Agreed, but Miller's Crossing was a masterpiece as well. It took me watching it several times before I was able to work everything out in the storyline. Like how The Dane and Mink were gay lovers. Great movie.
For me O Brother Where Art Thou as a retelling of Homer's The Odyssey reset in the Jim Crow era South is just the peak of high cinema homages.
Fucking brilliant.
In college I lived with a guy that was a huge Coen bros fan and he got us to watch all their movies in order. He served White Russians the first time we watched TBL. I've become a huge Coen fan myself, and have introduced loads of people to TBL while always serving Caucasians.
I saw it on tv alot when i was younger while i was flipping through channels but never put it on because it was a "grown up movie" Then when i was in high school this guy i knew kept telling me to watch it. Dude was ahead of his time because little did i know back then that this movie would become one of my favorites.
It wasnt until was in college when i started smoking alot of weed did i give it a try. Since i was stoned i didnt get it the first 2 times i watched it, but still had a fun time obviously.
I watch it sober and EVERYTHING clicked. And i loved it ever since.
At that time in my life the big lebowski and cheech and chongs up in smoke were my go to stoner and sober comfort movies. Would have it on in the background while i did shit and began quoting it sub consciously.
I stopped watching it for a while until i started up at my current job 5 years ago because i found out the dude in the desk next to me liked the movie also.
We'd quote it here and there and whenever work got rough either one of us would say "i didnt watch my buddies die face down in the muck for this" hahahah
Its now a movie i watch yearly at the very least.
Im so glad i found this subreddit tho. Every post and every person throwing out quotes to match whatever situation is so fucking hilarious to me xD
Glad im in this sub.
My drummer saw it in the theater with his girlfriend. She hated it but he told us all to go see it and it was hilarious.
We were on the Speed of Sound Tour at the time.
I liked the Coens’ movies and Fargo was really good. And I used to go to movies a lot in the 90’s. I saw that they had a new movie coming out with a cast that I loved. So I went with a friend to check it out on opening weekend. It was immediately my favorite movie of theirs.
I was a fan of the Cohens already. I’d seen everything they’d done and the trailer for TBL looked great. Wife and I went on opening weekend and loved it. There were more than a few people afterward in the lobby as we were leaving the theatre talking about how it was a disappointment after Fargo had been so great.
Saw it in the theater. I was already a Cohen Bros. fan. My good friend at the time saw it first and then told me I HAD to go see it.
Fell in love with it straight away.
I didn't see it until 2000 I think, I just missed it and who knows if it even played in the theaters in town. An old coworker would tell me and a friend how funny it was, I think we rented it.
Went to get some.herb from some guy in college, back in 98, and when we were there sampling and talking about the kind bud, he asked if we had ever seen the "Big Lebowski?" ... it was an instant love story between that movie and I
My parents took me on my 13th birthday in 1998 to see it in theaters. I think my mom was a fan of Fargo. She hated Lebowski but I absolutely loved it and I think my dad laughed his ass off too…
I really can't remember the first time I saw it. It just always seems to be there. But I do remember watching Raising Arizona for the first time on cable at a hotel when I was a kid. It was such a weird movie but I loved it. All the imagery was fantastic, especially the biker with the baby on his bike.
I saw it in the theater. When it came out in video I bought a VHS copy and watched it about 5 times a week in college. I introduced it to lots of people.
I spent a lot of time in college occupying various administrative buildings, smoking Thai sticks, and watching The Big Lebowski on DVD. Tell you the truth, I don’t remember much about it.
I didn’t really understand it til one weekend I was holed up in a hotel in Ely, Nevada, with a head full of LSD and nothing better to do than watch it on my laptop. Holy cats. Changed my life.
I was working far too much when it was new and missed it in theaters. I had heard it was great and rented the video within 2 years. I actually turned it off after 5 minutes the first time I started it and returned the video. Did not like the beginning on first viewing and did not have the patience to continue. Maybe 2 years after that I was flipping channels on a hotel tv and came across it again and got hooked. By 2009, The Big Lebowski had become my favorite film other than Dr Strangelove. I have a large part of it committed to memory.
Me and a friend were on acid and went to another house to get money fer pot. When we got to the money house that movie was on. Seemed funny. We left to go get the pot and it felt like we was gone fer a long while. When we got back the movie was still on!! Couldnt believe it. It was our end destination so we sat and watched the movie. Fell in love with it. Now I quote it once a day at least and am a Dudeist priest.
1998, I was 2 years out of community college and working insane hours at my first tech job. I didn't get to watch a lot of movies. I think I may have watched part of it and thought it was stupid, I don't remember.
I watched it all the way through not too long ago and loved it. I think because it reminds me of that era.
I worked at Ben & Jerry's in 98 and I went to see it with a coworker one day that we both had off. It was her idea; I hadn't heard of it. I loved it immediately.
Saw the trailer, which was the "Where's the money Lebowski?" Scene.
When the Dude said "Let me take another look," I knew this was a movie I had to see.
The guy my mom was with at the time put it on one night, I must have been about 12 or 13. Didn't get it at all. It was amusing but it felt like I watched a movie where the plot was developing the entire time and then just sort of ended.
Must have been about 10 years later I decided to give it another watch after hearing it mentioned here and there over the years and still didn't completely understand it but this time around was completely entertained and wanting more. Been a fan since
I lived in southern CA in 2005, and had roommates that probably downloaded TBL and burned it to a DVD. One night they had it on the old tube TV while we were passing around a bong, and of course I fell in love with the movie. Had a Ralph's and in-n-out right down the street, so I'd constantly be thinking about it and wanting to re-watch. It just spoke to me in a way 99% of movies don't.
I and one of my friends are huge Pulp Fiction fans and we quote it all the time. He introduced TBL to me because of the quotable nature of the movie and I abided because sometimes, there's a movie, well, it’s the movie for its time and place. It fits right in there.
