The Big Lebowski (R, 1998)

All the Dude (Jeff Bridges) wants is some more milk for his White Russians. Instead, he comes home from an all-night grocery store to an ambush by some thugs who mistake the Dude for Jeffrey Lebowski, a philanthropist with a wife who's racking up debts all over town. The guys shove his head in a toilet, urinate on his rug, and leave the place with a threat. From there on, the Dude just wants to replace his rug, which "tied the whole place together." Following the Dude, THE BIG LEBOWSKI takes the viewer on a crazy ride through psychotic bowling beefs, deception by the disabled, naked, flying art, kidnappings, nihilists, and ransoms. All along, the Dude is accompanied by his blustering Vietnam vet bowling buddy Walter (John Goodman), who gets him in even worse trouble. Will the Dude be able to recover a lost $1 million ransom? Will Maude carry his baby? And what ever happened to the porn actress-turned-trophy wife-turned-supposed kidnapping victim? The Dude will show you.

Nymphomania, pot, White Russians, and the search for a rug to tie his living room together set the stage for The Big Lebowski, a wild ride through Los Angeles' underbelly. Like other Coen brothers' movies, the story is too crazy to be believed -- and so well done you can't stop watching it.

The brilliance of The Big Lebowski isn't so much in the story -- though it's got plenty of twists and turns -- but the characters and actors. Along with the two main players, there's the masterfully creepy and hilarious Jesus (John Turturro), the Oscar-winning and brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Steve Buscemi, who uses his doe eyes to great effect here. Having sung the films praises, it's also important to say that this is NOT a movie for kids.