Among the group, one of the most enigmatic and unique members is
goodguy. goodguy like to tell you what he's watching, usually with a cool, intriguing poster and an unusual trailer, rarely tells you what he thought, though there
are hints on several threads.
He watches more current movies in a year than I do. There were multiple invites to take part in things like Top 100 club, but gg likes to stick to his own playbook. A regular poster, but off on his own path, coming off to me as a traveller in a parallel movie world.
Wanting to know the tastes of goodguy better, I realized I would have to walk a mile in his shoes. I know from his posts that we don't look at movies in the same way. The first recommendation I remember taking up on was La Antena and
it didn't go well. So I can't watch a goodguy movie expecting it to be something up my alley. It's a taste for a different palate, one I have yet to acquire, but if I'm ever gong to expand my horizons, I'm going to have to walk that mile.
Cosmos (2015)
The final film by Andrzej Zulawski, a filmmaker
I initially despised, but have been
coming around on. This is one of his less accessible efforts, meaning not only does it have the enigmatic and often impenetrable dialogue, it doesn't have nearly enough of the sensationalist excess that helped make him famous. If you can wipe away the thick outer layer, there's a playful puzzle underneath, with numerous visual symbols and meta conversations to open a large and lengthy Spoiler discussion thread. It's just that I found the outer layer discouraging, which I attribute to still being someone who tolerates the director at best. If you're a fan of Zulawski, I'd think of this as similar to Inland Empire in David Lynch's career.
Kosmos (2010)
I don't know when goodguy first shared the clip of Kosmos and Neptün circling each other and behaving like a couple of wild birds, but I knew immediately I would watch this film one day. It's quite an experience, one where I can say that even though it's not my type of film, this should easily be on more Top 100 lists. This is a film like Spirit of the Beehive, where you don't know where it came from but there are some who will truly love this movie. It's difficult to describe accurately, but I love how Kosmos is seen as both a savior and a problem to be dealt with. I love how the actor has such presence, but is actually small and when he first talks, the voice is higher than I expected. I initially wasn't sure it was coming from him. The photography is also beautiful and the sound mix is unique and brings a lot to the production. When I post in Top 100 Club I often ask why a film is in someone's list. There would be no question here. This opened my eyes a little bit, a peek at cinema still too sophisticated - but not at all snooty - for me.
p.s. Since I often write about this in the negative, I should at least mention that both films feature animal cruelty. In Cosmos it's clearly fake and largely off-camera. In Kosmos there are shots involving cattle butchered for meat. The images are better handled than other films I've seen, but it's still distressing to watch.
p.p.s. I still have L'attesa to watch, but I also have a couple of more 2016 screeners I want to watch first.