The Stacks

Episode 94 - Bloody Mama + Convoy Busters

This week on The Stacks, we're delving into some wild 70s crime cinema, beginning with the 1970 Roger Corman "true crime" self-examining exploitation film Bloody Mama (0:00-1:16:23), followed by Stelvio Massi's dense, bloody 1978 poliziotteschi Convoy Busters (1:16:24-2:22:16), and concluding as always with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched this week and our picks for next week.

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

Episode 93 - Battles Without Honor and Humanity + Body Parts

This week on The Stacks, we're diving into Kinji Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series with the sprawling super-dense chaos of its first entry, 1973's Battles Without Honor and Humanity (0:00-1:25:15), followed by Eric Red's silly, elevated 1991 evil limbs film Body Parts (1:25:16-2:22:57), then into The Watched Stacks, where we talk about all the other physical media watched this week and decide on next week's picks.

Apologies for the crummy sound quality in parts 2 and 3, my co-host didn't let me know about the issues during the recording.

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

Episode 92 - The Ipcress File + Slumdog Millionaire

This week on The Stacks, we've got a pair of British films, starting with Sidney J. Furie's 1965 cool domestic espionage thriller The Ipcress File (0:00-1:19:53), first in the Harry Palmer series starring Michael Caine, followed by the 2008 Academy Award winner for best picture, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (1:19:53-2:51:37), as always concluding with capsule discussions of various other movies we've watched on physical media during the week and our decisions on what to cover next week.

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

Episode 91 - Carrie + Snake Eyes

This week on The Stacks it's a Brian De Palma double feature, beginning with his landmark 1976 Stephen King adaptation Carrie (0:00-1:35:47), followed by the underappreciated 1998 Nic Cage ultra version of a locked-room murder mystery Snake Eyes (1:35:47-2:45:24), then The Watched Stacks, with capsule reviews of other physical media watched this week and our decisions on what to cover next.

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

Episode 90 - The Great Yokai War + Goodbye 20th Century

This week on The Stacks we conclude Arrow's Yokai Monsters box with the 2005 Takashi Miike remake/reboot The Great Yokai War (0:00-1:59:19) and puzzle over the bizarre 1998 Macedonian candidate for best foreign film, Goodybe 20th Century, directed by Darko Mitrevski & Aleksandar Popovski (1:59:19-3:01:08), concluding with capsule reviews of other physical media we've watched this week and our decisions on next week's picks.

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

Episode 89 - Rear Window + Highway Racer

This week on The Stacks we're digging deep into the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock voyeur suspense masterpiece Rear Window (0:00-2:02:46), followed by the 1977 Stelvio Massi poliziotteschi Highway Racer (2:02:46-3:16:00), concluding as always with discussion of all the many other things we've watched on physical media in the past week and deciding what we'll be covering next week.

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

Episode 88 - Flatliners + Bio-Zombie

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. explore the boundaries of life and death with Joel Schumacher's 1990 morality play Flatliners (0:00-1:45:08) and Wilson Yip's 1998 Hong Kong mall zombie apocalypse picture Bio-Zombie (1:45:08-3:07:20), followed as always by discussion of all the other stuff we've watched on physical media since last week, and we decide on what we'll be covering next week.

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

Episode 87 - Gamera vs Guiron + Fast Five

This week on The Stacks we return to our coverage of the classic kaiju series Gamera with its fifth entry, Noriaki Yuasa's 1969 picture Gamera vs Guiron (0:00-1:24:31) featuring cannibal ladies from space and a big knife-headed monster who shoots shurikens out of his nose, followed by Justin Lin's 2011 film Fast Five, the fifth in the Fast & Furious superhero / action figure / carsploitation franchise (1:24:31-3:03:16).

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

Episode 86 - The Tall T + The Chooper

This week on The Stacks we're spending some time in desolate arid western landscapes with Budd Boetticher's 1957 noir western The Tall T (0:00-1:17:13) and Ray Dennis Steckler's exploitation slow cinema proto-slasher The Chooper (aka Blood Shack, 1:17:13-2:49:34), as always concluding with discussion of the other physical media stuff we've watched since last time and deciding on what we're covering next.

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

Episode 85 - Fucking Åmål + Alien: Covenant

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss the 1997 Swedish coming-of-age LGBT romance Fucking Åmål (directed by Lukas Moodysson, discussion running to 1:28:46) and the most recent entry in the Alien franchise, 2017's Alien: Covenant (directed by Ridley Scott, discussion continuing to 2:47:59), as usual concluding with a run-through of all the other boutique blu-ray stuff we've watched this week and decision-making on what we'll cover next week.

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