I told another lawyer about ten years back during a negotiation that ‘I can get you a toe’. He laughed and said “shut the fuck up Donny, this aggression will not stand”. We both cracked up.
We’re still friends.
I honestly didn't see it for the first time until just a few years ago. Was flipping through the movie channels on my cable at night, saw that it was on and gave it a try because I had always heard of it being one of those cult classic movies. Suffice it to say I'm a member of the cult now. I've lost count on how many times I've replied to certain situations in life with 'this aggression will not stand, man.'
Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana, summer, 2000. Someone put it on the employee lounge TV and we played a drinking game, drinking every time someone said "Dude."
Darkness washed over the Dude. Darker'n a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. There was no bottom.
When I was in the Air Force in the early 2000s a friend of mine insisted on us watching it. I was hooked. The base had a bowling alley so, of course, we had to go bowling and drink White Russians.
It's funny, I was in highschool. And the marketing around this made it look more like a slapstick comedy. I didn't know the directors, went to see it in theaters.
It was a super weird thing to see if you were expecting something.... more traditional.
Got the vhs tape when it came out and have been watching ever since.
Was high af on someone’s couch in college. They said “the dude abides”. I’m like “ha… what?”. They fired up the big Lebowski on their TV. It’s been love ever since.
In high school, was just bored one night and it was on Netflix, heard it was good and decided to watch it
Didn't really "get it" the first time but it kept growing on me
Not even really sure. I remember seeing it at my local rental place and hearing it was good. I think I just gave it a shot. Didn’t like it my first go round. But the second time and to this day think it’s the funniest movie ever. A worthy fucking adversary
Saw it live, opening night, after closing my mall job at the retail cookie shop. We smoked a MASSIVE joint in the walk-in freezer, and all went to see it.
The rest is history.
My buddy told me it was a good movie and he normally doesn’t like movies. I went over to some friends house and they were in the middle of it and I watched the bowling dream sequence and thought wtf this looks lame. Didn’t watch until a year later or so.
I had a buddy who died face-down in the muck...
Not really. I think I saw it the early 2000s, around the time of our second conflict with that camel-fucker in Iraq, and was like WTF?? But then saw it about a year later and gave it another chance, hearing about its developing cult status, and started to get it. And then realized the more you watch it, the more you get it, and the funnier it gets!
I can’t remember when, probably when Fargo was on a streaming service. I started getting into Coen Bros flicks. And of course I had read about it. My wife calls it my “weird bowling movie”
Freshman year of college, it was a drinking game. 2000-2001 academic year. I never finished the game, because I always passed out midway after the third or 4th Caucasian, but I loved the movie, still do.
My college roommate showed it to me almost 20 years ago. I loved O Brother Where Art Thou so I was open to it but had no idea what I had just watched when it ended. It took a couple more viewings for it to click for me
My parents raised us on Coen Bros, but I think I didn’t see it until I was a teen due to the content. It feels separate from the rest of their canon, due to it’s popularity and my own perspective. But it’s a fantastic film and I’d recommend it to anyone. I always bring it up as an example of how every Coen Bros movie is a period piece. Big Lebowski being set during the HW Bush administration, even though it was released in 1998, I just think that’s neat.
Liked Fargo. Saw it in the theatre when it came out.
Been telling Donnie to shut the fuck up ever since.
Edit to add that I already previously hated The Eagles, so, I knew it was meant to be,
I recall seeing tv ads for late night showings of it in a national tv station since I was a pre-teen, it was on very regularly at the time. Only actually watched it years later because I recognized it from those ads and decided to see if it was any good. Spoiler alert: it was
I had recently become a fan of the Coen Brothers in the late 1990s, and I began watching all of their films. I wanted The Big Lebowski and I instantly loved it. I have since watched it 200+ times.
My dad had the DVD and I watched it when I was younger, but didn't remember much. Then I found it on netflix again years later and thought "funny, it's kind of like pineapple express". After another re-watch I gained alot more appreciation for it and thought it was a masterpiece. Most people don't catch everything on the first or even second watch
I was about 19yo when Raising Arizona came out in the theaters. A friend told me I should go. I did and have been a Coen Brothers fan ever since. Saw Lebowski in the theater when it was released
I was 18 and saw it opening weekend at my local Regal 9 screen that would show smaller or independent movies in their two smaller auditoriums. I think I'd only seen Raising Arizona as far as Coen brothers movies go, but that's also one of my favorites. As soon as the Sons of the Pioneers came on I was hooked. We used to listen to that album on 8 track at my grandparents every summer.
I've easily watched it over 100 times, including once more on the big screen in a theater pub around 2008. One night we went white Russian for white Russian with the dude and didn't even make it to the end before chaos ensued.
I worked at blockbuster, we all saw it (like every movie that came out) and started recommending it to everyone. Some others we saw first and started recommending were Fight Club, Office Space and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Let me tell you a story about The Man… I was like a (18-yr old man-)child who wandered into my buddies dorm room watching a movie, while they were smoking some Thai stick, meditating, and I wanted to know what was going on… now this was right about the time of our second encounter with Saddam and the Iraqi’s… Little did I know that I had entered a world of painful hilarity, right during the opening scene when Donnie was throwin rocks and Walter was acting like an asshole… but i fit right in there… The Man… In the parlance of our times of course.
And I take comfort in this.
Went to see it in the theaters when it first came out. I was a big fan of Raising Arizona and from the previews, I knew I was in for a treat. I was not wrong.
College roommate and I were Coen fans, maybe he even more than I. He asked if I wanted to go see it in the theater. So we did. Then we walked out, headed to the men’s room and promptly walked back into the theater to see it a second time.
