The Big Lebowski

37 Reasons Why I Love The Big Lebowski:

1) Jeff Bridges with the best performance of his life in the best role he's ever been given
2) The expression (almost the only expression) Buscemi's Donny wears the entire movie
3) "Hell, I can get you a toe by three o'clock this afternoon. . .with nail polish."
4) Philip Hoffman's fake giggle and even faker serious expression when the Dude reads the ransom note
5) Watching the Donny and Walter eat burgers in a windshieldless car
6) Autobahn, a Kraftwerk reference. . .and Whipped Cream and Other Delights being the very next album in Maude's record collection
7) The perverse sketch on Treehorn's notepad
8) The intimidating purple hip thrust of Jesus
9) The intimidating pink tongue of Jesus
10) The coolest use of Kenny Rogers in the history of Kenny Rogers
11) Vocabulary lesson--micturate, verb
12) From the "You learn something new every day" files: Nihilist enjoy pigs in the blanket.
13) "He's got health problems."
14) The fact that a buddy at school comes into my room at least twice a week to quote the movie
15) A seventy-something cent check
16) The landlord's shadow dance
17) I also hate the fucking Eagles
18) It's got a marmot in it
19) Sam Elliot can read my death sentence, and I'd probably enjoy hearing it
20) David Thewlis's cameo as the video artist Knox Harrington
21) Topless women on trampolines
22) Townes singing "Dead Flowers" over the final scene
23) This was the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Fargo
24) "Fucking dipshit with a nine-toed woman!"
25) All the music in the film is diegetic
26) Bridges says "man" one hundred and forty-seven times in the movie
27) The nihilist has a freakin' cricket bat
28) It's absurdist neo-noir. What's not to love?
29) Walter is never wrong in the movie although he often sounds like there's no way he can possibly be right
30) Julianne Moore's ridiculous accent
31) The Dude's choice in shampoo
32) It's one of the most accurate depictions of Vikings in film history
33) The way the cop says "fragrance"
34) The stylized but extremely goofy dream sequences
35) It's the best comedy ever made about bowling
36) The ultimate Coen brothers movie. Nobody else could make it.
37) "I am the walrus."

9 comments:

  1. Besides immediate family members, I'm not sure I love anything for 37 different reasons (I assume you just turned 37?). Among the reasons I understood, the only one I would modify is no.18. Isn't it a ferret loose in his bathroom? (which makes it even more hilarious for me because he calls it a marmot in error... who calls anything a marmot?)

    Great list. I look forward to what you do next year.

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  2. This is a great list for a perfect movie. I love the anti-Eagles scene tho I do really love the Eagles, but I love it because of the black cab driver being the unlikely defender. My friend Dem, ex-bass player of the lawn was a black man who loved Steely Dan, Linda Ronstadt and the worst, Carol King, so I always think of him in that scene. The Treehorn sketch is my favorite detail in the movie. Got it is a perfect film. Weird I saw both this and Fargo on opening night in Portland. I think Fargo is also perfect.

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  3. Not my favorite Coen Brothers movie. (I would put it about fifth)

    I do like the list though. Pretty funny.


    Oh and the best comedy about bowling is Kingpin.

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  4. 37 quotes I love from ”The Big Lebowski”
    1. Phone's ringing, Dude.
    2. Thank you, Donny.
    3. It really tied the room together.
    4. Its uh, Its uh, Its down there somewhere let me take another look.
    5. Careful, man, there's a beverage here!
    6. Obviously, you're not a golfer.
    7. Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man.
    8. Jacki Treehorn treats objects like women, man!
    9. Can you turn the radio off I've had a hard night and I hate the fucking Eagles man!
    10. Do you see what happens, Larry? DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FUCK A STRANGER IN THE ASS?
    11. Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.
    12. Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't pick up the phone, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit don't fucking roll! Shomer shabbos!
    13. Donny, you're out of your element
    14. Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling.
    15. You are entering a world of pain.
    16. Just one thing, Dude. D'ya have to use s'many cuss words?
    17. Lady, I got buddies who died face-down in the muck so you and I could enjoy this nice family restaurant!
    18. How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they seen Karl Hungus.
    19. Roadie for Metallica. Speed of Sound Tour
    20. This is a league game, Smokey.
    21. What're you, a fucking park ranger now?
    22. and also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature, uh.. Asian-American. Please.
    23. The man in the black pyjamas, Dude. Worthy fuckin' adversary.
    24. I guess he's pretty, uh, racially pretty cool—
    25. Keep your ugly fucking goldbricking ass out of my beach community!
    26. Brother Shamus? Like an Irish monk?
    27. Sure. That and a pair of testicles.
    28. Come on, Donny, they were threatening castration!
    29. "Our" car, Walter?
    30. I can look back on a life of achievement, on challenges met, competitors bested, obstacles overcome. I've accomplished more than most men, and without the use of my legs. What... What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?
    31. It's good knowin' he's out there, the Dude, takin' her easy for all us sinners.
    32. D'ya have a good sarsaparilla?
    33. I like your style, Dude.
    34. I was, uh, one of the authors of the Port Huron Statement.--The original Port Huron Statement.
    35. I want a fucking lawyer, man. I want Bill Kunstler... or Ron Cobey.
    36. It's a complicated case, Maude. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have yous. Fortunately I've been adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind, you know, limber.
    37. Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax-- YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I LIVE IN THE PAST!

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  5. Nice list, Kairow, especially the last one (Koufax has been my favorite athlete since I was 12).

    I would add just a few:

    Hey! This is a private residence, Man!

    I'll take it away and stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger until it goes "click".

    It increases the chance of conception.

    ...or El Duderino if your not into the whole brevity thing.

    Say what you will about National Socialism, Dude, but at least it's an ethos.

    At 15 M.P.H. I roll outta here.

    The Dude abides.

    note: I agree with Barry, but have no problem with anyone choosing this as the greatest bowling movie.

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  6. I knew about Cory's love for 'Kingpin'...that is a funny movie.

    That's a great list of quotes and as Cory proved, there are still some missing! Every time I think about my love for this movie, I feel like one of those frat boys who quote from stupid movies and slap each other on the back. Secretly, that's what I've always wanted to be, I guess.

    "He fixes the cable?"

    I wasn't sure what a marmot looked like, so I google-imaged it...looks sort of like a ferret.

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  7. i wanted to invite you over for your birthday to watch it in blu-ray :( anyway happy belated b-day bro

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