Rating: 
Summary: The Freewheelin' Joel & Ethan Coen
Review: Roman Polanski's Chinatown and, more overtly, Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye were among the first major Hollywood films that rewrote the rules for film noir as we know the genre today. Ironic detachment and acid-tongued humor had always been a part of these films thanks to stars such as Jimmy Cagney and Humphrey Bogart as well as sly mavericks like John Huston and William Wellmann. What was so important about those 70's landmarks is that they presented us with a world created by artists who grew up watching The Big Sleep. The seedy underworld became an even more distorted hall of mirrors populated by characters more bizarre than Mickey Spillane could have dreamed up. And, most importantly, every action that has taken place in noir film since its revival in the early 70's has had quotation marks hanging over it. Like a good modern horror film, the fun in watching is seeing how writers, actors and directors are going to spin the conventions. The Big Lebowski stands proudly alongside such classics although it is a much closer kin to the jokier Altman masterpiece than, say, The Friends Of Eddie Coyle. As with O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Raising Arizona, when the Coen brothers ditch all pretense of meaning and "go fishing" they more often than not do their best and most entertaining work. Jeff Bridges, in a career-redefining role, plays the Dude, the original man who wasn't there. A likeable layabout who "lives" to bowl, drink white russians and smoke pot. It's a deceptively difficult part to play, a charismatic middle-aged bum, and the lifetime of skill and experience that Bridges brings to it keeps us from ever looking down on him as a creepy vagrant. One of the great joys of any Coen brothers film is the magnificent array of world class actors they attract to their every project. Julianne Moore, Sam Elliot, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, John Goodman, Ben Gazzara, Peter Stormare, David Thewlis and an amazing David Huddleston as The "Big" Lebowski. Any of these actors are capable of carrying a film, and often have. And yet many appear here in bit parts and clearly love just being at the party. Among the more significant parts, John Goodman as the belligerent Walter and Steve Buscemi as the clueless Donnie are a Laurel & Hardy quality duo. If Hollywood ever mounts a big budget biopic about those comedy legends, they would be well-advised to cast them. Julianne Moore was in the middle of a career-high role when she appeared in this film and her regal, poker-faced delivery & poise are priceless. Philip Seymour Hoffman was just beginning his still on-going string of acting home runs when he landed the seemingly nondescript role of The "Big" Lebowski's man servant, but he brings a lunatic's energy to the part and steals scene
after scene from a cast of scene stealers. Underrated at the time of its release, The Big Lebowski has grown a devoted cult following and a continuing reevaluation as one of the best and funniest films of the past decade. Long live his Dudeness!
Rating:
Summary: Larry, have you ever heard of Vietnam?
Review: There is one main reason to watch this movie. That reason is the incredible acting. John Goodman as the Vietnam veteran, Walter, is one of the funniest characters I have ever seen on film. Jeff Bridges' portrayal of The Dude was amazing. When ever I first watched this movie I didn't know what to expect. Well, I can say I laughed me a** off the whole time. My friends and I watched the scene where Walter rolls out of the car five times. Its one of the best scene in the whole movie. The plot is pretty confusing. It involves kidnapping, the porno industry, and above all bowling. I don't reccomend this movie to everyone though. If you like a comedy film that bites back then go ahead, watch it. Its a comedic masterpiece. Its one of the Coen bros. best films. As I was saying if you are easily offended, I wouldn't recommend watching it. Anyway, I theink its a great movie that is definintley worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: The Big Lebowski
Review: This film is a not quite as good as Fargo, and O Brother Where Art Thou? was another step down, and The Man Who Wasn't There was even worse. What's happening to the Coen brothers? However this is not The Man Who Wasn't There so I do have some good things to say about it. First of all I would like to think not that it has a paper-thin plot, but that it finds complexity in simplicity. For intellectually inept characters like "The Dude", Walter, and Donnie, this see through fiasco with an obvious forgone conclusion leads to an epic adventure, because they can't see the answers in front of their faces. As a result we get to meet hilarious characters such as Jackie Treehorn, The "other" Jeff Lebowski, The German Nihilist Gang (including Pornstar "Karl Hungus"), John Polito's P.I. character and the young car thief, as well as characters from our protagonists' personal lives such as "The Dude's" land lord and John Tuturro's hilarious Jesus from "The Dude's" bowling league. Also the narration by Sam Elliot as "The Stranger" is as funny as it is odd. My opinion is that this character represents the "old" California, before people like "The Dude" and the other characters in this film overran it. All in all I think it's a hilarious movie and also engrossing. It's well worth owning a copy for repeated viewing and better then most of Joel and Ethan Coen's recent work.
