Okay sir, you're a Lebowski, I'm a Lebowski, that's terrific.
But, I am very busy, so let's get on with it, and
finally answer the question: Who the fuck are the Knutsen's?
Here are seven things you didn't know about The Big Lebowski.
Probably.
(Music)
>> I bet you didn't know that the Big Lebowski has something in common
with this Sean Kingston music video.
And that thing is this coffee shop.
The coffee shop where this scene takes place is kind of famous in LA.
Mostly because it's not a real coffee shop.
It's only rented out to productions for shoots, so they used it in
The Big Lebowski, as well as in Reservoir Dogs, and American History X, and Gone in
Sixty Seconds, and lots of other movies that I'm not going to bother mentioning.
Because I don't have all day and we got to move on to our next thing.
>> That's (Bleep) interesting, man, that's (Bleep) interesting.
The Big Lebowski has inspired numerous festivals in its honor, and
even a religion with over 200,000 ordained Dudist priests,
which is honestly pretty pathetic.
I mean I love the movie too, but come on.
Anyway, most fans already know that the dude was inspired by a real
dude by the name of Jeff Dowd.
He was even a member of the anti war group The Seattle Seven,
just like his fictional counterpart.
>> Did you ever hear of the Seattle Seven?
>> Hm.
>> But most people don’t know that Walter is also based on a real guy.
>> You think I’m fucking around here?
Mark it zero!
>> While he’s actually based on a few real guys.
John Milius, writer of Apocalypse Now, director of Conan the Barbarian, and
an all around gun enthusiast was one inspiration.
I mean obviously, look at him.
The Coens also drew inspiration for Walter from Lou Abernathy, a writer, actor, and
Vietnam veteran, along with Abernathy's friend Peter Exline, a script consultant.
Now technically, there's a little bit of Exline both in Walter and in the Dude.
See, Exline had the Coens over for dinner one night in 1989 and
he happened to mention that his rug, which he'd salvaged from the trash after his
neighbors had left it behind, really tied the room together.
Sound familiar?
>> It really tied the room together.
>> Another story Exline told the Coens was about when his car was stolen.
After he had gotten back he found a kid's homework in it so
he and Lou Abernathy tracked the kid down and
Abernathy came prepared with a briefcase filled with plastic evidence bags of
the kid's homework, a whopper rapper and whatever else they had found.
Exline also said that the kid's father lived in the living room in
a hospital bed.
So yeah, swap out your Whopper for an In and Out, your hospital bed for
an iron lung, throw in an interpretive dance performed by your landlord and
a few joints, the next thing you know Lebowski is practically a documentary.
Let's talk Lebowski by the numbers.
There are 292 f-bombs in the movie, which sounds like a lot.
But it really sounds like a lot when you find out that The Big Lebowski uses
the f-word more than Scarface.
>> You (Bleep) cockroach.
>> Based on Lebowski's runtime, it averages two whole (Bleep) s a minute.
>> (Bleep) it, man. >> Of course dude gets said a whole lot
clocking in at 160 times,
which does not count the time we see it in print right here.
Man is up there too.
>> Man. Man. Man. Man.
Man. Man. Man. Man.
>> It's in there 147 times which works out to about one and a half per minute.
Then we have 9 White Russians.
5 times that someone says The Dude's rug really tied the room together.
Along with 17 references to The Dude's rug getting R Kelly'd.
>> Not on the rug, man.
>> If you simplified The Big Lebowski to it's most base level, it's a movie about
a guy who's rug get's pissed on and how he deals with that particular problem.
Of course, in the end the rug is just sort of a MacGuffin, but
that didn't stop the publication, Floor Covering Weekly,
from contacting the Coen Brothers for an interview about the rug back in 1998.
Never mind the fact that there's a publication dedicated entirely
to floor coverings, or
the fact that this is a topic that apparently warrants weekly updates.
The cool part of this story is that the Coen brothers were so amused by
the interview request from Floor Covering Weekly that they actually agreed to it.
In fact, it ended up being one of the most lengthy interviews that the notoriously
terse brothers have ever done.
Even though you'd never know it from the printed article.
For one, they spoke at length about the importance of the persian rug
that the dude takes from The Big Lebowski's mansion.
They were even on the phone with the reporter so
long that she was actually the one who had to end the phone call.
And the Coens even offered to pose for
the cover of Floor Covering Weekly with the aforementioned floor covering.
Real bad missed opportunity, Floor Covering Weekly.
Real bad.
>> Lets talk about Jesus's dick.
I mean, not like The Jesus's dick.
That's a different show entirely.
I'm talking about this Jesus's dick.
Anyway, the way they made actor John Turturro's Crotch looks so
robust right here was by stuffing his pants with a bag of bird seed.
(Sound) And now that I know that I may never be able to look at a bag of bird
seed the same way again.
>> Eight year olds dude.
>> It's no secret that The Dude is, shall we say, a reefer enthusiast.
And despite the fact that he was initially reluctant to take the role, it's clear now
that no one else could have played the part as perfectly as Jeff Bridges.
(Cough).
>> So it's even cooler to learn that the Coens didn't actually have to give
Jeff Bridges much direction at all throughout filming.
Before a scene, Bridges would ask them if they thought the dude would have quote,
burned one on the way over.
If they said yes, he'd rub his knuckles in his eyes to make them look red and
that was often all the direction Bridges needed to play the Dude.
>> To tell you the truth Bran, I don't remember most of it.
>> This last thing is for all you conspiracy theorists and
it has to do with the check that the Dude writes at the grocery store.
See, in the background of this scene, George Bush, the first George Bush,
is denouncing Sadat Hussein Well, on the dude's check, the date is September 11th,
1991, which is exactly ten years before the 9-11 attacks.
Obviously it's just a bizarre coincidence.
But thanks to me, now you'll never be able to unsee that little tidbit,and get
really weirded out every time you watch this movie.
Sorry.
On that upbeat note, let's wrap this up.
Now we barely scratched the surface on all the cool stuff we dug up on
The Big Lebowski, so
if you're not subscribed, man, this aggression will not stand.
Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss you our part two,
with even more things you didn't know about The Big Lebowski, coming soon.
Well, not that soon.
You know like, not too soon.
A healthy, appropriate amount of soon.
Anyway, it's coming.
And in that one, we really will explain who the (Bleep) the Knutsens are,
if somehow you really still don't know.
I'm just kidding.
No, we won't.
Thanks for watching and be sure to check out cinefix.com and subscribe for
more truish things about movies and sometimes Jesus is 9/11, Dick.
Right here on Things You Didn't Know.
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