The Stacks

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:54:22), we talk about Tim Hunter's 1986 loosely-based-on-fact teen crime bummer River's Edge, in addition to "Ladies Room" - the second episode of Mad Men. In part two (1:54:23-2:51:48) we chat in shorter form about 8 additional features (battling low-flying aircraft noise for the first few): Paul Verhoeven's 1990 sci-fi dystopia classic Total Recall, Martin Scorsese's 1972 grindhouse exploitation picture Boxcar Bertha, the 1984 James Bryan fake sequel Death Wish variant The Executioner Part II, Christopher Nolan's 2000 breakthrough film Memento, the 1976 Serge Moati French crime fantasia Nuit d'or (Golden Night), the 1975 Terry Ohlsson Australian crime procedural Scobie Malone, the 2016 Alex Proyas cgi spectacle Gods of Egypt, and Quentin Tarantino's sprawling 1995 abstracted grindhouse film Pulp Fiction. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:29:34), we talk about the 1969 Robert Downey (Sr) advertising satire Putney Swope, in addition to celebrating the 10th through 13th episodes of Wayne Spitzer's Dead of Night, concluding our coverage of the series. In part two (1:29:35-2:27:46) we suffer through some technical difficulties while we talk in shorter form about 8-ish additional features: Youssef Chebbi's 2012 supernatural crime procedural Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation, the 1961 Chang Ying Taiwanese furry fable Fantasy of the Deer Warrior, Hisayasu Sato's 1988 pink film Survey Map of a Paradise Lost, Christopher Coppola's 1993 silly crime film Deadfall, Martin Scorsese's 1969 feature debut Who's That Knocking at My Door?, Sam Raimi's notorious superhero slurry Spider-Man 3, the early Martin Scorsese short films (What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This, It's Not Just You Murray, The Big Shave, ItalianAmerican, and An American Boy), and Ang Lee's 1994 international breakthrough Eat Drink Man Woman. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:22:48), we talk about the 1968 Andy Milligan exploitation horror breakthrough The Ghastly Ones, in addition to the 7th through 9th episodes of Wayne Spitzer's Dead of Night. In part two (1:22:49-2:37:29) we talk in shorter form about 9 additional features: the widely-derided 2002 Lee Tamahori James Bond picture Die Another Day, the 2023 Tommy Wiseau diaster picture Big Shark, the baffling 2016 David Frankel grief drama Collateral Beauty, Zack Snyder's 2006 cryptofascist megahit 300, Jon Turteltaub's goofy 2007 sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the 2016 Dean Fleischer-Camp deceptive editing masterwork Fraud, the 2011 Steven Spielberg nostalgic retro-40s style drama War Horse, the 2012 Simon West retro-80s action blockbuster The Expendables 2, and Warren F. Disbrow's 1989 DTV sci-fi Flesh Eaters From Outer Space. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:11:10), we talk about the 1928 Harold Lloyd silent comedy Speedy (directed by Ted Wilde), in addition to the 4th through 7th episodes of Wayne Spitzer's Dead of Night. In part two (1:11:11-2:05:54) we talk in shorter form about 10 additional features: Sam Qualiana's 2011 no-fi SOV project Snow Shark: Ancient Snow Beast, the 2004 Jon Turteltaub-directed Nic Cage Disney adventure blockbuster National Treasure, Sam Raimi's well-loved 2004 superhero sequel Spider-Man 2, the 2025 Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein legasequel / reboot Final Destination: Bloodlines, the 1993 Marco Brambilla dystopian action classic Demolition Man, David DeCoteau's 1987 Alien riff Creepozoids, Steven Spielberg's 2011 animated picture The Adventures of Tintin, the disaster pictures Airport '77 (directed by Jerry Jameson) and The Concorde: Airport '79 (directed by David Lowell Rich), and the 2022 Ulrich Seidl liminal drama Rimini. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:18:31), we talk about the iconic 1971 Clint Eastwood copaganda picture Dirty Harry (directed by Don Siegel), in addition to the first three episodes of the beautifully lo-fi Tacoma public access TV series Wayne Spitzer's Dead of Night (with furry-casting). In part two (1:18:32-2:11:41) we talk in shorter form about 8 additional features: Michael Apted's 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, Peter Berg's 2012 boardgame adaptation Battleship, the 1988 Ron Howard high fantasy epic Willow, the 2004 Bill Plympton retro-50s teen death song Plymptoon Hair High, Steven Spielberg's controversial 2008 franchise revival Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the 1983 Joe Alves sharksploitation classic Jaws 3-D, Philippe Condroyer's obscure 1964 comic adaptation Tintin and the Blue Oranges, and the 2016 Andrew Stanton Pixar sequel Finding Dory. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:57:58), we do a revisit of the Norman Mailer trash classic Tough Guys Don't Dance (including furry-casting), in addition to the first episode of the TV series Mad Men. In part two (1:57:59-2:53:32) we talk in shorter form about 8 additional features: the 2002 Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie, the smash 1999 Weitz Brothers teen sex comedy American Pie, the 1986 Hisayasu Sato pinku Save the Last Dance for Me, Andrew Stanton's 2012 mega-flop John Carter, the 1978 Stelvio Massi / Maurizio Merli poliziotteschi The Iron Commissioner, Lilik Sudijo's 1981 Suzzanna black magic picture The Queen of Black Magic, the utterly sauce-free 2018 Gary Ross heist film reboot Ocean's 8, and the bleak 2005 Steven Spielberg speculative historical drama Munich. In a much extended part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time, make our picks for next week, then celebrate 5 years of The Stacks with our annual Stacks Awards!