Rating:
Summary: "I'm just gonna go find a cash machine..."
Review: My personal favorite of the Coens' increasingly brilliant body of work, The Big Lebowski is the story of Jeff Lebowski, The Dude (Jeff Bridges), and the disruption of his pleasantly mundane life by a couple of thugs who pee on his rug, punch him in the face, and demand money. They've mistaken him for another man of the same name (the Big Lebowski), and, as one might imagine, things go downhill from there. The film has a terrific cast, including John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and even Tara Reid as the Big Lebowski's pricelessly slutty wife. Add to that a couple of musical numbers worthy of thirties Broadway adaptation, and you have one of the funniest, most original movies in recent memory. And yes, that really is Kenny Rogers singing "Just Dropped In."
Rating:
Summary: viva la dude
Review: i'm not one for the oscars or any awards show, but i can't believe jeff bridges didn't get a best actor nomination for this role. i am a coen brothers fan, from everything from fargo to oh brother where at though, but i have to say this one is my favorite. john goodman does excellent work as well, with mixed up 'logic' and rants his cruel remarks to donny. it's funny that steve buscemi gets treated so badly in pretty much every coen movie. julianne moore is a perfect, sultry weird artist. i get a kick out of her conception wish. any mood i'm in, 'the big lebowski' will get a smile out of me, and a taste for a white russian.
Rating:
Summary: white russians and german nialists
Review: This is a Coen Brothers movie which means it is definately not for everyone. If you dislke heavy swearing, avoid this movie like the plague. If you dislike drug use run for your life. IF you dislike nudity/pornography, then you must hate swearing as well ,so why are you still reading this. Any way, this movie is heavy on vice, thats not what its about, but there is a lot of it. You can read a synopsis above so i won't go into that. Instead I'll talk about the disc. THe movie is very good looking. the blacks are black and the colors are vivid. THe sound is also VERY good. You can even hear little chunks of tile fall bac kdown after a bowling ball is dropped on teh bathroom floor, great for the ears. Both widescreen and standard are on this disc, so everyone is happy there. Extras- teh interview with the coens is boring. Don't get me wrong i really like the coens, but the interview is very slow and unintersting. other than that there isnt much. But you don't need it. this movie is a masterpiece of character development, scriptwriting, and cinematography. Very underecognized, it is cast perfectly and all the actors do a fantastic job for their parts. Why john goodman and Jefff bridges weren't recognized at the academy awards i dunno. Snooty bastards. Anyways this movie is dark at times, has a lot of drinkign and smoking in it, and swearing, a whole load of swearing. But if you can stomach all that the movie is fantastic. It's got a fargo sense to it, but is mixed with a lightheartedness, like hudsucker proxy or o brother where art thou. If you like the cohen brothers go ahead and buy this now, don't even consider not pulling out your creidt card. Otherwise you should rent this one first. Even if you hate the movie, teh acting is reason enough to give this one a rent, so do it, or else.
Rating:
Summary: My most watched video
Review: This movie is neither thought-provoking nor deep. It's just damn funny. To all my friends who said they did not like it, I suggested watching Lebowski again. All changed their opinions. The writing is perfect, the characters, while not altogether believable, are stuffed with traits we notice in other people around us. ..forget it, I'm going bowling.