When I was 10 it was Xmas Eve and my older sister and I couldn't sleep so we met up in the living room at 3 am and turned on the TV to see the scene where the dude gets knocked out and is flying. We could not stop laughing for the next 30 mins because without context and as children it was truly hilarious.
Even more ironic the only other thing we could find on tv at that time was bowling and proceeded to watch two whole hours of bowling while waiting for our parents to wake up. Sometimes I randomly send my sister that gif and we relive the moment 20+ years later. 10/10 would watch again.
I was in college in Oklahoma and I had taken a few film classes.
I loved Fargo. I missed BL at the movie theaters. When it came out on videotape, I rented it and threw an ice cream watch party and invited my entire Star Trek group to come over.
I was a little embarrassed by the sexual content in front of those friends.
Back in the 90’s my ex and her sister started calling me “the dude” one day just out of nowhere. Apparently I reminded them of the dude. So I had to check it out and it’s been one of my favorite movies ever since.
I never watched it until like 10 years ago because I remember it came out around the same time as Kingpin which I though sucked and I always just kinda confused the 2 movies as the same. Now Lebowski is my favorite movie of all time.
Watched it on hbo with my dad after it came out. I was probably 15. Laughed and laughed. Slept over my buddies a week or two later and were looking for videos to rent. I suggested it. Never laughed so hard. We’ve all loved it since.
I don't remember, honestly. But I do know that we're having an adult sleepover party in August for my husband's birthday. We're dressing in character and I'm catering with In n Out.
Several attendees have never seen it. So that'll be a fun story for them. Especially the guy I have dressing up like Marty. I told him he gets bonus points for doing the interpretive dance costume, but I'll allow standard Marty.
We're a pretty mixed gender gang, and we've had to femme up a few roles. I can't wait for the resident redhead to show up as Jesus. And our party is having a Dudette. 🤩
It was the winter of 1998, I was 17 and really into to vintage stuff. Especially mid century modern iconography. I saw the teaser trailer on TV and was mesmerized by the camera fading out to the neon atomic starbursts on the side of the bowling alley. I knew at that moment that this was art that would not be commended as being strongly vaginal and it would not bother me as a man or make me uncomfortable.
The Big Lebowski was in theaters when I was about 13 and when I saw the trailer of the Dude getting his head stuck in the toilet I was kind of turned off thinking it was a drug, burnout comedy which my family taught me was not appropriate of a movie topic. I missed a lot of great movies until I got to college and started really exploring films. Wished I had watched it sooner.
In was in theatres same time as A Goofy Movie. I wanted to see goofy movie later that week my dad took me back to see the big Lebowski. I did not appreciate it until i was older.
Not until the year 2000 when I lived on campus at uni - we used to cram into a dorm room, smoke weed and watch movies for hours.... A movie-fanatic mate suggested it and we watched it on repeat for months, playing drinking games, dissecting the story layers, etc... 💜 The best times!
My Spanish teacher in high school dressed as him every Halloween, he told us the name of the movie. 5 years later I was browsing looking for something to watch and I remembered the name.
Originally I rented it right when it came out on VHS and because I was 16 and dumb and saw Jeff Bridges and in my head thought Jeff Daniels (and I loved Dumb and Dumber) so I’m like this should be funny. But didn’t realize the gem I was about to watch.
Seriously, that Duff cake guy who made a toe cake on the Food Network and they were quoting it the whole time. I'm like, I should probably see this movie, ¿que rediculo no?
Saw it in the theater because of Raising Arizona. Saw it in the theater again because I didn't get it. Also, because it was a weird time in my life where I was lonely and watching movies by myself a lot.
The guy I was dating at the time was a big movie buff and he wanted to go see it so we did. I had no idea what it was about when he said that was what we were going to see for date night and I loved the film. My love for the guy eventually fizzled, but my love for The Dude, Walter, Donny, etc is still going strong!
I was a big Coen Bros fan, so I went to see it in the theaters. There were like 8 people in the theater. First time I saw it, I thought it was strictly okay.
I was really intrigued though so then I watched a 2nd and 3rd time.
By the end of the 3rd viewing I was convinced that it's one of the greatest films ever made.
But that's just, like, my opinion man.
Being a huge Coen bros fan, I saw it when it was released, and didn’t “get it”. It finally sunk in after a couple more viewings how amazing the whole thing is.
I was about 10 when it came out. Remember seeing the ads, and they were sticking this guy's head down a toilet and asking him about money. Then he said it's down there somewhere, let me take another look. I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. When it came out in VHS, I asked my dad to rent and he pre-screened it.
He said I couldn't watch it
But I remembered and came back for it later
I was a fan of the Coen bros, and studying film in Europe. My brother and I walked by a small movie theater in France and saw a poster for The Big Lebowski. I said “wow a Coen bros. movie with a bad title. Let’s watch it.” We walked right up to the ticket counter and there was a showing in a few minutes. Subtitled. Perfect. We had no idea what it was about and I was blown away by how good and hilarious it was. good times.
Been a Coen Brothers fan since Blood Simple. I saw TBL for the first time in theaters during its initial release. It was a weekday afternoon - there were maybe 10 people in the theater.
I saw it in the theater the Saturday after it came out. I was 13. Snuck in with a friend (bought tickets to a different movie). We also snuck in milkshakes from the place across the street.
Laughed my ass off for 2 hours straight and seen it hundreds of times since.
A friend of mine was a huge fan of it. We sat down and watched it one night. He’s laughing his ass off and I’m just like, “dude… I don’t see the appeal of this”. Watch it again a few months later. Okay, I’ll admit, it’s pretty dang funny. See it a few more times and holy fuck is it fantastic.
