The Boy and the Heron/君たちはどう生きるか (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) (2023) - Magic dissipates in Miyazaki's universe

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A strange, animated image of a boy who may be flying makes up this poster for Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron

 

Mahito is a big boy when, during WWII, a major hospital blaze takes his mother from him. A new life in the countryside with his father and new stepmother follows, where Mahito goes exploring in a mysterious tower and befriends a bizarre heron.

 

The Boy and the Heron is written and directed by Japanese master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (Mirai shônen Konan (1979)), whose 14th feature it is. The original Japanese title translates to, 'how do you live?'.

The film is a departure from the whimsical, fantastical, gripping animation classics of Miyazaki's past, and the master's old age seems apparent in it and regrettably not as a good thing. Miyazaki is one of the greats whose films plummet in quality in his last years as a filmmaker. Despite the overwhelming praise for the film, - seemingly an automatic reaction to anything released by Miyazaki, - The Boy and the Heron is an unsatisfying film. It revels in its maker's childhood memories and idiosyncrasies in a free-form adventure that is too preoccupied to make the narrative sensible and meaningful for the viewer.

War, death, self-harm, hatred and universal destruction are some of the gloomy themes that this almost fun-free and often quiet film mulls over. The boy is hard to understand; the story, - which sees him searching for a lost stepmother in the tower with the big-nosed, heron-caped male companion, seemingly fall in love with a girl, and meet a kind of god figure, - is obscure and generally uninvolving.

The sound design is terrific, and the animation is striking but lacking in warmth, depth, sweetness and personality, - qualities that make Miyazaki's best films transcendent. The Boy and the Heron mostly leaves you cold and puzzled.

 

Related posts:

Hayao Miyazaki: The Wind Rises/風立ちぬ [Kaze Tachinu] (2013) - Miyazaki's beautiful but languid last film 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Ponyo/崖の上のポニョ (Gake no Ue no Ponyo) (2008) - Magical animation masterpiece from master Miyazaki

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Howl's Moving Castle/ハウルの動く城 [Hauru no Ugoku Shiro] (2004) - Miyazaki's hugely successful, gibberish fantasy
Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し [Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi] (2001) - Miyazaki's highly Japanese, enormously weird story of a girl 

Princess Mononoke/もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime) (1997) - Miyazaki's grand, magical adventure masterpiece

1992 in films - according to Film Excess 

Porco Rosso/紅の豚 (Kurenai no Buta) (1992) - Childlike qualities help propel strange Miyazaki adventure 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 167.2 mil. $ and counting

= Uncertain

[The Boy and the Heron was released 14 July (Japan) and runs 124 minutes. Miyazaki began working on it after he had announced his retirement in 2013. The production dragged out for years due to his slow working pace, making producer Toshio Suzuki claim that it is the most expensive film ever produced in Japan, - but failing to back the boast up with a specific cost figure. It was released without any marketing campaign in Japan besides a single poster. The film opened #1 to a 13 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3) and grossed 45.8 mil. $ (27.4 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market. Its biggest was Japan with 56.1 mil. $ (33.6 %), where more than 5.5 mil. paid admission, and South Korea was 3rd biggest with 14.9 mil. $ (8.9 %). It is nominated for the Best Animation Oscar. It has won a BAFTA, 1/2 Golden Globe nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Despite this being lauded as his career's last film, Miyazaki is reportedly working on another, yet to be announced film. The Boy and the Heron is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Boy and the Heron?

