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the following was written by Marc Morris and was posted on mobius....

great news!


I saw the Cannes screening of EL TOPO the other night. The film was introduced by Jodorowsky, and joining him on stage were Jody and Robin Klein, plus Alejandro's two sons. Jodo' spoke in French, and he explained the problems he had had in getting the film released, and how happy he was now that everything had been resolved, and thanked Allan's son and daughter. It was all very emotional.

The film was digitally projected in Hi Definition from the newly restored HD master, and it looked absolutely stunning. ABKCO have restored the original Spanish language version. Earlier in the day I met up with Jody Klein, who gave me a list of the extras you can expect on the upcoming US DVD releases later this year, which will tie in with limited theatrical releases of FANDY Y LIS, EL TOPO and THE HOLY MOUNTAIN.

They've uncovered unseen footage, some great extras, trailers, and he also mentioned that soundtracks are in preparation too. I can't wait to get these on CD!


So anybody feel like emailing the infamous Mark Morris? I know he infrequently reads these forums...don't think he posts though.


Jodorowsky plans new film King Shot


Wendy Mitchell in Cannes 23 May 2006 04:00



Alejandro Jodorowsky, the originator of the midnight movie, has a new film planned, entitled King Shot. He describes the project as something of a metaphysical spaghetti Western that could star his fans and friends Nick Nolte and Marilyn Manson. Producer Pieree Spengler is developing.

Jodorowsky is in Cannes today for Cannes Classics screenings of 1971's El Topo and 1973's Holy Mountain, both of which are represented by Allen Klein's ABKCO and have been recently remastered.

The films "look better than ever," the Paris-based, Chile-born director said.

is films should provide something a little different from most of this year's Cannes fare. "They're not old pictures, they are still avant-garde today. They are shocking today," Jodorowsky, 77, says proudly.

and Marilyn Manson yet again....

Thats great news, I can't wait. But I thought his nest film was Abelcain, where the hell did King Shot come from?

and I thought that Kingshot was his gangster film... that would have been interesting... He might still be working on Abelcain (and now that the dispute is over, maybe he can use the name El Topo), but trying to secure funding for his next project...

It never ceases to piss me off when people like him can't get cash to make a film. He has been trying to get funding for Abelcain for god-knows-how-long yet the powers-that-be plunk down $8 million bucks for "See No Evil" , a made-to-order piece of shit if I ever saw one starring a wretler, written by a guy that has only written wrestling story lines and helmed by a porn director. If Ed Wood where alive today he'd be making million dollar pictures.

I just finished watching the Raro Holy Mountain and Anchor Bay Santa Segre for the first time...WOW...can we expect Santa Segre in this set?

I'd be very interested in a nice long essay, or maybe even a documentary going into some of the symbolism involved in Holy Mountain. Some of the visual images are just SO FAR out there that at first glance you think "he must've just pulled that out of nowhere" but seeing his work as a whole (well, i haven't seen ALL of his work yet ), Jorodowsky is assuredly an artist of such high calibre that all of these images certainly must have purposes and meanings, and i'd be curious about them, and how they fall into his overall thematic ouvre.

Jodorowsky isn't one to be cryptic, so If there's a commentery like Fando Y Lis he will explain it all. (Much like Clorissia)

BTW, does anyone know if the book devoted to him "Anarchy and Alchemy" is ever coming out. Creation Books has a picture of the cover on their website but absolutely no other information about it all and I've been hearing about it for sometime.

nin wrote:
Okey, I will find my Holy Mountain caps now.

Looking forward to these

The Holy Mountain 2K restoration screencaps:









WOW!

Holy . . . mountain!

holy sheepshit. I've never seen this film, but based on those screenshots, it's now on the top of my list.

having seen this film on a variety of boots, that's, I'll say, the best the film as ever looked.

That is one hell of a restoration. The colors have never looked this good.

What about nin's screencaps he promised a while back?

I hate to dash hopes of a Criterion release of this, but:

www.abkcofilms.com

Can someone please just ask Matt Lipson about this already!

but what?

These are being released by Criterion through ABKCO films, no?

Cinephrenic wrote:but what?

These are being released by Criterion through ABKCO films, no?

In the article about the screening of Holy Mountain in Milwaukee it states at least 2-3 times that it's being released by ABKCO and Criterion in 07. I assume most people who read this thread probably checked out the article...so I don' know why people seem so confused just because ABKCOfilms.com popped up recently.

My problem is, I don't know who or what to believe here, and that's why I'm confused. Those screenshots of Holy Mountain look better than I could have hoped for, and that implies a lot of good things. But after looking at ABKCO's site, I'm just not getting excited when all they have to say is that the films are "coming soon." Define soon, please! Does that mean 2007? Or is it 2008 or 2009? The people on this thread have been disappointed before, and while this is my first-ever post on this forum, I don't like being let down any more than they do.

And based on what I've read here, Criterion seems to have nothing definitive to say. Are they involved or aren't they? What I've read seems to say they're not, that in the end, they passed on the films because they couldn't come to terms with Allen Klein or some-such. I'm as ready for a DVD release of El Topo and Holy Mountain, which respects these films and contains buckets of extras, as any one of you (and I'm only a recent convert to Jodorowsky's work, despite hearing of it for decades).

The thing that would un-confuse me pretty quick would be if someone, either at Criterion or elsewhere, said something official, aside from ABKCO's quite promising but vague statement, or perhaps if ABKCO itself got more specific. Those screenshots of HM wouldn't have been so nice-looking if there were no plans at all for these films. If they've restored them, then there are plans in work. If someone with the authority to make an official stamement just told me what those plans were, than the wait, however long it will be, would be immaterial to me, as long as I know that at the end of that wait, something really good's a-coming.

El Topo and Holly Mountain are showing as part of the NYFF, side by side with the 50 films Janus retro. Coincidence? Possibly -- Janus is not in any way mentioned in association with the Jodorowsky screenings.

I wonder why the Toronto film fest got snubbed on these screenings?

Bob Scramento wrote:I wonder why the Toronto film fest got snubbed on these screenings?

I would guess it's because The Holy Mountain screened at TIFF w/ Jodorowsky present in 2004.

solaris72 wrote:

Bob Scramento wrote:I wonder why the Toronto film fest got snubbed on these screenings?

I would guess it's because The Holy Mountain screened at TIFF w/ Jodorowsky present in 2004.

I just checked the last five years worth of TIFF programs and none show evidence of a Holy Mountain screening taking place.

Bob Scramento wrote:I just checked the last five years worth of TIFF programs and none show evidence of a Holy Mountain screening taking place.

My mistake, it was at Rue Morgue 2004 in Toronto.

Not new news, per se, but evidence that the ball is still rolling:

Controversial Chilean-born cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky will attend the 44th New York Film Festival to present two of his most famous films, El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the Special Events section of the festival. The films, originally made in the 1970's in Mexico, have been fully restored and remastered under close supervision by Jodorowsky, and are being premiered at the Festival in advance of their release on DVD early next year.