Big Lebowski - I get the worship (1 Viewer)

[worrierking]

I didn't like Lebowski the first time I saw it. It has grown on me and I like it a lot. It's extremely quotable and the characters are great. It is not near my top 20 of all time, but I aprreciate it a lot.

I had the same reaction to Fargo. I didn't understand the fuss the first time I saw it. Now it is truly one of my top five films ever. I happened to be in Brainerd, MN last summer and took a picture of the "Brainerd" sign at the edge of town and posted it on facebook without comment. It started a marathon thread of my friends with different quotes from the film. It probably reached 200 comments.

 

[Concept Coop]

I just really like the dialogue, and the bizarre situations that these characters get themselves into. What I think hurts it for many people is what you hit upon with the hippie schtick thing: the main characters aren't especially likeable. The Dude is a lazy bum and Walter an irritable and violent sociopath, but I think their unlikely friendship and respect is really entertaining.

This, minus the part about potentially not liking the main characters.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

I laugh out loud through the entire movie

 

[Apple Jack]

I laugh out loud through the entire movie

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Like Raising Arizona, it's a Cohen brothers movie that's more fun to talk about and quote afterwards than it is to actually watch.

big red x

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Like Raising Arizona, it's a Cohen brothers movie that's more fun to talk about and quote afterwards than it is to actually watch.

big red x

Say what you want about the tenets of my opinion but at least it's an ethos.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

Eh, it's just ok. I have several buddies who love it, so I get stuck watching it a lot. It's not 'stab your eyes out' bad though, so I deal.

 

[Wyld Stallyns]

I met a girl once (chunky girl oddly enough), who claimed to hate chocolate. She just said she thought it was gross and never eats it. She seemed proud of this for whatever reason, but clearly some wires in her brain are all cross-crossed, cuz c'mon - chocolate is awesome. It makes everything better.

Anyway, when I read people saying The Big Lebowski doesn't make them laugh it reminds me of chocolate girl. To this day I pity her and feel bad for all the chocolate joy she's been missing out on. It's got to be quite the miserable existence to not be able to enjoy the most amazing things in life.

 

[Bonzai]

Nipsey blowing my mind in here.

 

[Herb]

The first time I saw this I laughed once, during the marmot scene. I could not figure out what the big deal was. But I kept seeing it as a couple friends were big fans, and now I can say it's one of my GOAT comedies and I laugh out loud throughout the movie.

Also: This film has an old-school film noir structure dressed as a dry comedy. It's got all the noir factors: a protagonist randomly thrown into a situation that's completely beyond him via mistaken identity, a couple of beautiful dames with veiled motives, blackmail, violence, sex. As the layers of the conspiracy are peeled back, the movie changes direction and the actions and motives of the characters change, too.

I don't "get" Will Ferrell movies, so I understand that people that don't dig TBL, but I feel sorry for those that don't.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I love this movie. I like the quirky stuff - though a lot of it can really be hit-or-miss. I am not a big fan of slapstick style, in-your-face comedy usually though some actors can pull it off effectively for me occasionally. Definitely top 5 comedies for me.

Right up there with Shakes the Clown - and no - I'm not kidding. Needs a lot more love.

 

[Wild Young Billy]

I met a girl once (chunky girl oddly enough), who claimed to hate chocolate. She just said she thought it was gross and never eats it. She seemed proud of this for whatever reason, but clearly some wires in her brain are all cross-crossed, cuz c'mon - chocolate is awesome. It makes everything better. Anyway, when I read people saying The Big Lebowski doesn't make them laugh it reminds me of chocolate girl. To this day I pity her and feel bad for all the chocolate joy she's been missing out on. It's got to be quite the miserable existence to not be able to enjoy the most amazing things in life.

This reminds me of a Studs post with good grammar.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I met a girl once (chunky girl oddly enough), who claimed to hate chocolate. She just said she thought it was gross and never eats it. She seemed proud of this for whatever reason, but clearly some wires in her brain are all cross-crossed, cuz c'mon - chocolate is awesome. It makes everything better. Anyway, when I read people saying The Big Lebowski doesn't make them laugh it reminds me of chocolate girl. To this day I pity her and feel bad for all the chocolate joy she's been missing out on. It's got to be quite the miserable existence to not be able to enjoy the most amazing things in life.

I get that some prefer movies with humor that are LOL on the first viewing (The Naked Gun, Dumb and Dumber, etc.), and I love plenty of movies like that, too, but slapstick funny is different than clever funny. It's like the difference between a catchy rock song and a song that takes a few listens for the overall greatness of it to really sink in: the catchy song/instantly funny movie might be more rewarding the first time around, but the other, when done well, is far more rewarding over time. But again, I get that some just want to watch a movie once and laugh, and not have to worry about watching it several times to get it.

