Tag: El Topo

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY: 4K RESTORATION COLLECTION Releasing Now on September 18th

“You are seven years old. You are a man. Bury your first toy and your mother’s picture.”

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY: 4K RESTORATION COLLECTION
will be available on September 18th. The deluxe box set by Abkco will include the surrealist filmmaker’s latest PSYCHOMAGIC, A HEALING ART, along with 4K restorations of EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, and FANDO Y LIS.

Loaded with extras and ephemera, the box set features a 78-page book
with photos and essays, a set of art cards together with four
Blu-ray discs, and two CDs housed in a high-quality case. Check Out this ‘Unboxing’ Video:

Psychomagic, A Healing Art will be available as part of ABKCO Films’ Alejandro Jodorowsky: 4K Restoration Collection, due to release on September 18, 2020. This deluxe box set also includes The Maestro’s films Fando y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain, each meticulously restored in 4K on Blu-ray, along with new bonus features and CD soundtracks of the latter two titles.

At the age of 91, Jodorowsky is as relevant as he’s ever been. In addition to completing Psychomagic, A Healing Art, he supervised the color correction of the 4K restorations of his essential films using the original 35mm elements, with vibrant results.  El Topo is presented in 1:33:1 aspect ratio as it was originally shown in 1970. It is also available for the first time in 1:85:1 widescreen. Jodorowsky originally envisioned the film with this aspect ratio as an homage to Sergio Leone, and a half-century later, that dream has finally been fulfilled.

The Alejandro Jodorowsky: 4K Restoration Collection features a full-color book with photos and essays, a set of art cards, and a double-sided movie poster along with the 6-disc set. New content includes recently filmed instructions with Jodorowsky, his son Brontis, who makes his acting debut as the young boy in El Topo. Also interviewed, his long time personal assistant Pablo Leder. In addition to the 4K restorations  are new introductions by Columbia University professor Richard Peña, a mini-documentary “A to Z of The Holy Mountain,” narrated by Jodorowsky biographer Ben Cobb, and original soundtracks from El Topo and The Holy Mountain. 

The TVOD release, also set for September 18th, includes  Fando Y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain in 4K with new to digital extras available exclusively on iTunes. 

The Alejandro Jodorowsky: 4K Restoration Collection was restored by ABKCO Films and Arrow Films, and will be available worldwide.


ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY: 4K RESTORATION COLLECTION includes:

BOOK

  • A 78-page booklet with exclusive photos, new essays, original reviews, and interviews offer incredible detail, perspective, and insight into the films and mind of maestro Alejandro Jodorowsky.

ART CARDS

  • 6 double-sided vintage lobby card reproductions from the original German releases, as well as six unique production photos from both El Topo and The Holy Mountain.

POSTER

  • An exclusive, 16×20-inch (403mmx510mm) double-sided color poster featuring two of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s most revered and celebrated works: El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973).

BLU-RAY PACKAGING (dual-sided)

  • All Blu-rays come in individual thin-line digipaks with reversible, color artwork in a high-quality slipcase.

FANDO Y LIS: Boasting some of his most disturbing images, Jodorowsky’s first feature, Fando y Lis, is an extraordinarily ambitious and excessive adaptation of a controversial play by Fernando Arrabal, which tells of young Fando and his paraplegic sweetheart Lis’s journey through a series of surreal scenarios to find the enchanted city of Tar. 

  • New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • La Cravate, Jodorowsky’s compellingly surreal 1957 adaptation of Thomas Mann’s The Transposed Heads
  • La Constellation Jodorowsky, Louis Mouchet’s feature-length documentary featuring interviews with Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud and Peter Gabriel
  • “Jodorowsky Remembers Fando y Lis”, a new interview filmed in Paris
  • Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
  • Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio
  • Primary Language Spanish
  • English, Spanish and French subtitles
  • Image gallery

EL TOPO: Packed with vivid imagery, his most violent and notorious film sees the director play ‘The Mole’ of the title: a master-gunfighter journeys across a desert dreamscape with his young son (Brontis Jodorowsky) to duel with four sharp-shooting adversaries. 

