The Stacks

Episode 39 - Fast Times at Ridgemont High + Kung Fu Wonder Child

This week, Shana and j. dig into some deep 80s culture with the classic 1982 teen movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High (directed by Amy Heckerling) and the utterly bizarre 1986 Taiwanese wuxia Kung Fu Wonder Child (directed by Lee Tso-Nam).

Discussion of Fast Times runs to ~1:38:58 and Kung Fu Wonder Child until 2:36:25

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

Episode 38 - Serpico + Batman Forever

On this week's episode Shana and j. are discussing two very different takes on criminal justice, with the classic 1973 Sidney Lumet true-life police corruption film Serpico and the queer, candy-coated 1995 Joel Schumacher blockbuster Batman Forever.

Discussion of Serpico runs to ~1:17:20, Batman Forever until ~2:22:25

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

Episode 37 - Lucia + Delta Space Mission

This week, Shana and j. discuss the sweeping Cuban triptych film Lucía, directed by Humberto Solás, 1968, as well as the 1984 Romanian animated sci-fi picture Delta Space Mission, directed by Victor Antonescu and Mircea Toia.

One audio dropout in the first section at ~18:00 - Lucía is referred to as 'Gardenia'

Discussion of Lucía ranges to 1:13:50, Delta Space Mission until 1:50:45. Final section begins with a mini-review of Legendary Weapons of China (1982).

Episode 36 - Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion + The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

This week, Shana and j. talk about Shunya Ito's 1972 debut film Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion and the amazing blend of animation and live action that is the 1962 Czechoslovakian film The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, directed by Karel Zeman.

Discussion of the first film goes to ~1:06:45, a little bit on The Peanut Butter Solution and Flag of Iron in between, then 1:14:30-1:58:10 covering Munchausen, then on into the moves segment.

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

Episode 35 - Bullet Ballet + Leptirica

On this week's episode, Shana and j. discuss the fourth film in the Arrow Shinya Tsukamoto 'Solid Metal Nightmares' box set, 1998's Bullet Ballet, and third in the Severin 'All the Haunts Be Ours' box, 1973's Leptirica, directed by Đorđe Kadijević.

0:00-~6:15 - some additional discussion of last week's second film, Koko-di, Koko-da (2019, Johannes Nyholm)

6:15-1:23:35 - Bullet Ballet

1:23:35-2:16:20 - Leptirica

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

Episode 34 - Gamera vs Gyaos + Koko-di Koko-da

This week, Shana and j. discuss the third entry in the Gamera series, 1967's Gamera vs Gyaos, from Noriaka Yuasa, director of the original film in the series, as well as the 2019 Swedish horror film Koko-di, Koko-da from director Johannes Nyholm.

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

Episode 33 - If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death + LA Bounty

This week, Shana and j. explore another classic Italian western with 1968's If You Meet Sartana, Pray for Your Death (from director Gianfranco Parolini) and another wildly entertaining Wings Hauser performance in the 1989 film L.A. Bounty (directed by Worth Keeter).

As always, the active Stacks list is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

Episode 32 - Tale of Zatoichi Continues + Eyes of Fire

We're back after a week off with the second film in the original Zatoichi series, Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962, directed by Kazuo Mori) and Avery Crounse's important folk horror film Eyes of Fire (1983).

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

Episode 31 - Adaptation + The Masturbating Gunman

This week we have an accidentally thematic pairing, with j. and Shana discussing Spike Jonze's 2002 film Adaptation and Mark Savage's 1997 psychotronic shot-on-video picture The Masturbating Gunman.

(This will be followed by a week off, due to illness)

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

Episode 30 - Blood & Flesh + The Shining

On this week's episode, Shana and j. talk about Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (2019, directed by David Gregory) and Stanley Kubrick's (now) well-loved 1980 film adaptation of The Shining.

As always, The Stacks list is live at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/