Top 10: Best gore movies

1. Braindead/Dead Alive (1992) - Peter Jackson

 

 

2. From Beyond (1986) - Stuart Gordon

 

 

3. Evil Dead II/Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) - Sam Raimi

 

4. The Fly (1986) - David Cronenberg 

 

 

5. The Beyond/ ...E Tu Vivrai nel Terrore! L'Aldilà/7 Doors of Hell (1981) - Lucio Fulci

 

6. Dawn of the Dead (1978) - George A. Romero

 

 

7. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Ruggero Deodato  

 

 

8. Hellraiser (1987) - Clive Barker

 

9. Hostel: Part II (2007) - Eli Roth

10. Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) - Jason Eisener

 

Selected from 62 titles labeled 'gore'

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies
Best adapted movies
Best adventure movies
Best 'big flop' movies
Best B/W movies
Best true story movies
Best 'big hit' movies
Best biopic movies
Best 'box office success' movies
Best car chases in movies
Best comedies
Best cop movies       
Best crime movies 
Best debut movies   
Best Danish movies
Best Disney movies 
Best documentaries 
Best dramas
Best drama-thrillers
Best dramedies

Best drug-themed movies

Best UK movies

Best epic movies

Best erotic movies

Best family movies

Best fantasy movies

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Best 'flop' rank movies

Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

Best French movies

Best franchise movies 

Best future-set movies 

Best gangster movies

Best gay-themed titles

Best German movies 

Best ghost horror movies 

What do you think of the list?
Which gore films would make your personal Top 10?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) - Very comics-nerdy Del Toro sequel

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Ron Perlman's titular hero brandishes a grotesquely oversized weapon on this poster for Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy is not the most discreet of superheros, but he is the best, now that fearful monsters are on the loose.

 

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is written and directed by great Mexican-born American filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Cronos (1992)), with Mike Mignola contributing story elements and based on his Dark Horse Comics character. It is a sequel to Del Toro's Hellboy (2004).

The story here completely escapes me and seems really weak, but this is also said in light of the fact that I simply cannot engage myself in this universe's baroque 'characters'.

There's humor, production design and special effects in excess in just about all scenes of the film, and Del Toro's unique nerd's mind and enthusiasm is definitely present: His monsters are incredible to look at, and they are the main reason to watch the overlong Hellboy II: The Golden Army for my money.  

 

Related posts:

Hellboy character: Hellboy (2019) - Grisly reboot a mixed bag
Guillermo del Toro: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences (co-writer)

The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars 

The Shape of Water (2017) - Toro's strange monster romance is mostly an amusing fantasy 
Pacific Rim (2013) or, The Monster Resistance
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper (co-writer) 
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) or, What Creeps in the Dark (co-writer) 
Julia's Eyes/Los Ojos de Julia (2010) - Decent Spanish horror with good craftsmanship, little else (co-producer) 

Pan's Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno (2006) - Horrors of Franco era in Del Toro fantasy ride 

Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast 
Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2 

Top 10: Best ghost horror movies 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Devil's Backbone/El Espinoza del Diablo (2001) - The excellent Gothic genre-mix that is Del Toro's best film so far 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 82.5-85 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 168.3 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.00 times its cost)

[Hellboy II: The Golden Army premiered 28 June (Los Angeles Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place from June - November 2007 in England, including in London, Northern Ireland and in Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #1 to a 34.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 75.9 mil. $ (45.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 13.9 mil. $ (8.3 %) and Russia with 8.5 mil. $ (5.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Makeup Oscar, lost to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film additionally grossed an estimated excess of 53.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. The film's flop killed the opportunity for a third despite the wishes of the filmmakers. The character was instead rebooted in Hellboy (2019), also a flop. Del Toro returned with Pacific Rim (2013). Ron Perlman (Nightmare Alley (2021)) returned in Outlander (2008). Hellboy II: The Golden Army is fresh at 86 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy II: The Golden Army? 

Homeland - season 1 (2011) - The War on Terror comes home

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A still image of co-stars Damien Lewis and Claire Danes is digitally blurred out on this poster for the first season of Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon's Homeland

Homeland - season 1 is created by Alex Gansa (24 (2009-10), co-executive producer) and Howard Gordon (24 (2001-10), co-executive producer). It is inspired by Gideon Raff's (The Killing Floor (2007)) Israeli TV-series Hatufim (2010-12). An Indian and a Russian version have also been made.

