Don't Wash That Bathrobe; Lebowski Fest is Coming
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A fan goes full Dude, complete with bathrobe and drink, at a recent Lebowski Fest
When first we saw the Coen brothers' "The Big Lebowski" years back, and there was that shot of Benito's tacos (when it used to be on Third), and the twinkling lights of our fair city, and Sam Elliott's gentlemanly, twang-filled narration filled the theater, we thought, "okay, we think we're about to watch one of the best movies about Los Angeles ever made."
We were wrong, of course, because "The Big Lebowski" is one of the best movies ever made, period. About Los Angeles, about anywhere, but especially about bowling. We're saying it, we're standing by it, and we're tempted to bowl against anybody who might challenge that sweeping, grandiose statement.
And our enthusiasm for the 1998 noir-dressed-in-flip-flops classic is probably on the low end, when you look at the fans who show up at various Lebowski Fests dressed like the movie's principal character, the Dude, sloshing White Russians and saying "man" about every fourth word. We are so happy that, in a world gone mad, one hero can still wear an old bathrobe and look dapper, if a bit dirty.
Lebowski Fest LA is up on May 7 and 8, with a movie-fun to-do at the Wiltern on Thursday the 7th and a bowl-off at Cal Bowl on Friday the 8th. Many of the film's stars will show during the fest (including Little Larry!), and the fans in costume? Expect bowling shirts and Dude-ish robes and helmets with horns aplenty.
Say it with us now: "Hey, man, careful. There's a beverage in here!"
