Wes Mayven, Hayao May-azaki, Mayvid Cronenberg, George Ro-May-ro Wrap-ups

As with pretty much every month, I didn't accomplish as much as I would've liked as far as conquering the filmographies of various directors whose names semi-effectively mash-up with whatever month it is. In May, I took on 4 directors, which was perhaps too ambitious, but honestly, the thing that got in the way more than anything else was Celebrity Apprentice. I don't remember when the season actually started, but the episodes had piled up in my Hulu queue. Every episode is like an hour and a half! So I ended up watching all 13 in the middle of the month, which is 90 minutes a day that would normally be reserved for movie-watching. It's a great show, but I was very annoyed that Arsenio Hall won it because he showed he has some issues with women. Clay Aiken is a better person, and was a better player. What is wrong with you, Donald Trump?


Wes Mayven
I had seen just about every film of his already, though I wish I had revisited more of them to write about, especially Scream 2 and 3, which I haven't seen since their release (and at the time, really disliked). I enjoyed tracking down his more rare films, though, and now I've seen all of his directorial works except Music of the Heart (not interested) and a Disney TV thing called Casebusters (couldn't find it).

Ranked:
1. Deadly Friend (1986)
2. Last House on the Left (1972)
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
4. The People Under the Stairs (1991)
5. Scream 4 (2011)
6. New Nightmare (1994)
7. Scream (1996)
8. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
9. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
10. Deadly Blessing (1981)
11. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984)
12. Red Eye (2005)
13. Swamp Thing (1982)
14. Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
15. Summer of Fear (1978)
16. Scream 2 (1997)
17. Shocker (1989)
18. The Fireworks Woman (1975)
19. Invitation to Hell (1984)
20. Cursed (2005)
21. Night Visions (1990)
22. My Soul to Take (2010)
23. Chiller (1985)
24. Scream 3 (2000)
25. Paris Je T'aime (2007)
View this list on Letterboxd.


Hayao May-azaki
This one I also kind of fell into because the Cinefamily was doing a retrospective. Unfortunately, I missed Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke (which I've seen before, but awhile back), but I'll see them eventually.

Ranked:
1. Spirited Away (2001)
2. Porco Rosso (1992)
3. Castle in the Sky (1986)
4. Princess Mononoke (1997)
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
6. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
7. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
8. Ponyo (2009)


Mayvid Cronenberg
One of my favorite directors ever. I had seen everything, so mainly used the month to refresh myself on the ones I couldn't remember as well. I enjoyed Shivers and Rabid quite a bit more than I had on first viewing. His later films have been good, and his latest, Cosmopolis, looks great, but I sure fucking wish he'd go back to sci-fi.

Ranked:
1. The Brood (1979)
2. Videodrome (1983)
3. Scanners (1981)
4. The Fly (1986)
5. Crash (1996)
6. Shivers (1975)
7. Maps to the Stars (2014)
8. Dead Ringers (1988)
9. eXistenZ (1999)
10. A History of Violence (2005)
11. From the Drain (1967)
12. Naked Lunch (1991)
13. Rabid (1977)

14. The Dead Zone (1983)

15. Eastern Promises (2007)

16. The Lie Chair (1975)

17. M. Butterfly (1993)

18. Fast Company (1979)

19. The Italian Machine (1976)

20. A Dangerous Method (2011)
21. Spider (2002)
22. Crimes of the Future (1970)
23. Stereo (1969)
24. At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World (2007)
25. Camera (2000)
26. Cosmopolis (2012)
View this list on Letterboxd.


George Ro-May-ro
I've been meaning to check out more of Romero's non-Dead movies, and I wanted to watch Dawn of the Dead again and see if I could finally stop thinking it was overrated. So I did, and I can't. Still think it's overrated (I do really like it, just not nearly as much as everyone else). I wanted to watch Day of the Dead again too, which is my favorite of the Deads, but I wasn't able to get to it. Having seen the majority of his work now, I'd say he's a great director, and one of undeniable importance, but not quite a personal favorite. I think he tends to focus more on drama than the traditional horror filmmaker, and I get why people appreciate that, but I don't find the same value in it.

Ranked:
1. Martin (1976)
2. Creepshow (1982)
3. Day of the Dead (1985)
4. Monkey Shines (1988)
5. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

6. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

7. The Crazies (1973)
8. Land of the Dead (2005)
9. Knightriders (1981)
10. Diary of the Dead (2007)
11. Bruiser (2000)
View this list on Letterboxd.

Up next: SeiJune Suzuki (thanks to Daphny David for this one) and June Waters. If I have time, maybe some June Carpenter.