The following contains SPOILERS:

CIA operative Carrie Mathison is a workaholic, recently sent back to the US from Baghdad, where she has learnt from a doomed local terrorist that an American soldier has been 'turned' by the al-Qaeda. Soon after US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody gets rescued from captivity in Iraq and brought home to a hero's welcome. Carrie is alone in suspecting that Brody is the 'turned' American soldier...

She establishes a covert surveillance of him, while learning about the whereabouts of terrorist Abu Nazir through a prostitute that caters to a Saudi prince. While Brody acts increasingly suspiciously, both alone and in front of his family, Matthison attempts to learn more of him by getting close to him at a meeting for veterans.

Carrie's involvement in the case, at her own initiative, is complicated by the fact that she has bipolar disorder, which she has to keep secret from her employers, obtaining medicine through her sister's assistance. Her covert engagement with Brody leads to them starting an affair, which is both helpful to her investigation and driven by sincere attraction. The situation soon becomes complicated, and Brody realizes that she is spying on him. During interrogation he divulges that he beat his military pal to death during capture, became a Muslim and found affection for the terrorist captor Abu Nazir, - but he maintains that he is not the 'turned' Jihadist.

Attention instead turns towards his co-captive Tom Walker, with collateral damage as a result, as the FBI raids a US mosque. A suicide bomb goes off in Washington DC in the hunt for Walker, injuring Carrie. Meanwhile Brody is talked into running for congress by the American Vice President. SPOILER Carrie is hospitalized in a manic episode and forced to reveal her disorder to her former CIA boss and mentor Saul, as Brody is given a suicide vest by a contact at a trip to Gettysburg with his family.

SPOILER At a grand political event in DC with the Vice President, Secretary of Defense and military brass, Brody is one part of a two-sided attack. But his vest malfunctions, and Carrie suffers a breakdown, checking herself into a hospital for electroshock therapy.

 

Homeland is captivating from the pilot on, fired up by an unusual, engrossing suspense plot and terrific performances: Claire Danes (Stardust (2007)) is outstanding as Carrie; Damian Lewis (Desire (2013, short)) is engrossing as Brody; and Mandy Patinkin (Ali and Nino (2016)) is great as Saul. And the supporting performances are uniformly solid.

Carrie's job is exciting, and the show effectively filters us into the grey zones of 10+ years of War on Terror, carried out by the Western countries following 9/11. It puts us into the calibrations of analysis going through intelligence work concerning fundamentalists, specifically Islamic fundamentalists. It is less action-packed and seems more real and layered than the ways that the similar themes where broached by the same showrunners on the great action-suspense show 24. One disturbing and gripping subplot includes a domestic Saudi-American terrorist couple. The central suspense mystery of the series is the question; Is Brody good or bad?

The narrative is imbued with depth due to Danes' intriguing character and the intricate complications in Brody's family, - his wife's infidelity while he was presumed dead; his own budding affair with Carrie, - and an anxiety-provoking tangent concerning his teenage daughter and her growing suspicions about him.

The photography (by Nelson Cragg (Elementary (2012, TV-series)) is terrific, the writing is crackerjack, and the first season is remarkable in every way. An enormously suspenseful piece of television history.

Best episodes:

1. Pilot - Written by Gansa, Gordon, Raff; directed by Michael Cuesta (L.I.E. (2001))

Carrie is introduced as a strongly independent CIA agent, who suspects that something is very wrong with the liberated American Marine hostage Brody, rescued home after eight years of terrorist captivity. Riveting start with tremendous Danes.

7. The Weekend - Written by Meredith Stiehm (The Bridge (2013-14)); directed by Cuesta

Brody and Carrie engages in their adulterous affair at her family's summerhouse, while Brody's daughter gets hurt under the influence. But truths come out, and Saul returns home from Mexico with an arrestee. Madly thrilling episode.

11. The Vest - Written by Chip Johannessen (Dexter (2010, TV-series)), Stiehm; directed by Clark Johnson (The Purge (2018, TV-series))

Carrie's mental affliction is expanded upon, as Brody's questionable loyalties continue to exert suspense.

