Do You See What Happens, Larry?
by Baby Huey

Ok, so this week's editor's pick of "greatest opening lines to a movie" was my idea, I think. I regret it. This was fucking hard! There are so many great lines at the beginning of movies, but not the ACTUAL beginning. Lines like:

  • "I was born a poor black child"
  • The Shitty Beetles? Are they any good?
  • On my command, unleash hell!

However, there's only one that just screams "BEST EVER" to me.

lebowski.jpg"Way out west there was this fella I wanna tell ya about. Goes by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. See, this Lebowski, he called himself "The Dude". Now, "Dude" - there's a name no man would self-apply where I come from. But then there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place so darned interestin'. See, they call Los Angeles the "City Of Angels"; but I didn't find it to be that, exactly. But I'll allow it as there are some nice folks there. 'Course I ain't never been to London, and I ain't never seen France. And I ain't never seen no queen in her damned undies, so the feller says. But I'll tell you what - after seeing Los Angeles, and this here story I'm about to unfold, well, I guess I seen somethin' every bit as stupefyin' as you'd seen in any of them other places. And in English, too. So I can die with a smile on my face, without feelin' like the good Lord gypped me. Now this here story I'm about to unfold took place in the early '90s - just about the time of our conflict with Sad'm and the I-raqis. I only mention it because sometimes there's a man... I won't say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? Sometimes, there's a man. And I'm talkin' about the Dude here - the Dude from Los Angeles. Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the Dude. The Dude, from Los Angeles. And even if he's a lazy man - and the Dude was most certainly that. Quite possibly the laziest in all of Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide. Sometimes there's a man, sometimes, there's a man. Well, I lost my train of thought here. But... aw, hell. I've done introduced it enough."

How much more can I say? This is the most awesome introduction to any movie, ever. Look at it this way. Ever heard of The Big Lebowski drinking game? You drink every time they say "Dude," "Man," or "Lebowski." Let's assume that one "drink" is one fluid ounce. In the course of this opening monologue, you'd finish a beer and a half. This monologue can't be much more than one or two minutes long. And it just sets the tone for the entire movie.

As I'm writing this, a Dunkin Donuts commercial came on featuring a voiceover by none other than Walter Sobcheck himself, John Goodman. And as he's hawking donuts or coffee or whatever the fuck they're selling, I can't help but imagine him asking if we'd ever heard of a place called Vietnam.

I dunno, that's just one dude's opinion of the greatest opening to a movie ever. What's your favorite?

-Baby Huey

Comments

The dude abides.

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Okay, that's it, you've all convinced me. I've owned The Big Lebowski for a couple of years, but we've never actually watched it. I know. It's weird. We love Raising Arizona. We love Fargo. How could we never have watched TBL, I can't explain.

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jee-zus christ timmer.

GET ON THAT SHIT.

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I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

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Good movie. The Dude abides.

I wished they'd done more with Sam Elliot though.

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I don't remember the exact first quote of this movie, but it was something like this:

When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

I also liked: "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster."

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