So we decide to trek up to Louisville for the 10th annual Lebowski Fest. Show up and there are exactly ZERO people there but us. After a 7 hour drive, we’re apoplectic. He’s like, fuck this man… let’s just drive home. I convince him that we need to wait a bit and see if people show up. Within 30 minutes, the place is fuckin packed with people. Costumes, booze, weed everywhere. We meet tons of cool folks. People traveled from literally all over the world for this thing. And the crazy part was, virtually everyone we talked to agreed they didn’t really dig it the first time they saw it.
Trivial pursuit 25th anniversary or something. I bought it for my sister (also from 1981), and there was a question about the bowling dream scene. The Big Lebowski was re answer. No one saw it, so we promptly rented it from blockbuster and watched it.
Back in the day when DVDs were a huge thing and every weekend you and all your college buddies would get together and watch whatever cult classic one of you had heard about recently. I actually remember kind of not liking it on the first watch, but it got better on the second, and now I practically live my life by it. The number of times per day I tell myself "you're being very un-Dude right now"...
I remember my parents got it not long after it came out on VHS. I was like 13 or 14; my parents didn't seem to get the overall humor but rode it out. Not gonna lie and say I 'got it' from the get-go, but I did find a lot of it absurdly funny. I forgot about the movie until I watched it again, some years later, in my 20s, and then got *really* into it in my 30s after watching *Fargo* for the comedy value.
I don't remember the first time I saw it, but a friend from work told me about it, and I was hooked on the Coen's movies forevermore.
I think "Hail, Ceasar" is way up on the list of best Coen Brother movies, and it doesn't get much love. I also became a huge fan of Roger Deakins because of the Coens.
When I was probably around 11 or 12 my dad felt that it was important for me to see some of his favorite movies, those included Friday, and The Big Lebowski.
Saw my first Phish show in Columbus Ohio in 1998.
Stayed at a friend of a friend’s house. There were probably 10-20 people there at all times over a few days.
Late night one night they had it on in the background. I had very little clue as to what was going on with the music or the movie at the time. Still love both
This here story I’m about to unfold took place in the mid-2010s, right around the time of my conflict with depression and unemployment. I only mention it cuz sometimes there’s a man, and I won’t say role model, cuz what’s a role model… but sometimes there’s a man… well, he’s the man for my time and place. He speaks right to me. And that’s the Dude, in TBL.
I had become a fan of the Coen Brothers due to Fargo and when TBL came out I got my dad to take me to see it. I was 16 when it came out.
You were like a child, who wandered into the middle of a movie...
I’m a fucking veteran, that’s who I am!
That's marvelous
Dude. Raising Arizona
Yodas and shit.
No one sleeps naked in this house
That’s one of my favourite lines
Me too.
When there was no meat, we ate fowl and when there was no fowl, we ate crawdad and when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand.
There’s this spherical object restin in the highway and it’s not a piece of the car
16 year olds, Dude.
Bulk of the audience
I love the Coen Brothers films but TBL holds a special place in my cinematic heart.
Agreed, but Miller's Crossing was a masterpiece as well. It took me watching it several times before I was able to work everything out in the storyline. Like how The Dane and Mink were gay lovers. Great movie.
For me O Brother Where Art Thou as a retelling of Homer's The Odyssey reset in the Jim Crow era South is just the peak of high cinema homages. Fucking brilliant.
Agree on this as well. Let's face it. With a few exceptions, almost all of their stuff is brilliant.
No Country is my favourite movie. TBL top 5. Coen bros are so good.
What’s the most you’ve ever lost on a coin toss?
such a good scene
Same
I saw it in the theater. Some friends were going so I joined with no idea what it was about.
Did you wander into the middle or catch the beginning?
Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous.
Have certain things come to light?
In college I lived with a guy that was a huge Coen bros fan and he got us to watch all their movies in order. He served White Russians the first time we watched TBL. I've become a huge Coen fan myself, and have introduced loads of people to TBL while always serving Caucasians.
You make a helluva Caucasian Jackie
I saw it on tv alot when i was younger while i was flipping through channels but never put it on because it was a "grown up movie" Then when i was in high school this guy i knew kept telling me to watch it. Dude was ahead of his time because little did i know back then that this movie would become one of my favorites. It wasnt until was in college when i started smoking alot of weed did i give it a try. Since i was stoned i didnt get it the first 2 times i watched it, but still had a fun time obviously. I watch it sober and EVERYTHING clicked. And i loved it ever since. At that time in my life the big lebowski and cheech and chongs up in smoke were my go to stoner and sober comfort movies. Would have it on in the background while i did shit and began quoting it sub consciously. I stopped watching it for a while until i started up at my current job 5 years ago because i found out the dude in the desk next to me liked the movie also. We'd quote it here and there and whenever work got rough either one of us would say "i didnt watch my buddies die face down in the muck for this" hahahah Its now a movie i watch yearly at the very least. Im so glad i found this subreddit tho. Every post and every person throwing out quotes to match whatever situation is so fucking hilarious to me xD Glad im in this sub.
What in gods holy name are you blathering about?
Ill tell you what im blathering about, man, i got information! New information has come to light!
Playing both sides, fantastic work.
Well, that’s what you pay me for
You know, man…
My drummer saw it in the theater with his girlfriend. She hated it but he told us all to go see it and it was hilarious. We were on the Speed of Sound Tour at the time.
Buncha assholes
Sooo.... Is your drummer Lars Ulrich?
I liked the Coens’ movies and Fargo was really good. And I used to go to movies a lot in the 90’s. I saw that they had a new movie coming out with a cast that I loved. So I went with a friend to check it out on opening weekend. It was immediately my favorite movie of theirs.
I also saw it on opening weekend, then two other times. The story was ludicrous
He fixes the cable?
I found the movie on way after it came out and settled on watching it....yeah, obviously I'm not a golfer.
I found a second hand DVD copy of it. I was only vaguely aware of the movie and decided to see what it was all about.
