Are you free on Friday 13th November and want a really different night out?
The Bigger Picture Film Club is screening the cult Coen movie, ‘The Big Lebowski’ with free bowling in the back!
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore (1998) 117mins cert 18
There are few cult films revered by its audience more than The Big Lebowski. And even fewer that have so deeply infiltrated the psyche and lexicon — both the laid back, sarcastic demeanour of The Dude and the aggressive no-holds-barred attitude of Walter Sobchak.
The Dude is a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling, drinking White Russians and getting stoned.
His friend, the frustrated and frustrating Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) is a Vietnam veteran.
There is also a hair-netted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple body suits.
And an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas.
The Dude’s real name is Lebowski, which also happens to be the name of a local millionaire, whose wife gets kidnapped, which results in the Dude being indicted into a bluff which may or may not involve German nihilists.
The film is all about Jeff Lebowski’s equanimity in the face of vicissitudes. He is pounded, water-boarded, lied to and insulted. His rug is pissed on and his car set aflame. He is seduced by a woman who wants only his seed. He has a fortune dangled before his eyes, only to have it replaced by telephone books and used boxer shorts. To heal and keep himself whole he stirs himself another White Russian, has a smoke, sits in a warm bath. Like the Buddha, he focuses on the big picture.
But the plot is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own.
Did you know the Dude spawned his own religion - Dudeism?
See the trailer here.
So slip into your comfiest Dude cardigan, dressing gown and jelly shoes or purple cat suit or Viking helmet (optional), gather your bowling friends, claim your free White Russian, bowl for free and see the film of course.
Raffle prizes kindly donated by Rye Books, 45 Upland Road, SE22 and Push Studios, 17 Blackwater Street. Tickets are also available at these locations.
7pm- bar/bowling/themed snacks/etc.
8.30pm film
Come and eat, drink and socialise, bowl before the film - and after.
This is a very special event.
All tickets £9 from WeGotTickets or on the door
More info: The Bigger Picture @ EDT
Upstairs at the East Dulwich Tavern, 1 Lordship Lane,
East Dulwich, SE22