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:49:05), we talk about J.J. Abrams' 2006 directorial debut Mission: Impossible III, in addition to the first two episodes of the 1966 Batman TV series. In part two (1:49:06-3:02:00) we talk in shorter form about around a dozen additional features: the 1997 Roger Spottiswoode Pierce Brosnan Bond feature Tomorrow Never Dies, the David "The Rock" Nelson short Mummy A.D. 1993, the 1978 Jeannot Szwarc blockbuster sequel Jaws 2, Andrew Stanton's 2008 Pixar masterpiece Wall-E, the 1961 Jean-Jacques Vierne comic book adaptation Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece, the animated Star Trek episode "The Practical Joker", Cameron Crowe's 2011 documentary Pearl Jam Twenty (along with our overall rankings for the Crowe filmography), the 1974 Jack Smight disaster picture Airport 1975, the 1969 sexploitation film Fly Now, Pay Later (attributed to director B.H. Dial), the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster", the 2004 Pamela Sutch sci-fi fetish film Project Gamma Ray, and the 2005 Steven Spielberg adaptation of War of the Worlds. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:50:44), we talk about John Musker and Ron Clements' 1992 Disney renaissance classic Aladdin, in addition to the first episode of Freaks and Geeks. In part two (1:50:45-3:05:48) we talk in shorter form about 9ish additional features: Pierre Coffin & Kyle Balda's 2015 animated smash hit Minions, the 1989 Mike Diana tween SOV gore brainmelter Blood Brothers, Hal Ashby's 1986 drunken, burnt-out crime noir 8 Million Ways to Die, the 1980 Lamberto Bava necrophile horror Macabre, Andrew Stanton's beloved 2003 Pixar picture Finding Nemo, Hisayasu Sato's 1998 meta-sex-comedy Soft Skin, the G1 animated Transformers episodes "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide" and "Carnage in C-Minor", the 2004 Steven Spielberg "based on a true story" Capra homage The Terminal, Joel Schumacher's 2004 prestige film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical The Phantom of the Opera, and the messy and in-your-face 1990 Irvin Kershner action sequel Robocop 2. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:09:18), we talk about Lam Nai-Choi's 1990 sexy wuxia film Erotic Ghost Story, in addition to the first episode of the 1984 Lee Van Cleef van-based ninja TV series The Master (directed by Robert Clouse!). In an extended part two (1:09:19-2:10:10) we talk in shorter form about 8 additional features: the 2019 J.J. Abrams franchise killer Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the classic 1970 George Seaton disaster flick Airport, the 1998 Pixar John Lasseter/Andrew Stanton capitalist allegory A Bug's Life, the 1995 Martin Campbell James Bond reboot with Pierce Brosnan, Goldeneye, the 1999 true crime/porn documentary Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes, the unrated cut of the 1995 Tobe Hooper Stephen King adaptation The Mangler, David "The Rock" Nelson's 2002 triptych video Monster Tales, and Steven Spielberg's 2002 'based on a true story' con man film Catch Me If You Can. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:30:41), we talk about Guillermo del Toro's 1992 debut film Cronos, in addition to the final two episodes of season 1 of Gravity Falls. In an extended part two (1:30:42-2:51:21) we talk in shorter form about 12ish additional features: the 1977 Stelvio Massi comedic poliziotteschi La banda del trucido (aka Rascal's Gang, Dirty Gang, Destruction Force, etc), the M.A.S.K. episode "The Creeping Desert", Ang Lee's 1993 queer drama The Wedding Banquet, the generic 2019 F. Gary Gray franchise entry Men in Black: International, Peter Weir's 'based on a true story' 2010 prestige picture The Way Back, H. Tjut Djalil's Indonesian black magic classic Mystic in Bali (aka Léak), the Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers episode "The Case of the Cola Cult", the classic "KITT vs KARR" episode of Knight Rider, a bit of furry-casting for Rian Johnson's controversial 2017 Star Wars picture The Last Jedi, Dario Argento's goofy 1998 grand guignol riff on The Phantom of the Opera, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of Gamera vs Zigra, and Andy Milligan's unfinished 1967 film Compass Rose. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched since last time (including some discussion of Peter Weir's The Cars That Ate Paris and The Plumber, which we got together to watch) and make our picks for next week.

The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/