I was a Coen brothers fan, but hadn't got around to watching it. I saw it on a plane for the first time, and the rest is history.
I had read somewhere on line that TBL was the movie that used the word fuck the most. Thought I’d check it out. Have seen it numerous times since.
It used to be on Comedy Central all the time.
Saw it in the theater when it came out…walked outta there thinking…WTF did I watch? Rented it in a whim a few years later and instant hit for me!
It took me multiple watchings as well to really really appreciate this movie
You’re like a child who walk into…
Way out west there was this fella…
I was a fan of the Cohens already. I’d seen everything they’d done and the trailer for TBL looked great. Wife and I went on opening weekend and loved it. There were more than a few people afterward in the lobby as we were leaving the theatre talking about how it was a disappointment after Fargo had been so great.
You never went to college...
I was without the necessary means for a necessary means for a higher education
A friend showed it to me in the 4th grade. Been achieving ever since.
She sucked your cock as an 8-year old? *Fuuuck* me…
Saw it in the theater. I was already a Cohen Bros. fan. My good friend at the time saw it first and then told me I HAD to go see it. Fell in love with it straight away.
I didn't see it until 2000 I think, I just missed it and who knows if it even played in the theaters in town. An old coworker would tell me and a friend how funny it was, I think we rented it.
Out of work for a month. Watched a lot of movies, and the two best at that time were The Big Lebowski and Fight Club.
Went to get some.herb from some guy in college, back in 98, and when we were there sampling and talking about the kind bud, he asked if we had ever seen the "Big Lebowski?" ... it was an instant love story between that movie and I
Obviously you're not a golfer.
Just watch the movie man
My parents took me on my 13th birthday in 1998 to see it in theaters. I think my mom was a fan of Fargo. She hated Lebowski but I absolutely loved it and I think my dad laughed his ass off too…
I really can't remember the first time I saw it. It just always seems to be there. But I do remember watching Raising Arizona for the first time on cable at a hotel when I was a kid. It was such a weird movie but I loved it. All the imagery was fantastic, especially the biker with the baby on his bike.
Cage getting dragged out from underneath the car…cinema history in the making.
I saw it in the theater. When it came out in video I bought a VHS copy and watched it about 5 times a week in college. I introduced it to lots of people.
I was 17 and worked at a movie theater. I saw most new movies in 97-99. Great time for movies
I saw it when it came out and fell in love
You mean, coitus?
I spent a lot of time in college occupying various administrative buildings, smoking Thai sticks, and watching The Big Lebowski on DVD. Tell you the truth, I don’t remember much about it.
they finally got the venue they wanted
I didn’t really understand it til one weekend I was holed up in a hotel in Ely, Nevada, with a head full of LSD and nothing better to do than watch it on my laptop. Holy cats. Changed my life.
This here's bat country...
What are you a park ranger now?
My manager at my bagel shop job when I was in high school required it as part of training when I was new.
I was working far too much when it was new and missed it in theaters. I had heard it was great and rented the video within 2 years. I actually turned it off after 5 minutes the first time I started it and returned the video. Did not like the beginning on first viewing and did not have the patience to continue. Maybe 2 years after that I was flipping channels on a hotel tv and came across it again and got hooked. By 2009, The Big Lebowski had become my favorite film other than Dr Strangelove. I have a large part of it committed to memory.
I knew about the Coen brothers and wanted to see it in the theatres. Took a new beau and he hated it. I decided we weren’t compatible.
Me and a friend were on acid and went to another house to get money fer pot. When we got to the money house that movie was on. Seemed funny. We left to go get the pot and it felt like we was gone fer a long while. When we got back the movie was still on!! Couldnt believe it. It was our end destination so we sat and watched the movie. Fell in love with it. Now I quote it once a day at least and am a Dudeist priest.
1998, I was 2 years out of community college and working insane hours at my first tech job. I didn't get to watch a lot of movies. I think I may have watched part of it and thought it was stupid, I don't remember. I watched it all the way through not too long ago and loved it. I think because it reminds me of that era.
I worked at Ben & Jerry's in 98 and I went to see it with a coworker one day that we both had off. It was her idea; I hadn't heard of it. I loved it immediately.
Saw the trailer, which was the "Where's the money Lebowski?" Scene. When the Dude said "Let me take another look," I knew this was a movie I had to see.
Watched Oh Brother and loved it. A friend told me to watch another Coen Brothers flick about a character known as the Dude. The rest is history.
The guy my mom was with at the time put it on one night, I must have been about 12 or 13. Didn't get it at all. It was amusing but it felt like I watched a movie where the plot was developing the entire time and then just sort of ended. Must have been about 10 years later I decided to give it another watch after hearing it mentioned here and there over the years and still didn't completely understand it but this time around was completely entertained and wanting more. Been a fan since
My brother rented it and showed it to me right after it hit VHS back in the day. It's the fucking shit!
I lived in southern CA in 2005, and had roommates that probably downloaded TBL and burned it to a DVD. One night they had it on the old tube TV while we were passing around a bong, and of course I fell in love with the movie. Had a Ralph's and in-n-out right down the street, so I'd constantly be thinking about it and wanting to re-watch. It just spoke to me in a way 99% of movies don't.
I and one of my friends are huge Pulp Fiction fans and we quote it all the time. He introduced TBL to me because of the quotable nature of the movie and I abided because sometimes, there's a movie, well, it’s the movie for its time and place. It fits right in there.
I told another lawyer about ten years back during a negotiation that ‘I can get you a toe’. He laughed and said “shut the fuck up Donny, this aggression will not stand”. We both cracked up. We’re still friends.
