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Showing posts with label Alejandro Jodorowsky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alejandro Jodorowsky. Show all posts

April 28, 2014

Movie Review: "Jodorowsky's Dune" (2014; Sony Pictures Classics)

...say you have a standard; a set standard, once innovative and unique. A standard, which initially might have instilled a sense of 'wow', amongst the masses, and now, is wholly accepted as 'the norm'...maybe even to the point of yawn-inducing. Then, as the cliched phrase goes, "...just when you've thought that you've seen everything under the sun, along comes..."; an artist, known and reputed for outrageousness...an embraceable outrageousness, with a respectable following, mind you, but clearly, a level of imaginative 'over-the-top' craziness, with an underlining hint of wisdom...'thinking outside the box', as yet another cliched saying goes. And so, that artist takes that now.monotone standard, filters it through a different set of eyes, and suggests quite literally turning that standard on it's head...breathing new life into it, and yet, retaining the crust of what the standard stood for and meant...

...for this viewer, I love 'what if' scenarios. I became amoured with the 'what if' concept, at an early age, when the artistic and creative 'power-that-be', scribbling away at Marvel Comics, ingeniously came up with a unique and absolutely 'off-the-wall' comic book series, which took many of the super-powered hero standards...at a minimum, tweaked their histories...their mythos, here and there, and at most, quite literally shook the contents of the standard into a frenzied mish-mash...stood back, and gandered at what the outcome would be, storywise and direction, given the changes. As the result, some unique, creative...even bizarre and surreal ideas came to pass, and Marvel's "What If...??" series proved a phenomenal favorite, back in it's day...

May 11, 2011

Movie Review: El Topo (1970, Blu-ray)


When John Ford was working his way to be one of the quintessential western cinema auteurs with his classic efforts, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache and Rio Grande, his very formula of the "western" became a blue print for other directors in Hollywood and abroad. Of course, we do have Sergio Leone (Fistful of Dollars) and Sam Peckinpah (Wild Bunch) who did their own thing with more authentic nastier takes on the old west. All three are no doubt legends and true fixtures in this wonderful genre but neither took the western to the surreal heights that Alejandro Jodorowsky did with El Topo. El Topo now sees a Blu-ray release from the folks at Anchor Bay following their fine Jodorowsky box set from a few years back.

Buy El Topo [Blu-ray]!


April 24, 2011

Movie Review: The Holy Mountain (1973, Blu-ray, Anchor Bay)

Alejandro Jodorowsky's films have seen a very good life on numerous DVD releases. The most notable to date being Anchor Bay's The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky Box set. This included digitally remastered editions of El Topo Fando Y Lis, The Holy Mountain and a host of additional goodies. If you have that, hold onto it (just for the pretty box alone) but I also encourage you to grab a Blu-ray player because now you can see Holy Mountain in all its 1080p glory, courtesy of Anchor Bay and the folks at Abkco Films.

Buy The Holy Mountain on DVD or Blu-ray

Holy Mountain starts off with some of the most intense imagery ever to be put to celluloid - and rarely lets up with its bombardment jaw-dropping set-pieces. We open to a shot of a man called the "Thief"(Horacio Salinas) lying in the dirt, face covered with flies and pissing himself. His face is soon cleaned of the flies by an arm-less and leg-less peasant who reveals this filth covered man as almost a Jesus Christ doppelganger. Did Jodorowsky do this purposely? You bet! The next scene shows the gentlemen enjoying a joint. You know right then after seeing the these fellows partake in the "herbal essence" that this movie is not going to play it safe.

April 19, 2011

Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo and The Holy Mountain Coming to Blu-ray April 26th!

ABKCO FILMS AND ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY’S

EL TOPO AND THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Bowing April 26th With Exclusive Bonus Content

Buy El Topo and The Holy Mountain on Blu-ray

New York/Beverly Hills – El Topo and The Holy Mountain, the ground-breaking cult classics from director Alejandro Jodorowsky, are among the most sought-after film titles yet to be released on Blu-ray™. El Topo is credited with starting the Midnight Movie phenomenon more than 40 years ago. To this day, both films continuously screen at art houses, museums and film festivals throughout the world.