The Big Lebowski

"Walter, I love you, but sooner or later, you're going to have to face the fact that you're a goddamn moron."

This is a very sophisticated film, the events within leading to a deep and complicated moral. And that moral is that, well, it was all just a bunch of stuff that happened. Though really, there's a whole philosophy around it, and it's not quite as ridiculous as it looks at first.

Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

........

So I jsut watched the movie jsut now.

And I feel like I need to give Wack'd a kick in the pants becuase I have no clue what the BLOODY HELL HE JUST MADE ME WATCH.

I mean, what was it all for?

I mean, what was it all for?

And this may be one of the most egregious cases of poor communication kills I have ever seen.

The Blog The Art

I just made you watch the funniest "Shaggy Dog" Story of all time.

You're welcome.

...I'm hard-pressed to think of any real application of Poor Communication Kills in the film, though. Except maybe at the end, where the Big Lebowski apparently forgot to tell the Nihilists that the scam was over.

edited 19th Oct '14 11:53:49 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

But I don't understand. What was it all for?

I mean, yes this is one of those culturally significaant extremely well know, highly quotable films, but why?

Yes, it was hilarious, yes it was strange, but... What. Did. It. Mean!?

Well I dunno, Ther were a bazillion instances where Dude's inability to properly articulate the whole of the situation led to more face punching and running around and overall being a do-nothing bum in the wrong genre.

edited 19th Oct '14 11:55:19 AM by MousaThe14

The Blog The Art

Basically, the Big Lebowski wanted to make some money disappear. That's all.

Well, he doesn't know the whole of the situation until the very end, because almost everything he learns is a Red Herring. Walter figures it out, but that's just a series of lucky guesses.

If you want to know "what it means"—"throwing a real-life stoner into the plot of The Maltese Falcon is a bad idea" is as close as you're gonna get, really.

edited 19th Oct '14 12:00:18 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Next question. What made this film so big. What makes you love it so?

I mean, I've seen it now. I don't hate it, I don't even dislike it. I'm just perplexed by it. All I know is that I will never ever forget it. But, it's like this big thing in the background of my life and I thought that, I dunno, something so big would have, I dunno, more to it than the funniest Shaggy Dog Story.

And. I dunno, maybe I expects it to be different. I didn't know what to expect, just that it might be important. But it's so.... I dunno.

Also, was Walter actually John Goodman or am I hallucinating?! Because... That's Sully for god's sakes!

The Blog The Art

No, you are not hallucinating, anymore than I was seeing him in King Ralph.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

That is in fact John Goodman.

There's a lot of reasons I love it—the memorable, complex characters. The genre-mashing. The open, bizarrely selective defiance of Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic. The way it actively tries to deceive you into figuring it out, and yet rewards you for doing so at the same time. The fact that every single line is a firecracker. The wonderfully non-sequitor-ish hallucination scenes. Everything about the actual production, from the set designs to the costumes to the use of lighting. And the music, dear lord, the music.

I mean, there is an incredibly short list of films I can watch over and over and notice something new and thrilling in it each time, and this film is at the very top.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Gutterballs drags a bit, though the music selection is top-knotch for that one so i'm kind of torn.

I sort of understood it the first time i saw it: the moral is basically that Reality Is Unrealistic. Most of what we humans go through is not one cohesive story and really doesn't make any sense, we are players in each other's stories just as much as others are players in our own, just that the Dude is a better character to convey that with because the man really has no story, being an unemployed dude who bowls and gets high and that's about it. He has nothing going on for himself, so his Pinball Protagonist status is easier to highlight, but that's really how things are in life. We're not part of some grand master story, things happen to us, and that's really about it.

Also, yes, the more you notice the details, the funnier these things do become.

In this case, it's only a mildly funny scene at first pass, where he gets distracted, crashes his car, then finds something. But click in the details, the fact that he's not only drinking and driving but also smoking weed and driving, at the same time, trying to put out his joint with his bottle of beer, then crashes and a Brick Joke comes into play where he tries to get out of the driver's side (forgetting that the driver-side door was smashed in when he retrieved it from the impound lot), which leads him to crawl over the passenger side and discovery Larry's essay.

YEAH

YEAH

OH YEAH

WHAT CONDITION MY CONDITION WAS IN

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Glad to see this movie being appreciated.

It's a clever film.

edited 19th Oct '14 4:46:36 PM by zam

"Little language problem here. Little prick stonewalling me."

It's not too late to quote this movie, is it?

edited 19th Oct '14 6:00:32 PM by TargetmasterJoe

Kenny Rogers sang that "what condition my condition was in" song. That's the thing that's most mind-blowing. The same Kenny Rogers that sang this with Dolly Parton:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islands_in_the_Stream_(song)

So, finally watched this movie.

What the fuck, Dude? With Friends Like These... I mean man...

EDIT: "It increases the chances of conception": I did a Spit Take too, at that.

edited 10th Nov '14 3:24:56 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I wish I could watch this movie for the first time again. Nothing like experience The Big Lebowski with no clue what's going to happen.

Nobody in that film has a clue what's going to happen.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

This is really fucking beautiful!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

That was fantastic.

Going through IMDB quotes, I found this gem:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I still love Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Brandt. His reaction when Bunny blithely offers to suck the Dude off for $1000 is priceless.

Also, i realized this entire plot could have been averted if the Dude had renter's insurance. Or at least the Dude's involvement on it. Home invasion, rug vandalized, insurance company cuts him a check, we're back to bowling.

Renter's insurance is surprisingly cheap. Only thing that's stopping me is that apparently you need to have a separate lock on your separate unit, and since i rent in a townhouse i don't qualify (too much risk since anyone the landlord or my roommates invite in can just get in willy nilly).

Hey, I was watching The Big Lebowski the other day and ive been wondering, is there a Big Bad Ensemble between Lebowski and Jackie Treehorn? Cause after all Treehorn does technically kick things off in the beginning and Lebowski keeps them going. Just wondering to see if I can add it to the movies page.

Aticus K

I saw this for the first time a few months ago. I didn't immediately love it, though I had the overwhelming urge to write fan fiction about it. I heard it's a movie you have to watch more than once to really get into, so maybe I'll become a big fan the second time around.

edited 18th Mar '17 9:16:56 PM by DreamCord

Hey.

I was going to post that exact same sentiment. When I first saw the movie I didn't get it and wondered what the fuss was about. Now I love it and I would cut you if you tried to get rid of that movie from film history.