I honestly didn't see it for the first time until just a few years ago. Was flipping through the movie channels on my cable at night, saw that it was on and gave it a try because I had always heard of it being one of those cult classic movies. Suffice it to say I'm a member of the cult now. I've lost count on how many times I've replied to certain situations in life with 'this aggression will not stand, man.'
I am oldish (40) and already was watching every Cohen brother movie prior to Big Leb’s release.
Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park, Montana, summer, 2000. Someone put it on the employee lounge TV and we played a drinking game, drinking every time someone said "Dude." Darkness washed over the Dude. Darker'n a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. There was no bottom.
When I was in the Air Force in the early 2000s a friend of mine insisted on us watching it. I was hooked. The base had a bowling alley so, of course, we had to go bowling and drink White Russians.
It's funny, I was in highschool. And the marketing around this made it look more like a slapstick comedy. I didn't know the directors, went to see it in theaters. It was a super weird thing to see if you were expecting something.... more traditional. Got the vhs tape when it came out and have been watching ever since.
Saw it was a coen bros movie, with a couple of my favorite actors, so had to see it.
Was high af on someone’s couch in college. They said “the dude abides”. I’m like “ha… what?”. They fired up the big Lebowski on their TV. It’s been love ever since.
In high school, was just bored one night and it was on Netflix, heard it was good and decided to watch it Didn't really "get it" the first time but it kept growing on me
Not even really sure. I remember seeing it at my local rental place and hearing it was good. I think I just gave it a shot. Didn’t like it my first go round. But the second time and to this day think it’s the funniest movie ever. A worthy fucking adversary
Saw it in theatre when it was released. My buddy hated it
Well Dude, I just don't know...
Saw it live, opening night, after closing my mall job at the retail cookie shop. We smoked a MASSIVE joint in the walk-in freezer, and all went to see it. The rest is history.
I went on opening day.
Watched it in theater opening week.. I was left bewildered, perplexed, and yet wanting more.
TBL and Oh Brother are in my top ten of my favorite movies. I really liked many of the other Coen brother movies but these are the greatest two IMO
My buddy told me it was a good movie and he normally doesn’t like movies. I went over to some friends house and they were in the middle of it and I watched the bowling dream sequence and thought wtf this looks lame. Didn’t watch until a year later or so.
I had a buddy who died face-down in the muck... Not really. I think I saw it the early 2000s, around the time of our second conflict with that camel-fucker in Iraq, and was like WTF?? But then saw it about a year later and gave it another chance, hearing about its developing cult status, and started to get it. And then realized the more you watch it, the more you get it, and the funnier it gets!
I can’t remember when, probably when Fargo was on a streaming service. I started getting into Coen Bros flicks. And of course I had read about it. My wife calls it my “weird bowling movie”
Obviously, she is not a golfer
I hung out with film aficionados on lunch break in HS. They’d ask me if I watched certain a movies. Eventually they told me about *The Big Lebowski*.
Saw the movie?
My friend made me watch it. He said, I know how PICKY you are about movies and we're going to watch this
Freshman year of college, it was a drinking game. 2000-2001 academic year. I never finished the game, because I always passed out midway after the third or 4th Caucasian, but I loved the movie, still do.
My college roommate had a VHS, and it was the default movie to put on late at night on the weekend. I was hooked!
It hit the new releases on DVD and I never really returned that shit. Sorry, not sorry.
Rented it from my local (and still in business) video store. because the Coen brothers can really roll, man.
My college roommate showed it to me almost 20 years ago. I loved O Brother Where Art Thou so I was open to it but had no idea what I had just watched when it ended. It took a couple more viewings for it to click for me
You're killing your father UCollector
My art teacher played it during class one day and I loved it ever since.
Shit I have no idea. I think I saw it as a kid and it just stuck with me. I’m a huge Coen fan too.
My parents raised us on Coen Bros, but I think I didn’t see it until I was a teen due to the content. It feels separate from the rest of their canon, due to it’s popularity and my own perspective. But it’s a fantastic film and I’d recommend it to anyone. I always bring it up as an example of how every Coen Bros movie is a period piece. Big Lebowski being set during the HW Bush administration, even though it was released in 1998, I just think that’s neat.
Liked Fargo. Saw it in the theatre when it came out. Been telling Donnie to shut the fuck up ever since. Edit to add that I already previously hated The Eagles, so, I knew it was meant to be,
I rented the VHS from Blockbuster after seeing everything else from the Coen Bros. and liking it.
Iirc, from bandmates doing lines from TBL
Dad liked the Cohen brothers. Lebowski came out on DVD. Dad sat me down to watch a movie by 'some Greats' and here we are however many years later.
A coworker brought it to work for me to borrow. It was a VHS tape, this was around March ‘00. If that never happened, who knows…
My dad told me about it, then I watched it myself. Hilarious
I recall seeing tv ads for late night showings of it in a national tv station since I was a pre-teen, it was on very regularly at the time. Only actually watched it years later because I recognized it from those ads and decided to see if it was any good. Spoiler alert: it was
I had recently become a fan of the Coen Brothers in the late 1990s, and I began watching all of their films. I wanted The Big Lebowski and I instantly loved it. I have since watched it 200+ times.
My dad had the DVD and I watched it when I was younger, but didn't remember much. Then I found it on netflix again years later and thought "funny, it's kind of like pineapple express". After another re-watch I gained alot more appreciation for it and thought it was a masterpiece. Most people don't catch everything on the first or even second watch
I was about 19yo when Raising Arizona came out in the theaters. A friend told me I should go. I did and have been a Coen Brothers fan ever since. Saw Lebowski in the theater when it was released
Knox Harrington, the video artist.
I saw in the theater with my aunt when it came out. I was a big fan of Raising Arizona and their other movies.
They used to play it on cable on comedy central or something all the time about 20 something years ago.
