Happy Anniversary: The Big Lebowski

It blows my mind -- that is to say, it is mind-blowing -- that The Big Lebowski turns 10 this year. I mean, what did we even say when we didn’t call each other “dude”? The Coen Brothers’ modern classic, released in 1998, plunked this term into its current context into the modern lexicon. And so much -- so much! -- more. This from the introduction to BFI Film Classics The Big Lebowski by J.M. Tyree and Ben Walters:

Since every last scrap of dialogue from the film is now somebody’s inside joke -- oat sodas! what-have-you! -- The Big Lebowski is now basically a slacker’s bible, to be quoted more or less religiously.

Like the film itself, the book is slender and appears light, yet it is surprisingly powerful, offering up assessments of the movie and its place in modern film -- and cult film -- history, as well as the impact The Big Lebowski has had on the wider world (more than you probably think). It even offers brief comment on other Coen Brothers movies and finds the place where Lebowski fits in the context of the work of these talented and off-beat siblings.

Is it an important book? The depends. Do you think The Big Lebowski is an important film? If the answer is an unhesitating “yes,” run, don’t walk.