i love that brandon loves this movie that much.

"this is a movie where i can pick up on something i never caught the first 100 times i watched it."

IMO the Coen bros. movies tend to be like that. For instance, have you watched Raising Arizona enough to realize that the main theme (the yodelling; I believe the song is called "Ode To Joy", and is performed by Pete Seeger) is also what is playing, as a musack version, in the various stores, gas stations, etc. in the movie? They pack a lot of subtle, funny shit into their movies.

I've also noticed that, while all of their movies have engaging characters, story lines, music, etc., and are at least sometimes based on other dissimilar established literature (i.e. O Brother, Where Art Thou? was based on Homer's Odessy), what they really seem to be about are places. What they really seem to showcase are the regional peculiarities of places. They make a point of creating caricatures of the local social spectrum, as well as the idioms that go with each and all. The setting is almost a palpable character in their movies, and the context a deeply defining feature of every character and event in the film; the Big Lebowski couldn't have been set just anywhere and still work; it had to be in L.A.