{"id":1212,"date":"2008-10-11T20:51:25","date_gmt":"2008-10-12T00:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2023-01-30T06:59:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T11:59:53","slug":"big-lebowski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/big-lebowski\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dude burns one on the way over in The Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1998, when all the world wanted from Joel Coen and Ethan Coen was another Fargo<\/em>, they got The Big Lebowski<\/em> instead. The Coen Brothers<\/a> recently repeated this trick by following up another masterpiece, No Country for Old Men<\/em>, with the happy-go-lucky Burn After Reading<\/a><\/em>. This blog wonders if this compulsion is by design or if the Coens just can’t help themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Julianne
Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Received with some puzzlement upon release, The Big Lebowski<\/em> is now the subject of pop art, annual conventions, and action figures<\/a>. The farcical film noir is ultimately an extended “wrong man accused” pastiche in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock and Raymond Chandler, but the Coens infuse it with their trademark anarchic spirit and populate it with characters with low (or otherwise chemically impaired) I.Q.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film’s 10th anniversary was recently celebrated in a Rolling Stone<\/em> feature article, The Decade of the Dude<\/a> by Andy Greene. John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, and Sam Elliott reveal a wealth of anecdotes and all seem genuinely delighted at the film’s cult status. Goodman, however, alludes to having had a kind of falling out with the Coens after Oh Brother Where Art Thou<\/em>. The article also states that the Coens decline to discuss the The Big Lebowski<\/em> at all anymore, for unspecified reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"John
We don’t roll on Shabbos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the DVD edition screened by this blogger includes the original 1998 contemporary electronic press kit including an interview with the Coens in which they gamely discuss the production (Joel is credited as director and Ethan as writer, but in truth they have always shared the duties equally). The DVD also provides a peek at cinematographer Roger Deakins<\/a>‘ spectacular fantasy sequences and unique bowling footage actualized with a motorized camera capable of running up to 20 M.P.H.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridges reveals the extent of his actorly craft in preparing for each scene: he would simply ask the Coens, “Did the Dude burn one on the way over?” Most often, the answer was yes, so he would rub his eyes to approximate the degree of redness appropriate, and proceed. The Dude copes with the trials and tribulations of life with the motto “The Dude abides,” but the circumstances in which he finds himself during this misadventure leave him less in a state of zen than one of paranoia. No doubt a lifetime of pot abuse has harshed his mellow somewhat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"John
You don’t &$%# with the Jesus!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite having only barely more than a cameo appearance, John Turturro nearly steals the movie with the unforgettable character Jesus Quintana (that’s “Jesus” with a hard “J”), a sexual predator and cocksure bowler. The Coens speak about wanting to write a Latino character for Turturro, but where did the rest of his outrageous characterization come from? Did they just wind Turturro up and let him go? Other notable cameos include David Thewlis (Naked<\/em>, Harry Potter<\/em>) as a giggling associate of Maude (Moore), and musicians Aimee Mann and Flea as hapless nihilists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1998, when all the world wanted from Joel Coen and Ethan Coen was another Fargo, they got The Big Lebowski instead. The Coen Brothers recently repeated this trick by following up another masterpiece, No Country for Old Men, with the happy-go-lucky Burn After Reading. This blog wonders if this compulsion is by design or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[224,232,226,77,223,221,230,231,225,50,227,130,222,186,740,228,229],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-aimee-mann","tag-caper","tag-coen-brothers","tag-comedy","tag-david-thewlis","tag-dude","tag-ethan-coen","tag-film-noir","tag-flea","tag-jeff-bridges","tag-joel-coen","tag-john-goodman","tag-john-turturro","tag-julianne-moore","tag-roger-deakins","tag-sam-elliott","tag-steve-buscemi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/big-lebowski-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-jy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1222,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/burn-after-reading\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":0},"title":"The Coen Brothers confound expectations, as usual, with Burn After Reading","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Although every Coen Brothers film is unmistakably theirs alone (can the Auteur Theory apply to more than one person at once?), Joel and Ethan have a reputation for rarely making the films audiences want or expect from them at any given time. Clooney and McDormand give this movie two thumbs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/burn-after-reading-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/burn-after-reading-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/burn-after-reading-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/burn-after-reading-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/burn-after-reading-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5798,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-chemistry-only-goes-one-way-in-the-coen-brothers-intolerable-cruelty\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":1},"title":"The chemistry only goes one way in The Coen Brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Intolerable Cruelty is usually found at or near the bottom of Best-to-Worst films by the Coen Brothers: #15 of 15, by David Haglund for Slate#10 of 15, by Ann Hornaday for The Seattle Times#13 of 14, by Andrew Osborne for Nerve You get the idea. But Intolerable Cruelty is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Intolerable Cruelty","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/intolerable-cruelty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/intolerable-cruelty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/intolerable-cruelty.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/intolerable-cruelty.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/intolerable-cruelty.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":606,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-8-best-movies-i-saw-in-2007\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":2},"title":"The 8 Best Movies I Saw in 2007","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Followers of this blog (a statistic which I believe can be plotted on an arc approaching zero) may have noticed an accumulation of digital dust this past year. Indeed, I watched my own blog drop off the first page of Google results for my own name. Who's feeling lucky? A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movies"","block_context":{"text":"Movies","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/movies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Orphanage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/orphanage-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/orphanage-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/orphanage-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/orphanage-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/orphanage-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":779,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":3},"title":"Sidney Lumet shows us how it’s done in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a powerful, electric return to form for the 83 year-old Sidney Lumet, director of such canonical classics as 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Network, and, uh, The Wiz? Kelly Masterson's screenplay tells the high-tension tale of a pair of wholly doomed brothers as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8631,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/famously-chill-dude-keanu-reeves-goes-on-a-killing-spree-in-john-wick-chapter-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":4},"title":"Famously chill dude Keanu Reeves goes on a killing spree in John Wick: Chapter 2","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to enjoy action movies like the popular John Wick franchise, but the gun worship spoils everything.","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Wick: Chapter 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4110,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/albums-that-broke-my-heart-sea-change-beck\/","url_meta":{"origin":1212,"position":5},"title":"Albums That Broke My Heart: Sea Change by Beck","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"You could throw darts at the tracklist from Beck's 2002 album Sea Change and each song you hit would be sadder than the last. Hence this deviation in format from our ongoing playlist of Songs That Broke My Heart; call it an Album That Broke My Heart. 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