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Now, there are getting to be too many such things, but I think these two are simply brilliant and I would LOVE to have both hanging in my living room. Artist Joshua Budich is to thank for these great Big Lebowksi triptychs! Click on the images to zoom to Reelizer where you can check out higher resolution versions.
The Guardian has a great piece about Jeff Bridges. Basically it’s a bunch of quotes from people who’ve had the pleasure to have worked with him. Among those quoted are long time Coen collaborators, costume designer, Mary Zophres and cinematographer extraordinaire, Roger Deakins.
Mary Zophres
Costume designer: The Big Lebowski (1998), True Grit (2010)
“Jeff is one of the most fun actors I’ve ever dressed. He’s the definition of a character actor. Not all actors are helped by their costume, and he’s an example of someone who is. Because the costume fitting happens so early on in the process, we’re sort of the first information he gets about the character. He was doing press for Crazy Heart while he was preparing for True Grit, but I had done all this research, so I had all this information that I was sharing with him about the historical period. He took it in like a sponge. He loves the costume fitting because it helps put him in that era. On the fittings for both True Grit and The Big Lebowski, there was a distinct moment where his posture changed and he went into character right before my eyes. That is such a thrill for a costume designer – it’s why I do movies, to contribute to the story by helping an actor find his character.
Jeff makes acting look like no big deal, but he can only pull that off because he puts in so much preparation. On Lebowski, he had all these notes all over the script – from front to back, in the margins, everywhere. He thinks a lot about everything but at the same time he’s very loose. I’m still amazed by his performance in True Grit: so much of what an actor communicates is in the eyes, and yet he brought all that nuance while wearing an eye patch. He’s been good in everything he’s been in. You look at all the characters he’s played and you can never see the acting. Look at Starman: I love him in that. I’d never seen anybody play an alien like that before.”
Roger Deakins
Cinematographer: The Big Lebowski, True Grit
“It was the funniest and most unexpected thing seeing Jeff in costume for the first time on Lebowski. I’d seen him mostly as a serious actor, things like The Last Picture Show and The Fabulous Baker Boys, so to suddenly see him on set as this dishevelled, ageing ex-hippy was very funny, and quite a transformation. Jeff is so much of the film really. We held the focus on him a lot because there’s a subtlety to his comedy that takes a while to hit you. It’s not laugh-out-loud straight away; you’ve gotta keep your eye on him, the way he develops the character, and that’s where the comedy comes from. You’ve gotta watch him pour his White Russian and spill it everywhere.
Joel and Ethan [Coen] had never used playback so they were a bit sceptical about how much time it would take on Lebowski. But Jeff was funny; as soon as they called “Cut”, he’d rush over to the playback guy and watch the take . In the time it took us to put the board on for the next shot, he’d run back and be in position for the next shot. He did it on True Grit, too. I guess it’s to see how he’s coming across: is the performance that he’s doing and feeling coming over on camera?”
Far out, man! Universal Home Entertainment have let the cat out of the bag regarding the specs and special features of their The Big Lebowski: Limited Edition Blu-ray due for release on 16th August. Most importantly it is a brand new transfer, not merely a re-do of the 2007 HD-DVD release. It’ll be 1080p (of course) presented in it’s original theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and even a digital copy. It comes in a lovely looking 28 page booklet and has a bunch of new special features on top of those present in the 2008 10th Anniversary Edition DVD;
New Special Features:
Additional Special Features:
The disconcerting thing (for me at least- I’m in the UK!), is that it will be a genuine limited edition- being available for only a set time although they haven’t stated how long as yet. However previous Universal releases have been region free so it should work outside of the US/Canada.
Dudes, get your diaries out right now! The Big Lebowski is coming to Blu-ray on August 16th according to the Canadian branch of Universal Home Entertainment! Nothing is know at present except for this tantalising image of the awesome artwork / booklet! I think this will really tie my movie collection together!
That’s right! The LA Times is reporting that the wonderful cardigan worn by Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski is up for auction on Saturday! Hollywood Memorabilia are having an auction at the Saban Theater (8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills) as well as online (through icollector.com), and the current highest bid is already $10,000!