12. Marine One - Written by Gansa, Johannessen; directed by Cuesta

The targeted DC event, the season's culmination. Carrie breaks down, unable to meet the demands of her mission.

 

Related posts:

 

Howard Gordon: 24: Redemption (2008, TV movie) or, Bauer in Africa! (writer/executive producer)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Reviewed 24 seasons: Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
24 - season 3 (2003) - The virus-centered peak for the great action show
24 season 2 (2002-03) - The Bomb 
24 season 1 (2001-02) - TV action milestone

 

 

Watch a trailer for season 1 here

 

Cost: Reportedly 3 mil. $ per episode, 36 mil. $ in total

Box office: None - TV-series

= Uncertain

[Homeland - season 1 premiered October (USA (Showtime), Thailand, Turkey) and runs 12 55-minute episodes, totaling approximately 660 minutes. Danes was reportedly paid 110k $ per episode, totaling 1.32 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place in North Carolina and Israel. The first season's US ratings varied from 0.94 mil. to 1.71 mil., becoming Showtime's highest-rated drama in 8 years. Its run on British Channel 4 garnered even more viewers, between 3-4 mil. The season won a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy, among other honors. The 2nd season was released in 2012 with returning showrunners and stars. Gansa and Gordon returned first with season 2. Danes first returned in season 2; Lewis in 2011 also acted in Your Highness, Stolen (TV movie) and Will; Patinkin in 2011 also gave voice performances in Jock the Hero Dog and Wonder Pets! (TV-series). Homeland - season 1 is fresh at 100 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Homeland - season 1?

Hearts and Minds (1974, documentary) - Davis' invaluable documentation of the US Vietnam War

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Two still images make up the majority of this poster for Peter Davis' Hearts and Minds

The American assumption of the French colonial war in Indochina with the domino theory and containment strategy as explanatory pillars becomes a new American war against Vietnam and its people, a war that, as it turns out, cannot be won.

 

Hearts and Minds is directed by debuting Californian master filmmaker Peter Davis (Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt (1986, documentary)).

It is a thorough and critical treatment of the Vietnam War that incorporates many viewpoints and perspectives, of which General Westmoreland's statement that life is without import for the 'Oriental' is especially horrifying. Hearts and Minds is strong also because Davis feels no need to stigmatize, exhibit nor rob the American soldiers of their own authority and stories. The film has terrible sequences of the monstrous war of terror that was pursued onto the poor Vietnamese.

Hearts and Minds is an invaluable film of an amoral and callous war.

 

This video features 9 minutes of outtakes from the film

 

Cost: Uncertain

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Hearts and Minds premiered 16 May (Cannes International Critics' Week) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place in New Jersey, Washington DC and in Vietnam. The film was embroiled in trouble prior to its release, with a temporary restraining order being issued against it, and then the issue of its rights holder Columbia Pictures refusing to distribute it, until the rights were purchased by Warner Bros. for 1 mil. $. It was eventually screened in Los Angeles, but details of its further theatrical releases - outside of festival screenings - are regrettably scarce. The film won the Best Documentary Oscar and was nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Davis returned with South Africa: The White Laager (1977, documentary). Hearts and Minds is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hearts and Minds?

Hellboy (2019) - Grisly reboot a mixed bag

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Near-pornographic red poster for Neil Marshall's Hellboy with a youth shorthand tagline, presumably attempting to engage the young male demographic

Hellboy is tasked with stopping giants in England, - and the blood queen Nimue.

 

Hellboy is written by Andrew Cosby (Haunted (2002, TV-series)) and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers (2002)), based on the Dark Horse Comics character. It reboots the character on film after Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy films (2004; 2008).

A shift in style from Del Toro's colorful universe, Marshall delivers a darker, dirtier and more adult - or more accurately; less child-friendly - vision in a film that will appeal to a smaller audience of mainly nerdy young males.

