Just a wee reminder that the the 10th Anniversary DVD of The Big Lebowski is out today.

Empire magazine’s next issue will be a special one. They’ve polled readers and the movie world’s leading lights in an attempt to name the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. To celebreate their next issue, due out on September 25th will have 101 different covers. 100 will appear on the newsstands (see them all here) with a special edition subscriber only cover also being printed. John Goodman’s Walter Sobchack from The Big Lebowski makes the grade for one such cover. So, obviously, the Coens will have at least one entry in the 500. Here it is…

Since life does not stop and start at your convenience – you can order this cover specifically from the website (for the slightly inflated price of £4.90) or take your chances at the newsagents. I would, obviously, like this cover but I’m a subscriber so I will receive the 101st one. I will keep my peepers out for the Walter one on the stands though. He did not watch his buddies die face down in the mud for you to choose a different cover!

Rolling Stone magazine is running a “Decade of the Dude” retrospective in this month’s issue. You can also check it out online. It is divided into the following parts…

Decade of the Dude (kind of article intro)

Video interview with Jeff Bridges

Interview with Jeff Bridges

Interview with Steve Buscemi

Interview with John Goodman

Inside the Dude’s stoner soundtrack

Lebowski on the web (YouTube videos and the like)

Annoted image gallery

Here’s a pic of modern day Jeff Bridges recreating the “Hey man, there’s a beverage here” Limo scene. He still looks cool as fuck! Top man!

I’m sure you’ll agree- it is a good article, and thorough.

Thanks to Marc and William for mailing this in.

Hi, just a quick note to remind you that the poll is still running. If you are yet to cast a vote please do (the poll is also a persistent part of the sidebar on the right). As you can see The Big Lebowski is now clearly in the lead over Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink, which isn’t much of a surprise. The real surprise is that three (3, count ‘em) people have voted The Ladykillers as their favourite Coen brothers movie. It takes all sorts…

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Do you live in North Carolina in the US of A? Assuming you haven’t landed at YKFK by mistake, you love the movies of the Coen brothers. Well, what could be better than watching them for FREE and partaking in discussions about them with critics and fans? Interested? Read on…

ASHEVILLE — People love or loathe the Coen brothers’ movies. A critics’ roundtable event will break them (the movies, not the people) down at screenings of the films at Pack Library.

The critics are Ken Hanke, Marcianne Miller, Jason Souther and Buncombe County Library director Ed Sheary. All showings are at 2 p.m. and are free.

• “Blood Simple” (rated R), Saturday: Introduced by Sheary, a long-time fan of the Coen brothers’ films, this film was the first collaboration between the Coen brothers. Sheary decided to show the film because, he said, “when I saw this film, I began to really understand ‘The Big Lebowski.’”
• “Miller’s Crossing” (rated R), Aug. 23: Introduced by Hanke, this densely plotted film mixes a couple of Dashiell Hammett novels into a cocktail of shaky ethics and ambition.
• “The Big Lebowski” (rated R), Aug. 30: This film will be introduced by Miller, who for many years worked as a TV producer/writer in Los Angeles and, as an avid bowler, used to roll strikes and spares at the Holly Star Lanes seen in this Coen
• “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (rated PG-13): Introduced by Souther, the DVD includes a comment about the film by Joel Coen: “We sort of combine the Three Stooges with Homer’s Odyssey.”

Thanks to Bunnie for mailing this one in.

Pretty much what the title says- the website for the 10th Anniversary DVD release of The Big Lebowski is now live. It’s pretty much an updated version of the website some of you may remember for the previous Special Edition DVD release back in 2005. The front page of this site has some nice movie clips of interviews with the cast (including Jeff Bridges, John Turturro, John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi) and the Coen brothers. Here’s a quote to make you smile ear to ear- John Goodman said, “This is what I’ll be remembered for and that’s aces with me.” If these new interviews are indicative of the extra features on the DVD surely we ALL have to buy it… don’t we?

Thanks to long-time YKFK reader, Bunnie for pointing this one out.

Having seen YKFK’s brand new section, Other Works, someone has been kind enough to send me the link to an advertising agency’s site, Company Films, which have the Coen brothers listed as a “special project” (for reasons I am unsure about). Anyway, from there you can view and download three ads directed by the brothers and also what the site is calling trailers but isn’t. The three ads are for Gap, H&R Block and Parisienne Cigarettes which play one after the other in a loop. The “trailers” part shows the trailer for No Country For Old Men followed by the Gutterballs dream sequence from The Big Lebowski and ends with an extended bunch of clips from Fargo which pretty much runs through the entire plot.

Enjoy!

Poor old Walter, seems he really can’t get away from the horrors of ‘Nam. Below are a few screengrabs from PC first person shooter, The Hell in Vietnam (released in 2007 with an average Gamespot user score of 4.4/10). These shots were clearly taken before Walter dabbled in pacifism…

Thanks to JD for emailing this one in. Originating story.

What with all the news of The Dark Knight being the bestest movie in the world since time began (according to it’s IMDB user rating) and in conjunction with YKFK’s currently running poll to find out which was the best (or more accurately- most favourite) Coen brothers movie, I thought it might be interesting to see what the IMDB users thought in comparison. In terms of ratings here’s IMDB’s rundown of Coen awesomeness first by rating and, where there’s a tie, I’ve given preference to the one with the most votes…

1. No Country For Old Men (8.4, 118,396 votes)
2. Fargo (8.3, 122,902)
3. The Big Lebowski (8.2, 122,119)
4. Miller’s Crossing (8.0, 31,861)
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (7.8, 71,292)
6. Blood Simple (7.8, 19,584)
7. The Man Who Wasn’t There (7.7, 30,891)
8. Barton Fink (7.7, 22,073)
9. Raising Arizona (7.5, 35,918)
10. The Hudsucker Proxy (7.4, 23,968)
11. Intolerable Cruelty (6.4, 26, 521)
12. The Ladykillers (6.2, 27,747)

Now, obviously, this is a live list so it will change over time. I just thought it might be interesting to compare what general movie fans think as opposed to specific Coen brothers fans who visit YKFK. At the moment the YKFK poll has Miller’s Crossing and The Big Lebowski tied at the top with 19% of the votes a piece. Next up is Fargo with 16% followed by Barton Fink with 13%. The bottom two in the YKFK poll unsurprisingly mirror the bottom two in the IMDB rankings, each taking up zero percent of the votes thus far- come on- SOMEONE must like them .

I was very surprised to see No Country For Old Men top the IMDB list whilst it is sixth on ours, but these type of things are always coloured by short memory. Will the IMDB voters still consider No Country superior to Fargo and The Big Lebowski in 10 years time?

Come the end of the YKFK poll (I ain’t decided how long to run it really- perhaps it should never end- your thoughts welcome) we need to decide which of the two polls is more important to us here at YKFK- the one voted for by dedicated Coen nuts or the one voted for by a more general movie fan…

Incidentally, I’m seeing The Dark Knight tomorrow afternoon and am looking forward to it immensely. I am expecting great things but the best movie of all time… nope.

Just a quickie to share these with you guys. Universal have released three menu shots from the forthcoming The Big Lebowski: 10th Anniversary DVD, out on September 9th. They use the theme of a bowling score card and some promotional shots of the Dude and Walter. I’ve never seen the photo with our heroes reclining on the sofas before.