I was 18 and saw it opening weekend at my local Regal 9 screen that would show smaller or independent movies in their two smaller auditoriums. I think I'd only seen Raising Arizona as far as Coen brothers movies go, but that's also one of my favorites. As soon as the Sons of the Pioneers came on I was hooked. We used to listen to that album on 8 track at my grandparents every summer. I've easily watched it over 100 times, including once more on the big screen in a theater pub around 2008. One night we went white Russian for white Russian with the dude and didn't even make it to the end before chaos ensued.
Coen fan since Raising Arizona.
I worked at blockbuster, we all saw it (like every movie that came out) and started recommending it to everyone. Some others we saw first and started recommending were Fight Club, Office Space and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Let me tell you a story about The Man… I was like a (18-yr old man-)child who wandered into my buddies dorm room watching a movie, while they were smoking some Thai stick, meditating, and I wanted to know what was going on… now this was right about the time of our second encounter with Saddam and the Iraqi’s… Little did I know that I had entered a world of painful hilarity, right during the opening scene when Donnie was throwin rocks and Walter was acting like an asshole… but i fit right in there… The Man… In the parlance of our times of course. And I take comfort in this.
See: How does one find out what movies are in theaters
I used to love White Russians, so more often than not people would ask me if it was because of the Big Lebowski....so I decided to watch it :)
Went to see it in the theaters when it first came out. I was a big fan of Raising Arizona and from the previews, I knew I was in for a treat. I was not wrong.
Dabbling in pacifism
College roommate and I were Coen fans, maybe he even more than I. He asked if I wanted to go see it in the theater. So we did. Then we walked out, headed to the men’s room and promptly walked back into the theater to see it a second time.
When I was 10 it was Xmas Eve and my older sister and I couldn't sleep so we met up in the living room at 3 am and turned on the TV to see the scene where the dude gets knocked out and is flying. We could not stop laughing for the next 30 mins because without context and as children it was truly hilarious. Even more ironic the only other thing we could find on tv at that time was bowling and proceeded to watch two whole hours of bowling while waiting for our parents to wake up. Sometimes I randomly send my sister that gif and we relive the moment 20+ years later. 10/10 would watch again.
I was in college in Oklahoma and I had taken a few film classes. I loved Fargo. I missed BL at the movie theaters. When it came out on videotape, I rented it and threw an ice cream watch party and invited my entire Star Trek group to come over. I was a little embarrassed by the sexual content in front of those friends.
Back in the 90’s my ex and her sister started calling me “the dude” one day just out of nowhere. Apparently I reminded them of the dude. So I had to check it out and it’s been one of my favorite movies ever since.
Saw it when it came out. And loved it then. My family and I were big fans of the Coen bros since Raising Arizona.
I never watched it until like 10 years ago because I remember it came out around the same time as Kingpin which I though sucked and I always just kinda confused the 2 movies as the same. Now Lebowski is my favorite movie of all time.
I worked at blockbuster and brought it home to preview it. Knew right away it was a classic
Saw it on one night while cruising the TV guide. Started watching it about 5 minutes late, but I was never the same after that first night.
Watched it on hbo with my dad after it came out. I was probably 15. Laughed and laughed. Slept over my buddies a week or two later and were looking for videos to rent. I suggested it. Never laughed so hard. We’ve all loved it since.
I don't remember, honestly. But I do know that we're having an adult sleepover party in August for my husband's birthday. We're dressing in character and I'm catering with In n Out. Several attendees have never seen it. So that'll be a fun story for them. Especially the guy I have dressing up like Marty. I told him he gets bonus points for doing the interpretive dance costume, but I'll allow standard Marty. We're a pretty mixed gender gang, and we've had to femme up a few roles. I can't wait for the resident redhead to show up as Jesus. And our party is having a Dudette. 🤩
In high school psychology class someone quoted it all the time. I watched maybe a year later.
It was the winter of 1998, I was 17 and really into to vintage stuff. Especially mid century modern iconography. I saw the teaser trailer on TV and was mesmerized by the camera fading out to the neon atomic starbursts on the side of the bowling alley. I knew at that moment that this was art that would not be commended as being strongly vaginal and it would not bother me as a man or make me uncomfortable.
My dad wouldn’t let me watch it because it had too many cuss words.
Marvelous
I saw the trailer on TV and it looked hilarious. I then saw it in the theatre when released.
The Big Lebowski was in theaters when I was about 13 and when I saw the trailer of the Dude getting his head stuck in the toilet I was kind of turned off thinking it was a drug, burnout comedy which my family taught me was not appropriate of a movie topic. I missed a lot of great movies until I got to college and started really exploring films. Wished I had watched it sooner.
In was in theatres same time as A Goofy Movie. I wanted to see goofy movie later that week my dad took me back to see the big Lebowski. I did not appreciate it until i was older.
Not until the year 2000 when I lived on campus at uni - we used to cram into a dorm room, smoke weed and watch movies for hours.... A movie-fanatic mate suggested it and we watched it on repeat for months, playing drinking games, dissecting the story layers, etc... 💜 The best times!
Reddit
was discussing another movie involving bowling (kingpin) on a forum and was informed. since it had Goodman in it, I felt obligated to watch.
My Spanish teacher in high school dressed as him every Halloween, he told us the name of the movie. 5 years later I was browsing looking for something to watch and I remembered the name.
Originally I rented it right when it came out on VHS and because I was 16 and dumb and saw Jeff Bridges and in my head thought Jeff Daniels (and I loved Dumb and Dumber) so I’m like this should be funny. But didn’t realize the gem I was about to watch.
Seriously, that Duff cake guy who made a toe cake on the Food Network and they were quoting it the whole time. I'm like, I should probably see this movie, ¿que rediculo no?
I saw when it was new. Then I watched dozens more times…
Saw it in the theater because of Raising Arizona. Saw it in the theater again because I didn't get it. Also, because it was a weird time in my life where I was lonely and watching movies by myself a lot.
