Talk:The Big Lebowski/GA1

GA Review

This is seriously one of the best movies ever. It's definitely one of my favorites, so please forgive me if I get a little picky here and there over the course of this review. :) Overall I think the article is in very good shape; it is well written and correctly formatted, the info is verifiable throughout, it's certainly broad in its coverage (if not comprehensive) and it appears to be stable and neutral. My suggestions/comments for improvement are as follows:

Images:

• The two DVD cover images could use a stronger rationale. The other images seem to be okay.

Two? All I see in the article is one DVD cover for the upcoming 10th Anniversary. That is the one I would like to use as it will be the current DVD art for the film.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I should have been more clear; along with the 10th anniversary cover, I was also referring to the theatrical poster in the infobox. The fair use rationales may be seen as skimpy by some, especially if you plan on taking this to FAC in the future. María (habla conmigo) 16:09, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Prose:

• While The Big Lebowski is not directly based on Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep... this is a great addition, but nowhere is it mentioned in the rest of the article (see WP:LEAD). Large quotes typically do not work in the lead for this very reason, so I suggest using it to build upon the Chandler info that's already in the "Origins" section and then paraphrasing it in the lead.

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a veteran of all the Coen Brothers' films: "a veteran of all..." is somewhat confusing; although I understand what it denotes, the previous sentence mentions a war veteran, which is what confused me, I guess. Although it makes sense in the first sentence of the "Soundtrack" section, I think it needs to be reworded in the lead.

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• has been called "the first cult film of the Internet era.": another quote not present in the body of the article.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) et al: only a suggestion, but since characters/actors are not only mentioned in the lead, but there's also a section dedicated to them, I'd remove the parenthetical attribution in the plot section. It becomes redundant otherwise.

Good call. Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• The Big Lebowski was written around the same time as Barton Fink but when the Coens wanted to make it, John Goodman was taping episodes for the Roseanne television program and Jeff Bridges was making the Walter Hill film, Wild Bill and they decided to make Fargo in the meantime: a bit clunky. Is there any way to split this into two separate sentences?

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• Bridges, Goodman, and Buscemi were trained for the bowling scenes by Barry Asher... who is Barry Asher and why is this notable?

It isn't really. More trivia. Thanks for spotting that.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• I suggest restructuring the last few sections. Because of its importance, the "Legacy" section should stand on its own and perhaps even include "Lebowski fest".

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

References:

• Just a suggestion, of course, and feel free to disregard it as such, but a few months ago I read an article from EW that may be of use. It gives a little insight into the beginning of the film's cult status and I don't know if the main contributors here have seen it yet.
• The Bibliography should be formatted with the author (surname, first name) listed first per WP:CITE

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• The newspaper/magazines in the citations should be italicized.

Done.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• Refs 10 and 16 have extra brackets at the end of the dates.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

• "p" is for one cited page and "pp" is for several.
• Is the Bibliography an actual bibliography? That is, are these the sources? "I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski" is used as a source, but "The Big Lebowski (BFI Film Classics)" is not. I suggest moving the books/links not used as a source to a "Further reading" section and moving actual sources to the Bibliography, such as Bergan, Ronald. "The Coen Brothers", Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000.
• Specific page numbers are essential (see Wikipedia:CITE#Provide page numbers), which is why Green 2007, p. 87–111 doesn't cut it. That covers over thirty pages!

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 01:51, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

• Are all of the currently listed external links essential?

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

I believe that's all I have. My main issue is with the reference formatting, but I do not see that as being too big of a deal. I greatly enjoyed reading this article and learning about one of my favorite films; now I want to watch it! Once my above concerns have been addressed or otherwise explained away, I will be more than happy to promote this article to GA-status. Great work! The Dude Abides. María (habla conmigo) 14:06, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

No rush, but how are the reference fixes coming along? I'm just looking for an update. Also, you may want to check some of the "fixes" lately, including the addition of some trivial info (Metallica?) and some punctuation "corrections" that may not follow the logical quotation style. María (habla conmigo) 12:08, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

I am going to tackle the references fixes tomorrow and should have them wrapped up the same day and I'll also give the whole article a good looking at to make sure everything else is in order.--J.D. (talk) 13:33, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Looking good, I believe this is ready to be promoted now. There are still some "p." vs "pp." and en dash vs. regular dashes in the references, but those are too minor to hold back a perfectly good Good Article. :) Great work, J.D.! María (habla conmigo) 20:18, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! I will clean up those minor bits and pieces.--J.D. (talk) 20:45, 26 June 2008 (UTC)