The Stacks

Episode 80 - F for Fake + The Mephisto Waltz

This week in The Stacks, we're discussing Orson Welles' essay film on forgery and expertise, F for Fake (1973, discussion running to 1:36:55), followed by the early Satansploitation oddity The Mephisto Waltz (1971, directed by Paul Wendkos, discussion continuing to 2:59:31), followed as always by discussion of other movies we've watched during the week, and decisions on what we'll be covering next.

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

Episode 79 - Shogun’s Shadow + Black Christmas

We kick off 2023's Resolutions Month in The Stacks with the high-octane 1989 jidaigeki Shogun's Shadow (directed by Yasuo Furuhata, discussion running to 1:12:53), followed by the original slasher, 1974's Black Christmas (directed by Bob Clark, discussion continuing to 2:47:37), as always concluding with discussion of various other movies watched in the previous week.

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

Episode 78 - Female Convict Scorpion: Beast Stable + The Siege of Firebase Gloria

For our last recording of 2022, we discuss the third in the Female Convict Scorpion series, 1973's Beast Stable (directed by Shunya Ito, discussion going to 1:12:31), followed by a dip into some Australian Namsploitation with Brian Trenchard-Smith's The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989, discussion continuing to 2:29:59), as always concluding with some short reviews of other stuff watched this week and decisions on what we're covering next to ring in the new year.

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

Episode 77 - Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 + Santo vs Dr Death

A merry Christmas from The Stacks, as we discuss the heavily meme-ified Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987, edited/directed by Lee Henry, discussion running to 1:23:33), as well as our first dip into the lucha libre genre, with 1971's Santo vs Dr. Death (directed by Rafael Romero Marchent, discussion continuing to 2:43:59), followed as always with discussion of other films we've watched this 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 76 - Deranged + Another Day, Another Man

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. talk about the 1974 Canuxploitation horror Deranged (directed by Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen, discussion running to 1:14:42), followed by our first dip into the Doris Wishman oeuvre with her 1966 clip-show movie Another Day, Another Man (discussion continuing to 2:16:30), concluding as always with discussion of additional movies watched this week, and our choices of what to cover next week.

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

Episode 75 - Strangler vs Strangler + Stone Cold

This week in The Stacks, Shana and j. are talking about the classic 1984 Serbian black comedy Strangler vs Strangler (directed by Slobodan Šijan, discussion running to 1:23:06), followed by the totally nuts 1991 biker action flick Stone Cold (directed by Craig R. Baxley, discussion continuing to 2:47:11). As always, we conclude with some talk on other films watched in the previous week and decide what to cover next week.

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

Episode 74 - The Boxer From Shantung + Star Trek: The Motion Picture

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. delve into some wild kung fu action with The Boxer From Shantung (1972, directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-Li, discussion running to 1:52:19), followed by slow cinema sci-fi classic Star Trek: The Motion Picture (directed by Robert Wise, discussion continuing to 3:15:53), as always concluding with some capsule reviews of other movies watched this week toward deciding what to cover next.

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

Episode 73 - For a Few Dollars More + Eyes Wide Shut

This week, Shana and j. are discussing a couple of the all-time great cinematic stylists - first, Sergio Leone's second entry in the Dollars Trilogy, For a Few Dollars More (1965, discussion running to 1:45:22), followed by Stanley Kubrick's final picture, Eyes Wide Shut (1999, discussion continuing to 3:37:05), concluding as always with discussion of other things we've watched and decisions on what to cover on next week's episode.

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

Episode 72 - Lost Highway + The Dead Zone

This week we're going liminal with David Lynch's 1997 deconstructed noir Lost Highway (discussion running to 2:03:45), followed by David Cronenberg's 1983 Stephen King adaptation The Dead Zone (discussion continuing to 3:23:19), concluding as always with The Watched Stacks.

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

Episode 71 - Friday the 13th (1980) + The Last Man on Earth

We're back after an unexpected week off for illness, starting with Sean S. Cunningham's 1980 landmark slasher / body count picture Friday the 13th (discussion going to 1:21:35), followed by Sidney Salkow's 1964 adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price (and discussion continuing to 2:16:47), concluding with an extended Watched Stacks concluding the Spooky Season.

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