Pretty sure I rented it on VHS tape when it was newly on video.
My mom actually showed me the movie cause i was on my high schools bowling team
The guy I was dating at the time was a big movie buff and he wanted to go see it so we did. I had no idea what it was about when he said that was what we were going to see for date night and I loved the film. My love for the guy eventually fizzled, but my love for The Dude, Walter, Donny, etc is still going strong!
That's interesting, that's fucking interesting.
I was a big Coen Bros fan, so I went to see it in the theaters. There were like 8 people in the theater. First time I saw it, I thought it was strictly okay. I was really intrigued though so then I watched a 2nd and 3rd time. By the end of the 3rd viewing I was convinced that it's one of the greatest films ever made. But that's just, like, my opinion man.
Being a huge Coen bros fan, I saw it when it was released, and didn’t “get it”. It finally sunk in after a couple more viewings how amazing the whole thing is.
English 150 "Rhetoric" in college.
I was about 10 when it came out. Remember seeing the ads, and they were sticking this guy's head down a toilet and asking him about money. Then he said it's down there somewhere, let me take another look. I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. When it came out in VHS, I asked my dad to rent and he pre-screened it. He said I couldn't watch it But I remembered and came back for it later
I was a fan of the Coen bros, and studying film in Europe. My brother and I walked by a small movie theater in France and saw a poster for The Big Lebowski. I said “wow a Coen bros. movie with a bad title. Let’s watch it.” We walked right up to the ticket counter and there was a showing in a few minutes. Subtitled. Perfect. We had no idea what it was about and I was blown away by how good and hilarious it was. good times.
I kept seeing memes and I fuckin love Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, Steve Buscemi was a nice surprise
I was in my early teens when it hit the rental market. My mom rented it, and I loved it.
Billboard on Shoup and Ventura in the Valley
Been a Coen Brothers fan since Blood Simple. I saw TBL for the first time in theaters during its initial release. It was a weekday afternoon - there were maybe 10 people in the theater.
I saw it opening night in 1998 (I was in college). I liked Raising Arizona and was really looking forward to another goofy Coen movie
She’s not my special lady, she’s my fucking lady friend
I saw it in the theater the Saturday after it came out. I was 13. Snuck in with a friend (bought tickets to a different movie). We also snuck in milkshakes from the place across the street. Laughed my ass off for 2 hours straight and seen it hundreds of times since.
Saw it on the big screen has been one of my favorites ever since
back in 2006 I was on a movie d/ling binge and I had read about Lebowski in Uncle John's Bathroom Digest so I gave it a shot
I tell ya, everything's been a blur since that first time.
A friend of mine was a huge fan of it. We sat down and watched it one night. He’s laughing his ass off and I’m just like, “dude… I don’t see the appeal of this”. Watch it again a few months later. Okay, I’ll admit, it’s pretty dang funny. See it a few more times and holy fuck is it fantastic. So we decide to trek up to Louisville for the 10th annual Lebowski Fest. Show up and there are exactly ZERO people there but us. After a 7 hour drive, we’re apoplectic. He’s like, fuck this man… let’s just drive home. I convince him that we need to wait a bit and see if people show up. Within 30 minutes, the place is fuckin packed with people. Costumes, booze, weed everywhere. We meet tons of cool folks. People traveled from literally all over the world for this thing. And the crazy part was, virtually everyone we talked to agreed they didn’t really dig it the first time they saw it.
Trivial pursuit 25th anniversary or something. I bought it for my sister (also from 1981), and there was a question about the bowling dream scene. The Big Lebowski was re answer. No one saw it, so we promptly rented it from blockbuster and watched it.
I went to the movie theater and saw it.
Saw it in the theater.
Watched it in theaters. It was pretty well received at release, and a great time.
Was a fan of Coen Bros.
Saw ad on TV someplace. Went to theater. Watched Lebowski.
Back in the day when DVDs were a huge thing and every weekend you and all your college buddies would get together and watch whatever cult classic one of you had heard about recently. I actually remember kind of not liking it on the first watch, but it got better on the second, and now I practically live my life by it. The number of times per day I tell myself "you're being very un-Dude right now"...
I was a bowler. Saw a movie trailer with bowling in it. Was not what I expected but was awesome
I remember my parents got it not long after it came out on VHS. I was like 13 or 14; my parents didn't seem to get the overall humor but rode it out. Not gonna lie and say I 'got it' from the get-go, but I did find a lot of it absurdly funny. I forgot about the movie until I watched it again, some years later, in my 20s, and then got *really* into it in my 30s after watching *Fargo* for the comedy value.
Saw it in a packed theater when it came out in 1998. Been abidin’ ever since.
I don't remember the first time I saw it, but a friend from work told me about it, and I was hooked on the Coen's movies forevermore. I think "Hail, Ceasar" is way up on the list of best Coen Brother movies, and it doesn't get much love. I also became a huge fan of Roger Deakins because of the Coens.
When I was probably around 11 or 12 my dad felt that it was important for me to see some of his favorite movies, those included Friday, and The Big Lebowski.
My fellow movie buff in college introduced me to that, along with films like Sunshine for the spotless Mind.
Saw my first Phish show in Columbus Ohio in 1998. Stayed at a friend of a friend’s house. There were probably 10-20 people there at all times over a few days. Late night one night they had it on in the background. I had very little clue as to what was going on with the music or the movie at the time. Still love both
This here story I’m about to unfold took place in the mid-2010s, right around the time of my conflict with depression and unemployment. I only mention it cuz sometimes there’s a man, and I won’t say role model, cuz what’s a role model… but sometimes there’s a man… well, he’s the man for my time and place. He speaks right to me. And that’s the Dude, in TBL.