The Coen Brothers may have just picked up a Best Picture Oscar for No Country for Old Men , but the film that many may remember most fondly is The Big Lebowski . The film came out right after Fargo , and gave us Jeff Bridges as "The Dude" (pictured right, Gramercy). The film will play tonight and tomorrow at midnight at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters. I dug back -- behind the bong, bowling bowl and white Russians -- in her archives for this review from when the film first opened in 1998.
Meet Mr. Lebowski...
Dude : "Hold on, I am not Mr. Lebowski, I am the Dude...or El Dudareno if youre not into the whole brevity thing."
Okay for brevity's sake, lets just call him the Dude. Now the Dude's a simple guy who likes to relax by listening to audio tapes of past bowling tournaments or hanging with his pals Walter and Donny at the local lanes. But the Dudes laidback existance comes to an abrupt end when a pair of thugs mistake him for the other Jeff Lebowski who's a millionaire from Pasadena. The thugs rough the Dude up and then pee on his rug, you know, the one that ties the whole room together. On his buddy Walters urging, the Dude pays a visit to the other Lebowski and demands restitution for the soiled carpet.
Mike Palmer
from Stone Brewing Co., Escondido
May 09, 2008 at 03:40 PM
What a strange coincidence, this is the next movie on our Stone Late Night Movie lineup for 2008. For a second, I thought Beth was going to talk about us screening. Cheers to Beth's good taste in movies!
http://www.stonebrew.com/movies/
Beth Accomando from San Diego
May 10, 2008 at 05:28 AM
Mike,
Well if I'd known I would have mentioned your event too! I will try to keep people posted on your films as well. Thanks for enlightening me to yet another place for people to find cool entertainment.
Cheers!
Mike Palmer
from Stone Brewing Co., Escondido
May 10, 2008 at 06:22 AM
Thanks! It's funny, we had the same rush of excitement at the office thinking that yesterday's GasHole interview on These Days would mention our screening of that film next month as well.
The Late Night Movies was something that the CEO and I came up with over a beer in the gardens about a year. I'm excited to see it growing into a fun and relaxed venue for film makers to meet their audience. I really appreciate your help in spreading the word. Keep up the great work. Is there a more direct way for me to pass info to you? We may have a few surprises to the line up.
Mike Palmer
from Stone Brewing Co., Escondido
May 10, 2008 at 06:24 AM
That should have read... "in the gardens about a year ago."
It's late, I need sleep...
Beth Accomando
May 10, 2008 at 06:59 PM
Mike,
You can email me at baccomando@kpbs.org with any info or press releases. I'd love to get info about upcoming events.
Best of luck.
doom
from USA
May 13, 2008 at 04:29 AM
That is one of the greatest movies of all times. Making a story like that based on a peed down rug is pure genius.
Beth Accomando
May 13, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Agreed! The Dude is one of Jeff Bridges' best performances of all time and there are scenes (like when he drops his joint in his lap and crashes the car) that make me laugh so hard I can hardly breath.
And of course it had to be the rug that tied the whole room together...