Also, tantalisingly, the company that made the original, Pendleton Woolen Mill, will apparently be selling new ones from September — for a more affordable $188.
I’m just gonna go find a cash machine…
Jeff Yorkes is an LA-based film editor and, in his spare time, he puts together really tremendous “Cinemashups” where he couples a fitting piece of music to a movie and re-edits it to really tie together. He’s been in touch to alert me to this- his genuinely amazing and hilarious mash-up of The Big Lebowski and Quincy Jones’s ‘The Dude’. Check it out below and pay attention to the lyrics and how Jeff has married them to the images.
JY CINEMASHUP – The Dude from Jeff Yorkes on Vimeo.
Brilliant stuff! Here’s hoping he does more Coen brothers-related ones.
Popped Culture is an inspired website/blog that you should keep an eye on. Lately it has featured two frankly bonkers Coen brothers poster mash-ups. First up is the amazing The Big Lebowski / Jaws munge by Dave MacDowell…
Secondly is Stefan Fahler’s Barton Fink / Kill Bill mash-up…
I followed a tweet to this frankly awesome site, Reelizer, where artists submit their re-dos of movie posters. Obviously there are a bunch of Coen brothers inspired ones like the Hudsucker Proxy and Big Lebowski ones below.
These things are usually pretty bloody gorgeous and these are no exception. I found the two above plus ones for True Grit, No Country For Old Men, a crazy one for Raising Arizona and another for Lebowski and True Grit.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to apologise for being a bit lazy with the site over the last few months. Unfortunately real life has stepped in and got in the way. Normal service will, hopefully, be resumed very shortly.
Yesterday Empire Magazine hosted a live webchat with none other than Ethan Coen. Ostensibly it was to discuss True Grit, which is released in the UK tomorrow, but the subject matters were wide and varied. I have cheekily copy and pasted it below but if you prefer to read it au naturel then head over to Empire’s site.
j_clark says: What made you choose to refer majorly to the original text [of Charles Portis’ True Grit] as opposed to the ‘69 film?
Well, I’ll tell you: we saw the ‘69 film in ‘69 so we didn’t remember it very well. The impetus for making the movie was an enthusiasm for the book, and we really only vaguely remembered the movie.
rhysf1 says: Do you find it difficult faithfully adapting a novel and not being able to use some of your classic dialogue and character names?
Character names, that’s interesting, because we actually rewrote a script once as a writing job because we liked one of the character names. The name was basically all we liked from the original script: the character’s name was Gus Petch. We actually ended up making the movie, it was Intolerable Cruelty. But no, we don’t store up names for later use, so we didn’t feel stymied in not being able to use our own character names.
Miles Messervy 007 says: Why ‘Roderick Jaynes’?
Oh, I don’t know. The name came out of the air, I don’t know. We decided he was from Hove, and embittered. Possibly the two things are related. I don’t know where the name came from, though.
Drew 666 says: What makes Joel laugh?
Still searching…
Could you talk about when you bring DoP Roger Deakins in and how his input impacts production? What’re the main things that Roger brings to the process?
He comes in as early as he can, and that’s totally contingent on his schedule. If he’s free, long before we start shooting then what we usually do is a draft of the storyboards without him and then a draft with him. We scout locations with him, again contingent on his schedule. He basically does everything with us from the point he’s able to sign on. Participating in the location scouting and the storyboards is important because it just goes to what the movie looks like, and if he’s shooting something.
Daryn says: Now that cinema tastes seemed to have changed and audiences seem more open to arthouse and experimental movies, is there any chance we will ever see your adapation of To The White Sea?
Oh no. We worked on it with a producer named Richard Roth, and Jeremy Thomas. They’re both great – Jeremy came very close to getting us the budget, which was large given the nature of the movie. But he came up short even with Brad Pitt doing the movie for free. So if we failed under those circumstances I don’t know that we’ll ever succeed. Also, Brad’s too old now.