Rating:
Summary: Deception and Dismemberment
Review: Ostensibly "The Big Lebowski" is a farce, a hodgepodge of film noir, westerns and mistakened identity. And yet if one looks beyond the surface of expletives and grandiose set pieces -- which only repeated viewings of the film can yield -- one will find a film which delves deeper into issues of masculinity such as sports, virility, war and redemption; subjects which just about every critic overlooked when stating the obvious in their review of the film. As the Stranger states during the beginning of the movie the Dude is "a man for his time and his place;" a product of the '60's who meanders through the early 90's, a time in which many men in the U.S. seemed to be vicariously reasserting their manliness through the Gulf War . The Gulf War informs many events in the movie from the Dude's belittlement at the hands of the Big Lebowski ("This aggression will not stand . . .man!") to Walter Sobchak's thoughts about "Charlie" and the possible outcome of the then impending conflict in the Persian Gulf. The film is a literal deconstruction of everything that is normally associated with masculinity. From the outset, the Dude , like so many real and fictional heros before him, tries to right a perceived wrong. He wants recompense for his solied rug. And yet he fails miserably at this task with only a bruised jaw, a dead friend and a spurious newborn to show for it.
In a sense the Dude's loss of virlity speaks about the rest of the Male characters in the film: the millionaire Korean War veteran who has lost his legs, the Vietnam veteran who has lost his mind, and the German nihilists who lose their hold of their philosophy when one states that the outcome of their ransom scheme isn't fair. Even the more macho characters, Jesus and the Malibu Police Chief, try to assert their masculinity and yet still appear emasculated in some way. The scene of Jesus and his bowling partner earnestly polishing off their bowling balls undercuts Jesus taunts of violating Walter and the Dude in a blatantly sexual manner during their upcoming bowling match. And although the Malibu Police Chief tows a hard line when it comes to protecting his beachfront community he cannot be taken seriously when showing a little leg with his knee length khaki shorts. Ironically, the only character who asserts their masclinity without diastrous results is Maude Lebowski, the female lead, played with deadpan comic delivery by Julianne Moore. She finds her stolen rug and in the process a suitable sperm donor in the form of the Dude. Unlike the Dude, she sees what she wants and gets it. However as evidenced with the many props and works of art which decorate her loft, most notably, a bloodied, dismembered female mannequin and a large still life of scissors, it is implied that Maude might have lost some of her femininity in her quest to assert herself. Ultimately, "the Big Lebowski" deals with the question that the Real Jeff Lebowski poses to the Dude: "What makes a man?" Is it a pair of testicles as the Dude so blithely states or is it something more such as a 24K ring for a 300 game, a notche on the bedpost for a romp in the hay or some repayment for a soiled rug. The Coen Brothers don't provide any defintive answers. One can harken to the fact that the creators don't please the audience with a trite cathartic climax as the unseen and much ballyhoed match between Jesus and the Dude might have served. Instead they let the enigmatic Stranger have the last word about "the Human Comedy" which trails off before letting the audience in on what it all means. As is, "The Big Lebowski" literally gets the ball rolling in thinking about the question of what is means to be an American Male at the dawn of the 21st Century.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant like no other movie...
Review: People I have encountered have often made negative comments about this movie, but I think this is because the people don't understand it. This movie is pure genius, and anybody who has read a raymond chandler novel will understand the incoherent coherence of the plot. This is my favorite movie of all time, because of the amazing character development and the witty dialogue. Other than Raising Arizona there is no other movie that comes to mind with such brillant dialogue. I'm positive that the Coen brothers are the greatest script writers to ever live.
Rating:
Summary: Another Coen Gem
Review: Can anyone think of a funier movie with more genuine quotes than "The Big Lebowski"? The characters in the movie are just pure genius, from the Dude to Jesus there has never been a more entertaining combination of eccentric characters. The brothers also use there incredible skill as directors in a few memorable dream/drug sequences. A must see for anyone who just wants to have fun.
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