  • New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Jodorowsky Remembers El Topo, new interview filmed in Paris
  • Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
  • A Conversation with The Son of El Topo, a newly filmed, extensive interview with Brontis Jodorowsky who stars in El Topo
  • New 1:85:1 widescreen presentation approved by the director
  • The Father of Midnight Movies, an archival interview with Jodorowsky filmed in 2007
  • Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Image Gallery
  • Original Spanish soundtrack
  • English Dub Track
  • Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles
  • Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
  • Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • El Topo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) CD

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN: The director himself plays The Alchemist, a guru who guides a troupe of pilgrims, each representing the planets in the solar system, on a magical quest to Lotus Island where they must ascend The Holy Mountain in search of spiritual enlightenment. 

  • New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • “Jodorowsky Remembers The Holy Mountain”, a new interview filmed in Paris
  • Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
  • Pablo Leder: Jodorowsky’s Right Hand Man, Jodorowsky’s personal assistant, remembers acting in El Topo and The Holy Mountain and his time spent with the director
  • “The A to Z of The Holy Mountain”, a new video essay by writer Ben Cobb
  • Deleted Scenes with commentary by Jodorowsky
  • “The Tarot”, a short film in which Jodorowsky explains the secrets of the cards
  • Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Image Gallery
  • Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
  • Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles
  • The Holy Mountain Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD

PSYCHOMAGIC, A HEALING ART: Jodorowsky’s newest film explores the director’s therapeutic work, showing by means of real acts, what Psychomagic is: its principle, how it is practiced, and how it applied in life. In the film, Jodorowsky works directly with real, suffering people who are eager to solve their problems through the use of this radical and transformative mode of therapy. 

  • Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
  • Uncompressed 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • English, Spanish and French subtitles
  • Downloadable extras, Interviews plus digital Booklet.
  • Original trailer

ABOUT ABKCO
ABKCO Music & Records, Inc., is one of the world’s leading independent entertainment companies. It is home to iconic music catalogs that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Eric Burdon, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks, as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Clint Eastwood, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, The Orlons, Dee Dee Sharp, Charlie Gracie, Bob Seger, and The Tymes. Releases on ABKCO’s SAR Records include albums by L.C. Cooke, The Soul Stirrers, Billy Preston, Johnnie Taylor, The Valentinos, and more.  

ABKCO Films has a long history of being involved with many successful movies including La Grande Bouffe, winner of the International Critics prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, The Greek Tycoon starring Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset, and The Concert for Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr. In 2003, ABKCO won a Grammy® for the documentary Sam Cooke – Legend, and the following year released the DVD of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to critical acclaim. In 2012, ABKCO released The Rolling Stones Charlie Is My Darling- Ireland 1965 whose soundtrack won a Grammy. ABKCO Films is currently co-producing One Night In Miami…, a Major Motion Picture adapted from the Olivier® nominated play of the same title. The film is in post-production and is directed by Oscar® winning actress Regina King.

Top Ten Tuesday: Crossover Westerns

In many ways, the western is a dead genre, but I like to think of it as the genre that just won’t die. Like trying to put down the toughest, meanest gunslinger in the old west, the western film keeps popping back up in the least expected times and places… but, not always in the traditional style we’re used to seeing. Call it survival of the fittest, but the western is far from dead, as is apparent with Jon Favreau’s new COWBOYS & ALIENS, which opens this Friday, July 29th, combining the western with the science-fiction, creating a crossover with twice the fun. In honor of the opening of this rare hybrid, we’re looking at our favorite Western Crossover films this week in Top Ten Tuesday.

Honorable Mention: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE WEIRD

This modern ode to the western from Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim is less of a hybrid than an over-the-top, good time cinematic high that doesn’t quit. Just about every element of this film is derived from the handbook for making western films, but injected with enough steroids to make the average bat boy a contender for breaking Hank Aaron’s homerun record. Horse chases, gun fights, speeding locomotives and thieving outlaws, everything you want in a western is here for the taking, with a generous bonus of Asian action-adventure flair.

10. PAINT YOUR WAGON

Go ahead and laugh, mock it if you will, but the truth is… PAINT YOUR WAGON isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. While some may run away screaming at the idea of hearing Clint Eastwood sing, there are far worse voices in the music industry. This western musical is more western than musical and co-stars Lee Marvin (DIRTY DOZEN) and Jean Seburg (BREATHLESS). While there were other musicals such as OKLAHOMA and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS that employ the old west, they’ve all been light on the elements that make great westerns. This is where PAINT YOUR WAGON takes its place above the rest.

09. BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART III

Mix sci-fi and western – with a dash of comedy thrown in – and you come up with the perfect cowboy movie in BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART III. This time director Bob Zemeckis has Marty McFly and Doc Brown travelling from 1985 to 1885 for one last round-up. McFly faces Biff Tannen’s ancestor, Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, in a final showdown while Doc finds true love with a pioneer woman who loves Jules Verne. While you may feel at times like you’re watching John Ford’s STAGECOACH, Part 3 is deftly filled with nods to both genres with names like Clint Eastwood, the town saloon and a runaway steam locomotive that transforms into a hover-train.

08. MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR

A shotgun wielding hero, the frontier settlers and a band of baddies who gallop into town encapsulates everything a classic western should be… except that George Miller’s MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR is set in a bleak wasteland where the villains are bikers trying to take over the oil fields from the settlers and Mel Gibson’s Max, “a man who wandered into the wasteland,” rides in to save the day on his Pursuit Special vehicle. Can’t you hear the twangy sounds of Clint Eastwood’s HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER resonating throughout?

07. RANGO

How many animated westerns are there to choose from? Exactly. Not many. However, RANGO doesn’t make this list on technicalities. Surprisingly, this was one of the best animated films I’ve seen in recent years and definitely captures the essence of some of the best and most unique western films. Filled with stylistic influences and homages to the greats, RANGO takes a lost pet chameleon and throws him into a strange scenario reminiscent of The Man With No Name.

06. EL TOPO

Mexican writer, director and star Alejandro Jodorowsky truly puts the weird in the western with EL TOPO, creating a journey of one legend and his six-year old son. El Topo is on a quest to become the greatest fighter, as he confronts the warrior masters, each one with a unique specialty. This odd-ball twist on the western has the taste of so many old school martial arts films, creating one of the most bizarre and surreal cult spaghetti westerns of all time.

05. RED SUN

With extraordinary connections like SEVEN SAMURAI inspiring THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, it was only a matter of time before someone melded the samurai film with the western. RED SUN is just that very brilliant melding. Director Terence Young places the western icon Charles Bronson and the eastern icon Toshiro Mifune on the big screen together, a meeting of two cultures toward a common goal against a common enemy. Gunslinger ans samurai paired in a way that is as bold as it is unexpectedly natural.

04. WESTWORLD

“Why don’t you make arrangements to take our hovercraft to Medieval World, Roman World and Westworld. Contact us today, or see your travel agent. Boy, have we got a vacation for you.” However, not quite the one the guests of the DELOS Resort had in mind. Michael Crichton’s WESTWORLD pits vacationer Richard Benjamin against Yul Brenner’s “Gunslinger” in the ultimate gun fight. A premise that’s not entirely far-fetched, this twist on the classic westerner embodies a futuristic, adventure crossover. This time, the conflict is between Cowboys and Robots.

03. SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike takes blending the east and the west one wild step further with SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO. Directly inspired by Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, a stranger crosses paths with two rival clans, both seeking fortune in a small town. The mysterious gunslinger offers his services to both sides, planning to take advantage of the situation the entire time. Being Takashi Miike, he adds his own trademark flair in both the characters and the visual style.

02. SERENITY

There is no shortage of fandom for this contemporary classic, spawned from Joss Whedon and his TV series Firefly, but its reputation is well-earned. Those who haven’t seen SERENITY would not understand, but this affectionately coined “Space Western” teleports the trademark elements of a good western and character traits into a science-fiction adventure story in space. The heroic cowboy, the bounty hunter, the frontier settlers, the dangerous uncharted territories, the (deadly) damsel in distress… its all there and tons of fun.

01. BLAZING SADDLES

Mel Brooks’ comical parody of the old west may seem like an unlikely choice, but its so pitch-perfect and hilarious that it had to be the top pick. BLAZING SADDLES has every necessary element of a classic western, but Brooks turns it all into a farce, pushing boundaries and poking fun at the inherent flaws of the genre. Cleavon Little plays the black sheriff Bart, while Gene Wilder plays Jim, his cowardly deputy. The top notch comedic cast runs away with their exaggerated stereotypes while delivering dialogue that is often politically incorrect, but intelligently appropriate.