 

[yankdog]

I was motivated to watch this movie again last night thanks to this thread. The scene at the end where they are trying to purchase a "receptacle" to carry the ashes in was absolutely more funny than the other 12 times I'd seen it. Almost the entire movie I still laugh insanely lol.

 

[Apple Jack]

Donny was a good bowler.

 

[Abraham]

Like Raising Arizona, it's a Cohen brothers movie that's more fun to talk about and quote afterwards than it is to actually watch.

big red x

Say what you want about the tenets of my opinion but at least it's an ethos.

I think it may be my favorite comedy of all time. I love the Coen Brothers work and it's hard to think of anything I don't like about TBL. I remember taking a girl to see it in college and some of it was sufficiently weird enough that I spent the whole move thinking, "I'm sooooo not getting any tonight." She was kind of dumb so most of the jokes ("a more modest recepticle" = coffee can from Ralph's ) went way over her head. But then one of my fraternity brother bought a copy and it was on pretty much non-stop our entire senior year. I've seen it 100 times and still laugh through most of it. As a note; my wife hates it.

 

[David Yudkin]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times, and I still don't laugh or find it funny. I don't get the love for this movie, and believe me I have tried repeatedly to get into it. And I love comedies and have a sense of humor, so it's not like I'm in love with art house foreign films. And I was a big into bowling too. Different strokes, I guess . . .

 

[Chaka]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times, and I still don't laugh or find it funny. I don't get the love for this movie, and believe me I have tried repeatedly to get into it. And I love comedies and have a sense of humor, so it's not like I'm in love with art house foreign films. And I was a big into bowling too. Different strokes, I guess . . .

You think Different Strokes is funny?Well there's your problem.

 

[B-Deep]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times, and I still don't laugh or find it funny. I don't get the love for this movie, and believe me I have tried repeatedly to get into it. And I love comedies and have a sense of humor, so it's not like I'm in love with art house foreign films. And I was a big into bowling too. Different strokes, I guess . . .

that's just like, your opinion man

 

[Slapdash]

People forget that the brain is the biggest erogenous zone

 

[HellToupee]

Phone's ringing Dude

 

[Apple Jack]

Eight year olds Dude.

 

[Plorfu]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times,

I also routinely watch movies I don't like 10 times.

 

[Plorfu]

Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.

Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.

The Dude: He fixes the cable?

Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.

 

[Slapdash]

Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.

Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.

The Dude: He fixes the cable?

Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.

This line always gets me.

 

[David Yudkin]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times,

I also routinely watch movies I don't like 10 times.

I watched the movie so many times because once people find out I didn't love it, they made me watch it with them in an effort to get me to like it.

 

[HellToupee]

My favorite TV edit of all time

"See what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?"

 

[Apple Jack]

My favorite TV edit of all time "See what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?"

If this is true, for the first time I feel compelled to see a TV edit of a film.

 

[B-Deep]

As I posted years ago, I don't get this movie. I like almost all the other movies by the key players involved, but this one just didn't strike a chord with me. Seen it probably 10 times,

I also routinely watch movies I don't like 10 times.

I watched the movie so many times because once people find out I didn't love it, they made me watch it with them in an effort to get me to like it.

was waterboarding involved?if not maybe they should try it, it may convince you

 

[Amused to Death]

My favorite TV edit of all time "See what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?"

Never watched it on regular broadcast tv. I'm gonna have to use that line - "You know what they say, never find a stranger in the Alps!"

 

[mquinnjr]

Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.

Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.

The Dude: He fixes the cable?

Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.

This line always gets me.

 

[Thunderlips]

Best part is when Jackie Treehorn is looking real busy and concerned taking notes while on the phone....and then The Dude goes and looks at the note.

 

[peaces]

Also the writing is creative. I love how the Dude repeats the dialogue he has heard from other characters earlier in the movie.

It's the parlance of our times.

 

[kentric]

The responses in this thread should explain why people love it so much.They love the dialog exchanges.It's my favorite comedy ever. Liked it the first time around, agree The Dude seemed a bit contrived... But after multiple viewings you see more and more nuances and it just gets funnier. Only weak spot is the dream sequences are overdone.

the dream sequences eat

Not in the least.

Definately could have done without them. Great movie though.

 

[Colts Win]

Best part is when Jackie Treehorn is looking real busy and concerned taking notes while on the phone....and then The Dude goes and looks at the note.

