show must go on.
The reason the movie is popular , in my opinion, is that it creates a stark contrast between the antagonist (boomer , hard worker, pillar of society , the rich Mr. Lebowski) and our hero (and what's a hero, really) , the dude , who is a stoner, slacker, and one of the laziest people. People resonated with that because the dude's portrayal as a hero , is helping to taking the pressure off of conforming to parental and societal expecations, for everyone who views this film. It's giving people an alternative to conforming with the status quo and just be a cookie cutter, well oiled cog in the machine. Not to mention all the destruction on a planetary scale that mindless boomer work ethics like those of Mr. Lebowski has already wrought, for profit everything, and now 70% of the arctic ice caps are gone because the puppet masters who park their 100 ft yachts in Monaco harbor needed to buy a 120 ft Yacht this year, so they continuously churned the workers and resources of the planet , ultimately to its peril.
You're leaving out the part where the "hard-working boomer" Lebowski is actually a total hypocrite poser fraud, indifferent to wrecking the lives of others while making other people's money disappear, and acting pompously like a pillar of society the whole time.
Isn’t it incredible that many many peoples arguably favorite movies(TBL/No Country/O Brother) are all just, just incredible, each in its own way. And all 3 are made by the same two “dudes”. Like between the 3, idk if I could pick a favorite. However, all 3 are my very favorite movies. No Country is so very tense at times, many times. And yet, TBL is just so relaxed. The pacing of the movie is just so, friggin, relaxed, lol. I’d think O Brother, is somewhere between the 2. It’s relaxed and fun and adventurous. When the conflicts enter into the story tho, it becomes very tense when needed……again, all 3(and that’s not to discount Fargo and couple others either) of these brilliant 5 star movies. All made by the same guys and each with its own spectacular mosaic of specific elements that really “tie the movie/s together”
I think, I didn't get it on my 1st viewing, but it was soooooo looooong ago (Perhaps, I was too young). I rewatched it recently, and it's a madterpiece :----).
This came out in 98? I thought it was a bit earlier than that. 98 reminds me of Jackie Brown and I know insaw the Big Lebowski a while before Jackie Brown...but-i was pretty much smoking weed morning noon and night those years so...