More Than A Decade Later, The Dude Abides

(Article published in today's San Francisco Examiner)

When the Coen Brothers' bizarrely brilliant comedy “The Big Lebowski” was initially released in 1998, it didn’t fare so well at the box office. In the decade that has passed, however, it has become a bona fide cult classic, inspiring such fervent fandom that in 2002 the first "Lebowski Fest" was held in Louisville, and the event has grown every year since.

Bay Area fans can join in on the celebration of the film that starred Jeff Bridges as the Dude, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and Julianne Moore with a host of events this weekend at “Lebowski Fest San Francisco,” which is part of a 15 city tour put together by Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt, who came up with the idea of the festival while working as vendors at a tattoo convention.

“To pass the time we were quoting lines from ‘The Big Lebowski.’ Low and behold, the people next to us joined in and started quoting along with us,” says Russell. “We had this moment where we realized that we were not alone in our obsession and love of the movie, and we were like, ‘If they have this tattoo convention, why can’t we have a ‘Big Lebowski’ convention?’”

Russell and Shuffitt, along with some friends, rented out a run-down bowling alley and invited people to come dressed as their favorite characters and to have a good time—the turnout was much bigger than they had expected, and the festival has continued to grow in popularity, and now travels the country.

“It just keeps getting bigger and weirder and it’s a lot of fun. There are still plenty of surprises and several moments where I’m left scratching my head,” says Russell.

Friday night’s festivities will include a costume contest, trivia contest, and of course, the mass consumption of white Russians while bowling, or rolling rocks, as one would say in the parlance of Lebowski-speak. The party continues on Saturday night as the Fox Theater in Oakland hosts live music acts including Har Mar Superstar and a screening of the motion picture that started it all.

Russell and his cohorts have even written a book about the “Lebowski” phenomenon, “I’m A Lebowski, You’re A Lebowski,” (Bloomsbury, 2007) which lead to their first and only interaction with the Coen Brothers.

“When we asked if we could write the book, they sent a one sentence official response, which was, ‘You have neither our blessing nor our curse.’ It was very Coen-esque I guess,” Russell laughs.

If You Go:
Lebowski Fest
Where:
Classic Bowling Center, 900 King Drive, Daly City
Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
When:
8 p.m. Friday,
7:30 p.m. Saturday
Tickets:
$22.50-$32
Contact:
www.lebowskifest.com