David Harbour (Black Widow (2021)) is good but hard to recognize in the title role under the heavy makeup and prosthetics, and Milla Jovovich (Zoolander 2 (2016)) and others are well cast in a strong ensemble that sees Stephen Graham (Help (2021, TV movie)) as a pig monster! 

Hellboy is weighed down by a so-so plot and an overload of CGI effects with especial attention given to very grim beasts and deaths. It is a wild gamble that doesn't fully pay off.

 

Related posts:
 

Hellboy character: Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast

Neil Marshall: 2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

The Descent (2005) - Marshall's intensely claustrophobic cave horror  

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 55 mil. $

=  Big flop (returned 1.1 times its cost)

[Hellboy premiered 9 April (Israel; New York) and runs 121 minutes. Despite Del Toro being interested in making a 3rd film, the studio took the project in another direction. 11 companies and support bodies were involved with the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from September - December 2017 in Bulgaria and the UK. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Shazam! and fellow new release Little, to a 12 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 21.9 mil. $ (39.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 10.4 mil. $ (18.9 %) and Russia with 3.8 mil. $ (6.9 %). Numerous stories of on-set conflicts, mostly between Marshall and the film's producers, has come to light, and Marshall later distanced himself from the film entirely, calling it "the worst professional experience of my light", the script "terrible" and further offered the eloquent insight, "You can't polish a turd." The film additionally made in excess of 11.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. Marshall returned with The Reckoning (2020). Harbour returned in 4 TV and short credits prior to his feature return in Extraction (2020, VoD). Hellboy is rotten at 17 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy? 

Hope and Glory (1987) - Boorman's fond WWII childhood memory picture

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A boy in shorts runs joyously through a street with blimps in the sky above him on this bright poster for John Boorman's Hope and Glory

An English family during World War II have to learn to get used to the rationing, the bombings and the widespread uncertainty, but for the children it is a most thrilling time!

 

Hope and Glory is written, co-produced and directed by great English filmmaker John Boorman (Having a Wild Weekend (1965)). It is based on his own childhood memories.

The film gives a highly unconventional, positive angle to wartime England, and Hope and Glory is outstandingly picturesque, (with cinematography by Philippe Rousselot (Beast (2022))), definitely encouraging and life-affirming. It has infectious performances and fun moments. In fact as a war picture, Hope and Glory is sometimes too jocular for my taste, but its charms makes it a winner nonetheless. 

 

Related post:

 

John Boorman: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - Boorman stuns with truly abysmal sequel

Hell in the Pacific (1968) - Boorman's boring two-man turkey 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.3 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 11.57 mil. $ (only North America, the UK and Denmark)

= Uncertain, but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.61 times its cost)

[Hope and Glory premiered 21 August (Montréal World Film Festival) and runs 113 minutes. Reportedly the street set constructed for the filming was the biggest built in the UK in 25 years. Shooting took place from August - October 1986 in England, including in London. The film grossed 10 mil. $ in North America and approximately 1.5 mil. $ in the UK (845k £). It made around 70k $ in Denmark, where it was not a major film. If the final world gross was 15 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. It was nominated for 5 Oscars: It lost Best Art Direction/Set Decoration to The Last Emperor, Cinematography to Vittorio Storaro for The Last Emperor, Director to Bernardo Bertolucci for The Last Emperor, Picture to The Last Emperor and Original Screenplay to John Patrick Shanley for Moonstruck. It won 1/13 BAFTA nominations, 1/3 Golden Globes and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Boorman followed the film up with a sequel many years later, Queen & Country (2014), his last film. Boorman first returned with Where the Heart Is (1990). Sebastian Rice-Edwards, who plays the protagonist Billy, never returned to the screen. Hope and Glory is fresh at 96 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hope and Glory?

Hop (2002) - Political blinders restrain Belgian debut

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A mysterious modern structure, majestic elephants and a boy with a quizzical look in his eyes make up this dark and quizzical poster for Dominique Standaert's Hop

A super-intelligent boy from Burundi, Africa gets into trouble, when a banal problem makes his father get arrested as an illegal immigrant by Belgian authorities, and he himself finds shelter in the home of an anarchist couple.