Even better he goes old school detective and pencil shades the imprint. LOL.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

"The Worship"

Classic J.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

Conisdering those are two of my favorite comedies of the last 20 years, that's kind of odd.

 

[Apple Jack]

A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

Conisdering those are two of my favorite comedies of the last 20 years, that's kind of odd.

That's one of the more ridiculous attempts at being insightful I've read.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

One reason why The Big Lebowski holds up is because it's unique. Genre parodies are nothing new, of course. And some of them (Airplane, Young Frankenstein) can even be funny. But Lebowski is a unique form of genre parody. Does it help to have seen The Big Sleep and to understand that this is "soft-boiled" detective story? Probably. But it's not essential. It's not just slavishly and literally riffing on specific scenes from some other better known movie.

Instead, it's taking a unique character and using him as prism to critique genre conventions. It's really not all that out of line with Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing in that way (and I'd argue that Tarantino was doing somewhat the same thing in Pulp Fiction). The Coen's best movies hold up because they're always just unexpected enough to surprise me.

 

[peaces]

One reason why The Big Lebowski holds up is because it's unique. Genre parodies are nothing new, of course. And some of them (Airplane, Young Frankenstein) can even be funny. But Lebowski is a unique form of genre parody. Does it help to have seen The Big Sleep and to understand that this is "soft-boiled" detective story? Probably. But it's not essential. It's not just slavishly and literally riffing on specific scenes from some other better known movie. Instead, it's taking a unique character and using him as prism to critique genre conventions. It's really not all that out of line with Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing in that way (and I'd argue that Tarantino was doing somewhat the same thing in Pulp Fiction). The Coen's best movies hold up because they're always just unexpected enough to surprise me.

Fookin'A, man. I got a rash, man.

 

[Mentos]

I still jerk off manually.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.

Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.

The Dude: He fixes the cable?

Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.

This line always gets me.

 

[honky kong]

Like Raising Arizona, it's a Cohen brothers movie that's more fun to talk about and quote afterwards than it is to actually watch.

I'm sure it's possible to pack more wrong into a single sentence but I've not come across such a thing yet.

 

[Please See Mine]

Best part is when Jackie Treehorn is looking real busy and concerned taking notes while on the phone....and then The Dude goes and looks at the note.

Even better he goes old school detective and pencil shades the imprint. LOL.

These are the correct answers.

 

[Please See Mine]

People forget that the brain is the biggest erogenous zone

on you, maybe.

 

[Gr00vus]

The responses in this thread should explain why people love it so much.They love the dialog exchanges.It's my favorite comedy ever. Liked it the first time around, agree The Dude seemed a bit contrived... But after multiple viewings you see more and more nuances and it just gets funnier. Only weak spot is the dream sequences are overdone.

the dream sequences eat

Not in the least.

Definately could have done without them. Great movie though.

The first time I saw the movie in the theater I thought the same thing. After a few viewings, "Gutterballs" has become one of my most favorite parts of the movie. So well executed, from the conception, to the music choice, to the choreography, to the costuming, to the performances - just great creativity all around there. And very funny as well.The whole movie is so full of subtle yet fantastic details it's a lot to take in the 1st time - you're not sure what's supposed to be funny and what isn't in many cases as a result. And the quality of the performances are almost all fantastic.

 

[Ghost Rider]

The amount of win in this scene alone is off the charts:

 

[Mr. Pickles]

The responses in this thread should explain why people love it so much.They love the dialog exchanges.It's my favorite comedy ever. Liked it the first time around, agree The Dude seemed a bit contrived... But after multiple viewings you see more and more nuances and it just gets funnier. Only weak spot is the dream sequences are overdone.

the dream sequences eat

Not in the least.

Definately could have done without them. Great movie though.

The first time I saw the movie in the theater I thought the same thing. After a few viewings, "Gutterballs" has become one of my most favorite parts of the movie. So well executed, from the conception, to the music choice, to the choreography, to the costuming, to the performances - just great creativity all around there. And very funny as well.

On the whole, I think this Big Lebowski is horribly overrated, but there are aspects of it that I think are terrific. The "Gutterballs" dream sequence is one of them. I also like Maude Lebowski as a character. I usually like John Goodman's work, but think he overacts badly as Walter.I still don't think this cracks the top five of Coen Brothers movies. In fact, I feel pretty safe in that assessment.

 

[Apple Jack]

The first time I saw it Goodman drove me crazy, as I too thought he overacted. Now I think he couldn't possibly be more perfect.

 

[Slapdash]

I love Gutterballs, great scene.