The Stacks

Episode 49 - The Lost Boys + Firestarter (1984)

On this week's episode, Shana and j. discuss a couple fun 80s pop-horror films, Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys (1987) and Mark Lester's Firestarter (1984), followed as always by discussion of other films watched and our picks for next week.

Discussion of Lost Boys runs to 1:19:53 and Firestarter to 2:26:00.

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

Episode 48 - Safety Last! + Jaws

This week, Shana and j. discuss the iconic Harold Lloyd silent era classic Safety Last! (1923, dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor) as well as the definitive summer blockbuster, 1975's Jaws (directed of course by Steven Spielberg). Discussion of the first film runs to 1:16:16 and the next to 2:26:41, followed by the usual discussion of additional films watched and deciding on what to watch next week (corrections regarding Bigelow vs Schumacher to open next week's discussion of course).

 

As always, the live Stacks list can be found online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

Episode 47 - The Female Bunch + The Green Knight

This week in The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss the 1969-shot, 1971-released Al Adamson exploitation picture The Female Bunch, featuring a very menacing Russ Tamblyn and a much less menacing Lon Chaney Jr. For our second feature, we talk about the intensely visual psychedelic medieval film The Green Knight (2021, directed by David Lowery).

Discussion of The Female Bunch goes to 1:22:33, and The Green Knight until 2:25:23.

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

Episode 46 - High Plains Drifter + The Quick & the Dead

It's western week on The Stacks, as we talk about the classic Clint Eastwood revisionist western High Plains Drifter (1973) and the hyper-kinetic, star-studded (and thoroughly underappreciated) Sam Raimi splatter-western The Quick and the Dead (1995).

Discussion of High Plains Drifter runs to 1:22:35 and The Quick and the Dead to 2:27:03, followed as always by discussion of additional movies watched from The Stacks and the decisions on what we're covering next.

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

Episode 45 - Moonstruck + Army of Darkness

This week in The Stacks, it's Cher vs an Army of Darkness! Shana and j. discuss the classic 1987 Norman Jewison romantic comedy Moonstruck (running to ~1:22:05), featuring a formative Nicolas Cage performance, and the 1992 Sam Raimi action-horror-comedy Army of Darkness (running to 2:07:05). Stay tuned for the third section, where j. goes over a unified Crystal Lake series theory and we have some extra discussion of Friday the 13th pt VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan while deciding on next week's picks.

 

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

Episode 44 - Gamera vs Viras + It’s Such a Beautiful Day

This week, Shana and j. discuss the next entry in the Gamera series, 1968's Gamera vs Viras, directed by series originator Noriaki Yuasa (0:00:00-1:17:30), and get raw and contemplative with the 2012 Don Hertzfeldt animated masterpiece It's Such a Beautiful Day (1:17:30-2:13:45).

As always, the live Stacks list can be found online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

Episode 43 - 5 Fingers of Death + Evil Dead II

For this week's episode, j. and Shana talk about the landmark kung fu epic 5 Fingers of Death (aka King Boxer, 1972, directed by Jeong Chang-hwa) and the classic, definitive horror-comedy Evil Dead II (1987, director Sam Raimi).

Discussion of 5 Fingers of Death runs to 1:40:57 and Evil Dead II until 2:27:38

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

Episode 42 - Malibu Express + Deadly Force

On this week's episode, j. and Shana are delving into some 80s crime/action cinema, with the first film in Andy Sidaris' Malibu Bay Films cinematic universe, Malibu Express (1985), then the 1983 Paul Aaron film Deadly Force, starring our beloved Wings Hauser.

Discussion of Malibu Express runs to 1:04:44, and Deadly Force concludes at 1:40:31, with additional mini-capsule reviews as always in the third part.

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

Episode 41 - Pathogen + The Evil Dead (1981)

It's indie zombie week in The Stacks, as we discuss the 2006 no-budget SOV picture Pathogen (directed by 12-year-old Emily Hagins) and the influential 1981 independent horror classic The Evil Dead (debut feature of Sam Raimi).

Discussion of Pathogen runs until 1:10:40 and The Evil Dead until 1:53:50.

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

Episode 40 - Spook Warfare + Alligator

This week, Shana and j. talk about the second Yokai Monsters film, the 1968 Yoshiyuki Kuroda film, Spook Warfare, as well as the great 1980 giant radioactive monster flick Alligator, directed by Lewis Teague.

Discussion of Spook Warfare runs to 1:04:35 and Alligator until 2:03:20

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