 

Hop is written by Rémi Hatzfeld (Le Navetteur (1985), director), Olivier Malley (Papillon & Mamillon (2005, TV-series)) and debuting co-writer/director Dominique Standaert (Eau (1997, short)). 

It is a beautifully photographed (by cinematographer Rémont Fromont (Eliot (2013, short))) saga that explores power structures with a critical eye pointed towards Belgian authorities in particular, with an enormously charming boy in the central part, Kalomba Mbuyi. But what's symptomatic of this typically left-oriented echo chamber type plot; the 'foreigner' is exceptionally intelligent, domestically superb, well behaved, eternally sweet and understanding (below the surface he appears to be a sprouting homosexual), and across from him; the authorities and the Belgian 'every-man' worker are merely dumb and unfair! Underlying reasons for their positions or any perspectives on enrichment immigration are clearly not worthy of these filmmakers' precious time or attention.

That the boy's conflict nearly results in a terrorism bombing of a tourist attraction (watch the film to learn how) and a dam system are also disturbing facts that the narrative trio obviously think cannot be held against him. Despite qualities, Hop is a prime example of tiring polemics turned into a film.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown (Danish gross 119k $)

= Uncertain

[Hop premiered 8 October (International Film Festival Gent, Belgium) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place in Belgium, including in Brussels. It was the first Belgian film to be shot on an HD camera. Gross numbers from the film's main markets, Belgium, France and the Netherlands are regrettably unavailable: It sold 10k tickets in Denmark, coming to approximately 119k $ . It was nominated for 2 European Film awards. Standaert returned with Formidable (2007). Mbuyi did not return in front of a camera; Jan Decleir (Ay Ramon! (2015)) returned in Brush with Fate (2003, TV movie) and theatrically in Rosenstrasse (2003). 455 IMDb users have given Hop a 6.9/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Hop?

The Holy Mountain/La Montaña Sagrada (1973) - Jodorowsky's wild, surrealist masterpiece

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Mystic symbolism and expansive imagination underlines this celestially figurative poster for Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain

A Jesus-looking character gathers a team with nine other incredible characters to head for a holy mountain!

 

The Holy Mountain is written, co-produced, co-starring, directed, co-edited and co-composed by Chilean master filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando and Lis/Fando y Lis (1968)), whose 3rd feature it is. Jodorowsky also participated in creating the set and costume designs for the film. The title is a literal translation of the original Spanish title.

It is a mad and fascinating film, which it feels impossible to take one's eyes off of, even though it is a demanding watch. It may be the most psychedelic feature film ever made, featuring lots that one may take offense at, but which is nevertheless unarguably a visionary work of art with a width production-wise that is wholly striking and simply wild. 

The common narrative thread may seem elusive during the course of the film, SPOILER but in the end its final message is fairly clear: through anti-materialist and other types of realizations we can liberate ourselves from a hunt after holy mountains and simply live and love as humans.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 750k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Holy Mountain premiered in May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 114 minutes. The Beatles manager Allen Klein reportedly helped executive produce the film, with John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-financing it. Jodorowsky made central members of the cast prepare for three months prior to shooting with exercises in Zen, Sufi and yoga, studies and, for a month prior to filming, communal living in Jodorowsky's home. He and his wife reportedly spent a week without sleep, directed by a Japanese Zen master, prior to shooting. LSD and psychotropic mushrooms were ingested before and during production. Shooting took place in Mexico, including in Mexico City. The film has made more than 104k $ on recent re-issues, but details concerning its original release are regrettably buried deep. It had midnight screenings on the weekends for 16 months at one New York art cinema. It is hard to know whether it collected any substantial gross from its seemingly few original release markets. Jodorowsky returned with Tusk (1980). The Holy Mountain is fresh at 85 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Holy Mountain?