bear surprise and the holy mountain

Surprise!

So lately I've been filling up my queue with really obscure/awesome foreign films, all which have been recommended by my gainesville peers. I came across a director who isn't really well known to the general mass public-- goes by the name of Alejandro Jodorowsky.



He made a couple of films in the 70's that were considered way too controversial for audiences-- so they became kind of a staple at midnight screenings... namely his masterpiece (i'm not using that lightly, it really is that good) The Holy Mountain.

I've heard so much hype over The Holy Mountain, of it being one of the best films he or she has ever seen. So as to not hype myself out early, I watched one of his earlier films, El Topo.



The film is this kind of surealist spaghetti western that shows the wonders of religion and mysticism through a series of obscure and sacrilegious symbols. It's really good and really strange, but somewhat flawed in its conventional structure-- I mean with a movie that contains a massive amount of dwarves and bunnies, you might as well go balls out in obscurity.

I then felt as if I can take some weird ass shit. Here's the trailer for The Holy Mountain.



Holy Mountain? Holy shit! The trailer is fucking awesome. I know not many of you will agree, but I found it to be everything I wanted in a trailer-- tons of weird, cool looking scenes that will hopefully be put into context when finally watching the film.

Does the film put those scenes in context?

No.

The whole film is meant to be an array of scenes that contain massive amounts of sacreligious symbols the likes that rival El Topo. Every scene contains props and actor representing a symbol or some kind of religious and/or mystic idea. So nothing is really cohesive to the narrative... but it all falls into place concerning the various themes of the film.

I think the trailer perfectly sums up the film in its pretentiousness.
In essence, the film is about this thief, who looks a lot like Jesus. He consequently lives in this alternate reality (I'm not trying to make this sound sci-fi, because it's not) where there's just mass confusion. I don't even know how to explain the setting because it's all so outlandish and unordinary. As he roams the streets, he finds this tower in the middle of a highway... a rope with a hook on it comes down from an opening at the top of the tower-- he goes up on it and goes inside. In there, he meets The Alchemist.

The Alchemist seeks to help the thief by cleansing him of his immorality and presenting him with a quest. Along with seven other people, who represent planets in the solar system, they all seek to find and climb the holy mountain, which at the top holds the secret to immortality.



The film is all allegory and no story. The film starts out as this completely stylized epic-- filled with amazing sets and beautifully constructed scenes. But as the film progresses, the camera becomes more in tune with reality when the scenes become less stylized and more grounded in location.

The end is where the pay-off is at, in where the 4th wall is crossed and the film takes on a completely different meaning.

And what is that meaning? Watch the film.

It's one of the best films I've seen since my viewing of Le Samourai, and could just be one of my favorite films of all time.

Please watch this movie. I usually write reviews for bad films... but this time I'm writing a positive review-- meaning that I provoke the viewing of this film, whole-heartedly.

A Spectacle of Beauty and Horror best known as a Radiohead show

I was pleased and honored to have witnessed, not only my first Radiohead show (meaning there's more to come), but also a Radiohead show that kicks off their world tour in, of all places, West Palm Beach, Florida. I'm still a little confused as to why they had to play at a venue in a city so far from my home, and so boring in every aspect. Yet, I'm not here to fully give complaints about my concert experience... I emphasize fully, since I do have a couple of complaints-- but they're only complaints that come with consistently going to concerts.



After watching this show, I completely realized that Radiohead is probably the biggest band on Earth... if not, the biggest Alternative band on this marble of ours. I don't mean to hyperbolize... mainly because I don't think I am exaggerating... they really are this huge. I think it's bold to say all those things and to also say that they're the only band to define our generation.

Concert Story.

I had a long day. I went to school and when my class ended I went straight to work. After work I went home to change and my friends picked me up to go to the show.

We were late because we left late (typical, I think, because the people I went with have a bad track record in terms of concert punctuality) .

We missed the opening band, Liars, whom I wanted to see since I have a couple of their albums and they sound like a noisier Radiohead.

There was an extreme amount of traffic closing in on the exit to the amphitheater.

When we got there, I could already hear Radiohead playing-- they were playing There There. I have to be honest, I was completely angry that we missed, to my knowledge, about 3 songs. That's about 10 minutes, or so, of music that we missed and could've enjoyed if it not had been for traffic. But it's okay, because we got ourselves situated onto our lawn standing positions and got a really far but clear view of Radiohead performing.

Just off the bat, the first thing you notice was how fucking complicated and beautiful the lighting of the show was. It was the most incredible I've ever seen. It was like this huge projection of lights onto this screen along with these, I'd say 16-17, pallets going across the stage projecting even more lights. It's hard to explain, but it was both incredible and admirable.

The show was amazing. They played a lot of songs from Kid A (which I was worried wouldn't happen), In Rainbows (of course), Hail To The Thief, a little bit from OK Computer, and a couple of songs from The Bends, surprisingly. I was completely disappointed to not hear any songs from Amnesiac which is their most underrated album as well as, arguably, my favorite one.

Here's the set-list:

1. All I Need
2. Bodysnatchers
3. There There
4. Reckoner
5. The Gloaming
6. Morning Bell
7. Nude
8. How To Disappear Completely
9. 15 Step
10. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
11. Idioteque
12. Bulletproof... I Wish I Was
13. Where I End and You Begin
14. Airbag
15. Everything In Its Right Place
16. National Anthem
17. Videotape

FIRST ENCORE:

18. Optimistic
19. Just
20. Faust Arp
21. Exit Music (For A Film)
22. Bangers and Mash

SECOND ENCORE:
23. House Of Cards
24. Street Spirit.

The crowd-- everyone. From scenesters to bros to aging hipsters. The bros were a little annoying. This guy in front of me was VIDEOTAPing the show on his cellphone yet he was so busy slam-dancing to "House of Cards" and "How To Disappear Completely" that he officially became the worst youtube camera-man in the website's history. He was a tool.

Highlight of the night.

Idioteque and Morning Bell (Kid A Version). Both of these songs were played with such ferocity and perfection-- I think both songs perfectly display Radiohead's sound... a spectacle of beauty and horror.

I also bought an In Rainbows LP-- jesus, dude... I've devoted so much money to that fucking album, just because of the guilt paying nothing for it when it was up for download in October. Oh well. Worth it.



Ok this video has nothing to do with Radiohead... it's Dan Deacon playing Trippy Green Skull at the Bowery Ballroom-- I just really like this song, a lot... so here ya go.