I Can Get You A Toe or..How the Cohen Brothers saved my life.

I am reminded this morning of how stressful my "real life" job can be. I work for a domestic violence/sexual assault crisis line. For 40 hours (and sometimes more) a week, I hear every horror story you can imagine. It is not a glamorous job, there is never any funding and it's pretty thankless, but I still love it. I experience a lot of vicarious trauma in my work and I am always looking for ways to promote good healthy self care. This is where the Cohen Brothers saved my life.

I have three words for you. THE BIG LEBOWSKI. This is possibly one of the best movies ever made, period. I have come home many days, disillusioned with the world, popped this movie in and within a matter of minutes, life is perfect again. I know on an average, I will watch this movie in some form (maybe not all the way through) once a week. This movie is so ingrained in my life that my very own OMP has been Walter a few times for Halloween (if you know OMP, Walter might not be that much of a stretch, just kidding, kinda!). The story is told by a cowboy stranger (Sam Elliott, not Sam Shepard-Thanks Crystal! I get those guys wrong all the time and I can't believe OMP didn't catch that!-I love this man-Hello, Roadhouse!) about "The Dude" Lebowski and how he is mistaken for Mr.Lebowski or "The BigLebowski". There is a kidnapping plot, bowling, and German nihilists in this twisted tales of "in's and out's and a lot of what have you's" . I know between me and OMP we could quote every line of this movie. Apparently I'm not the only person who loves this movie. It didn't do well at the box office but it has become a cult classic. There are numerous groups around the US and even a Lebowskifest that celebrates The Dude and all aspects of the movie. Most words can not express my love for this film. It makes me happy of every level of my being

A few years back I had a lot of crappy stuff happen in my life. I seriously thought the world was crashing in around me, but once again The Cohen Brothers were there to help me out of my slump. This is not a lie...EVERY day for 3 months I came home and watched Oh Brother Where Art Thou. EVERY DAY! It's a tale of Homer's Odyssey told in the 1930's south. This is another movie that I could probably quote every line from but I'll spare you. A few of the same players in The Big Lebowski are in this film as well-John Goodman, John Turturro are the first to come to mind. The adventures are wonderful, the dialogue is amazing and the music is steeped in home town Americana.

Now I'm not saying that The Cohen brothers can cure cancer, they won't solve all the world's problems. Okay, so The Big Lebowski could solve all of the world's problems. What I am saying is that for film making at it finest, for laughs and dialogue that you will be quoting for years to come, you should check out these two movies. Mix up a Caucasian, snuggle up next to your marmot and prepare for a life altering experience that only the Cohen Brothers can provide.