J.D. DRUMPELLIER says: Would you ever consider making a horror film? I know you’ve dabbled with classic genre horror imagery in Blood Simple and the like, but would you ever consider just making an all-out horror picture in the same vein as Raising Arizona is an all-out farcical comedy?
Funny you should ask. Yes, we’re working on a couple of scripts now; one of which it would be fair to call a full-on horror movie. Frances McDormand is the monster.
thatfilmlover says: Joel and yourself have directed six actors to Oscar nominations, and two of them to wins. Now with Hailee [Steinfeld] and True Grit, what’s your secret to getting the best out of actors?
Not doing anything. We just cast actors who know what they’re doing and who we like working with. Actually, the whole directing actors is a mystery to me. I don’t know that we really do anything. We’d like to take credit for all their performances but…
nickjhp says: I was just wondering what the significance of the first scene in A Serious Man is? Oh… beats me. It’s better with it than without it, right? I don’t know.
El Dukerino says: Charles Portis has been described as “like Cormac McCarthy, but funny”. Do you think that’s fair?
It’s unfair to Cormac. They’re both very funny. Cormac is… I was going to say drier, but that’s not true: Charles Portis is very dry. Maybe we were unfair to Cormac: there were a lot of laughs in the novel No Country For Old Men, as there are in his other books, but we didn’t include any of them. Probably because they’re mostly in the sheriff’s monologues, which are totally absent from the movie.
Rhu says: Are there any of your films that feel more “yours” or more “Joel’s”? Or is everything really 50/50?
No, we write them all together, we talk through each script. There’s no separating even bits of movies, much less whole movies as between the two of us.
TaraReid says: Hi Ethan! When are we starting filming on Lebowski 2? My agent apparently knows nothing but I still have the job don’t I?
This was in the US press – Tara Reid announcing Lebowski 2. George Clooney periodically announces a movie called Hail Caesar that we’re apparently going to do with him. And John Turturro’s been after us for years to do a movie focused on his character in The Big Lebowski, the paedophile.
fakeplasticmax says: What are your thoughts on Lebowski’s immense cult following, with things like The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski and the Church of the Latter-day Dude? Did you in some way expect the Dude phenomenon to take off as spectacularly as it did?
No, I haven’t heard of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude. Do they actually convene and hold services? No, we didn’t expect that, no.
James Barrett says: Is there a possibility that you may remake the sequel to True Grit (Rooster Cogburn, 1975) in the future?
Yes, if we can get Cate Blanchett to do the Katharine Hepburn part. We’re in negotiations with her people.
Buddy says: Barton Fink is hired to write a wrestling picture. The Naked Man, which you co-wrote, was a wrestling picture (albeit a rather strange one) what can you tell us about their connection (if any connection exists)?
What would be a not-strange wrestling picture? I don’t know, no connection. People like wrestling. There are just some things that people like. People like cows. People like Dutch doors. One just recognises what people like.
Finkblot says: Joel, have you considered working with Sam Raimi once again? Hudsucker Proxy was a revelation, and Crimewave was insane!
No, Sam’s too busy. We’re game. We’re in negotiations with his people.
rolotomasi says: What is your attitude towards film criticism? Do you pay attention to the reviews your pictures get?
Yes, I love reading reviews. I love reading bad reviews. When they’re really nasty they feel personal in a way that you never get in real life, where people are generally polite. They’re really interesting – actually, and I always find it mysterious what gets up people’s noses. Good reviews are not so interesting, because it’s basically people saying, “I really liked your movie,” which they do say in real life.
Mrs. Fink says: Ethan, I have to know… what’s your favourite sandwich?
Oh. Well, OK, prosciutto and mozzarella, a little arugula, oil and vinegar on it. Are you offering?
DavisBrown says: How long did it take you to find the right person to play the character of Mattie Ross? Do you enjoy working with younger people on set?
Many months. Casting people were looking throughout the States for about six months, at least, before we started shooting, and they saw thousands of people – probably 15,000 girls, either in person or through online submissions. 14,990 of them were dreadful. Joel and I saw a tiny fraction of who the casting directors saw, a few of whom were interesting. But we only saw Hailee Steinfeld about four weeks before we started shooting. We were starting to feel some anxiety until we met her. And it’s fun working with young people. The process has been fun for her in a way that it sometimes isn’t for us and the other more experienced actors. And that’s actually contagious on the set.
