Hello, this is Everything Else, the FT Culture podcast. I'm Al.

And I'm Grizz. First up, we're going to be looking at the Big Lobowski 20 years after its release.

How well has it dated? And earlier this week, I talked to John Cooper Clark, the Bard of Salford, the

People's Poet and one of the Mattiest Dresses in the Nightiest Dresses in the Night. The Big Lobowski

was in cinemas last month to mark 20 years after its release in 1998.

Al, you're a fan of this cult classic, aren't you?

A big fan, and I can't believe it's 20 years.

It's flashed by in a haze of white Russians and bowling.

And two-tone shoes.

A two-tone shoes.

The Big Lobowski, I think, is an important film in so far as I think it's

influenced almost everyone I know, at least all the men I know, of roughly my age in their late

30s. It is a classic and I think it continues to be wonderful and hilarious and enlightening in every possible way.

But not everyone necessarily will agree with that.

No, I mean, I have sat through many conversations, often with the ex-boyfriends of past,

sort of sitting me down and explaining the Big Lobowski to me.

After you've broken up, you thrash out the Big Lobowski. No, no, no, this is before breaking up. And perhaps you're leading up to breaking up to. They sit me down and they explain. This is why the Big Laversky is so brilliant. You've got to understand this. This is very important for your education. There's a kind of cult worship

and a religion that has built up around the Big Lebowski. Do you just tell them to pack up their

weed and leave your flat? I'm taking the bowling ball with me. No, it inspires a level of

devotion, unlike many other films, which is why we're talking about it now.

I think the question is, though, has it stood the test of time?

In a word, yes.

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