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The
Big Lebowski (1998)
In this quirky Coen Brothers stoner comedy - a Philip
Marlowe-style LA neo-noir:
- the opening assault by two debt-collector thugs
(Mark Pellegrino) and Chinaman Woo (Philip Moon), who alleged that
bearded hippie, pot-smoking, slacker, unemployed slob Jeffrey 'The
Dude' Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) in his Venice Beach (California)
bungalow owed them money: ("Don't f--k with us! Your wife
owes money to Jackie Treehorn. That means you owe money to Jackie
Treehorn") - they roughed him up and then Woo peed on the
Dude's favorite carpet: ("No, no, don't do that! Not on the
rug, man"), but then after realizing he was the wrong individual
took off: ("He looks like a f--kin' loser...F--king time wasted.
Thanks a lot, asshole")
- the Dude's commiseration with his bowling buddies,
uptight nutcase Vietnam war veteran Walter Sobchak (John Goodman)
and ex-surfer Donny (Steve Buscemi), about his ruined, valued rug
("Yeah, man, it really tied the room together") that was
peeded upon by a Chinaman
- the scene in which The Dude, wearing shorts and a
T-shirt, complained and demanded compensation from wheel-chair bound
philanthropist, Pasadena, CA millionaire Jeffrey 'The Big' Lebowski
(David Huddleston), his namesake, for the mistaken attack by two
hoods (due to a mix-up of addresses for "Lebowski"), that
were really targeting Mr. Lebowski's indebted wife
- the Dude's introduction of himself to "The Big" Lebowski:
("You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call
me. You know, uh, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or uh,
you know, El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing")
- Mr. Lebowski's employment advice to the laid-back
Dude - who briefly answered: "Oh, F--k it!" and left: ("My
wife is not the issue here! I hope that someday my wife will learn
to live on her allowance, which is ample, but if she does not, that
is her problem, not mine, just as the rug is your problem, just as
every bum's lot in life is his own responsibility, regardless of
who he chooses to blame. I didn't blame anyone for the loss of my
legs. Some Chinaman took them from me in Korea. But I went out and
achieved anyway. I cannot solve your problems, sir, only you can....Yes,
that's your answer. That's your answer to everything. Tattoo it on
your forehead. Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski! Condolences!
The bums lost! My advice to you is to do what your parents did! Get
a job, sir! The bums will always lose! Do you hear me, Lebowski?!
The bums will always lose!")
- on his way out of the Lebowski estate, the Dude's
meeting up with the millionaire's sexy young trophy wife Bunny (Tara
Reid), a free-spirited nymphomaniac, and one of the porn stars of
sleaze king mobster Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara), who offered the
Dude: ("I'll suck your cock for $1,000 dollars")
- the scene of living erotic art exhibited by Mr. Lebowski's
estranged daughter Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), an eccentric,
super-stoic, avante-garde feminist artist, who delivered a "vagina
monologue": ("Does the female form make you uncomfortable,
Mr. Lebowski?...My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal,
which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable.
Vagina....Yes, they don't like hearing it and find it difficult to
say, whereas without batting an eye, a man will refer to his dick
or his rod or his Johnson")
- the Dude's fantasy musical dream sequence of bowling
called 'Gutterballs' after being slipped a mickey in his White Russian
cocktail by Jackie Treehorn - filled with images including the Viking
Queen, Saddam Hussein, and bowling
- the bowling alley scene in which competitive, flamboyant
Latino bowler Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) threatened: "Nobody
f--ks with the Jesus..."
- the other scary scene at the bowling alley in which
the Dude's bowling buddy Walter told rival bowler Smokey (Jimmie
Dale Gilmore) that he had committed a minor infraction of bowling
league rules by fouling over the line - accompanied by gun-wielding
threats: "You're entering a world of pain" and "Mark
it zero"
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Bowler Jesus Quintana: "Nobody f--ks with
the Jesus..."
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Walter: "You're entering a world of pain"
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'The Dude' Scattering Donny's Ashes
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- the scene of the scattering of Donny's cremated
ashes (in a Folger's coffee can), who had suffered a fatal heart
attack, with Walter's rambling eulogy: ("Donny was a good
bowler and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man who loved
the outdoors and bowling. And as a surfer, he explored the beaches
of Southern California, from La Jolla to Leo Carrillo and up to
Pismo. He died, he died, as so many men of his generation, before
his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many
bright, flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Lan Doc, and Hill 364.
These young men gave their lives. So did Donny. Donny who loved
bowling. And so, Theodore Donald Karabatsos, in accordance with
what we think your dying wishes might well have been, we commit
your final mortal remains to the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which
you loved so well. Good night, sweet prince"); however, the
breeze blew the ashes back - and all over the Dude's face
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The Theft of the Dude's Rug: "No, no, don't do that!
Not on the rug, man"
The Dude's Bowling Buddies: Walter and Donny
The Dude with Mr. Lebowski: "You're Mr. Lebowski.
I'm the Dude"
Mr. Lebowski's Nympho Wife Bunny (Tara Reid)
Mr. Lebowski's Estranged Daughter Maude
(Julianne Moore)
Gutterballs Dream Fantasy
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