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| John Turturro’s been after us for years to do a movie focused on Jesus from The Big Lebowski. |
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Rhu says: Does it feel weird after the Oscar win, that you now basically are a part of the establishment? It would have seemed incredibly unlikely not that long ago.
Yes, it’s very strange. I was in the Oscar mosh pit last year, looking around thinking, “I actually know most of these people.” It’s alarming. But I don’t think we can be blamed for it; we got nominated for A Serious Man – I mean, who could blame us for that?
lloydwhittle says: What character are you most proud of creating?
Sy Ableman. Fred Melamed’s character in A Serious Man. Best movie monster ever!
Michael Welsh says: I remember reading you basically went door to door to finance Blood Simple – would you give the same advice to aspiring filmmakers today?
I don’t know, I really don’t know. That was more than 25 years ago, so I don’t know how relevant our experience is now. I don’t know what the experience of starting out in the movie business is now.
Mark_It_Zero says: What’s the one thing that you and your brother argue most about?
We don’t really argue. When we’re writing it’s not even like there are opposing points of view; mostly it’s like we’re staring at the wall and any idea is welcome. And once the script is finished the process of writing the script together has us obviously very much on the same page. We have other long-standing collaborators as well and we also don’t argue with any of them – we’re obviously very non-confrontational people.
Marmotman says: Any plans on going into a big-dollar TV series a la Spielberg, Bruckheimer etc? Even if not, any old TV shows either side of the pond that you’d like to remake?
No, hadn’t thought about it.
kathen says: You guys always manage to get your actors to have the best hair, but which hairstyle was your favourite? (I personally think Tilda Swinton’s in Burn After Reading is glorious)
Yeah, that was good. There’s one scene in a restaurant with Tilda and George; the restaurant has copper-coloured sconces that perfectly match her hair. But I think my favourite is John Turturro’s wedge in Barton Fink. Look for Barry Pepper’s hair in True Grit, hair enthusiast.
oamr9792 says: Do you have any plans to write another book of short stories to go with your films?
I’ve written a few stories, but I’ve gotten lazy; not enough to compose a book. And I probably won’t have any time soon.
Sully114 says: I was wondering why Jeff Bridges eye patch in True Grit is on the opposite eye than John Wayne’s?
(Burying head in hands) I’m stumped.
Buddy says: Do you still plan on doing an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s Cuba Libre or have you already satisfied your appetite for Westerns?
Oh, we did do a script of that but it was just a writing job, many years ago when the book came out. But it wasn’t something for us to make.
| What makes Joel laugh? I’m still searching… |
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Gringo says: Has there ever been a book that you’d love to see on the screen but you can’t think how to make the adaptation work?
No. That’s a strange, logically imperfect question somehow; the two novel adaptations that we’ve done we did because they struck us as promising movie material. I don’t know how a book would strike us as that and yet seem impossible to adapt into a movie.
andthorough says: What would you say your favourite piece of music is from one of your films?
Boy, I like so much of what Carter Burwell has done; every single movie of ours has been with Carter doing the underscoring. The theme from The Man Who Wasn’t There which we did with Billy Bob Thornton, I really like, and A Serious Man. Those two were original with Carter. Some movies he takes themes he or we have found and adapts them, and the score of True Grit is thematically based on four 19th century Protestant hymns. All his music is great; I actually really enjoy that part of the movie because we have so little input into it that it’s harder for us to get sick of the music than it is for other parts of the film.
Finkblot says: What will your next project be? Gambit? Old Fink? Or something previously unannounced?
Gambit was also a writing job. It seems like the movie is going to get made but not by us; it never was to have been. [As for] Old Fink, the Barton Fink sequel: John Turturro is not old enough yet. And the whole thing may be more a thought experiment than a movie. We don’t really know what we’re doing yet; we’re working on a couple of scripts.
I fucking love Jeff Bridges! What a legend! Take a look at this video…
Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.