Lebowski Fest in SF

Huh. The Lebowski Fest is coming to San Francisco. I'm out of town that weekend otherwise I'd think about going. Might be fun, in a kitschy sort of way.

I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski

Pulling a lighter book from the "to be reviewed" pile we have I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski. This is a "fan book" by the people who sort of fell-backward into the task of organizing the "Lebowski Fest" which has now happened several times at various locales across the country. The book hast interviews with various cast members, trivia, and just generally silly stuff (like the Little Larry flipbook down in the corner - he stonewalls with the same face on every page).

If you're a fan of the movie, this book is a pretty entertaining read. They track down a lot of the influences on the movie and interview a ton of different people. For instance, the scene with Little Larry staring down Walter and the Dude is based on a real event. I don't think I've ever watched the movie on network television (I've had it on DVD for years), but apparently the overdubbing is horrendous. "This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass" becomes "This is what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps", which is oddly fitting really. It's the sort of thing that Walter might say. Walter is a gestalt character based on several different people the Coen brothers met (and the authors interview these people), and the Dude is based off one particular guy (also interviewed in the book).

The section at the end about the Fests trails off a bit, because it shades a little bit into obsessive fandom. Look, it's a great movie and all, but people making major life changes based on a movie about aging hippies, Nam vets, and bowling? That's a touch questionable in my book. But it's not the bulk of the book, and it's not a terrible section by any means, just a bit of a quality drop from the main text.

In the final analysis this book is one part a book about the movie, and one part a book about the fans of the movie. It's not high literature, and it doesn't pretend to be. But it's an entertaining read, and it keeps enough of a stream of interesting tidbits flowing that I enjoyed the read-through. It'll make you want to watch the movie again, but y'know, that's not a bad thing. It really is one of those movies that gets better on repeat viewings.