Mellow, spoiler-heavy discussions exploring an absurd physical media collection
Episodes
Monday Sep 09, 2024
Monday Sep 09, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:26:02), we discuss the operatic action epic Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius, as well as "Mudd's Women" - the sixth episode of Star Trek (TOS). In part two (1:26:03-2:42:44), we talk about six additional features - David Lynch's surrealist masterpiece debut Eraserhead (as well as a bit on his early shorts), Junta Yamaguchi's lovely, romantic 2023 time-loop film River, Grzegorz Warchoł's wild 1986 folk-horror / black comedy I Like Bats, Tod Browning's landmark 1932 sideshow horror feature Freaks, To Lo Po's 1979 gritty Brucesploitation kung fu crime picture Bruce and the Iron Finger, and Duccio Tessari's 1973 poliziotteschi precursor to John Wick, Tony Arzenta. As usual in part three, we finish off with discussion of everything else we've watched since last week and our picks for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Sep 02, 2024
Monday Sep 02, 2024
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. return to the works of Guy Maddin in part one (0:00-2:01:30), doing a detailed analysis of his 2007 film My Winnipeg, as well as talking the fifth episode of Star Trek (TOS), "The Enemy Within." In part two (2:01:30-3:07:20) we discuss six additional features - the much-derided 1987 Garbage Pail Kids Movie (directed by Rod Amateau), the fun 1986 James Bond Jr / Gymkata exploitation knockoff Never Too Young to Die (directed by Gil Bettman), Joe D'Amato's 1982 post-apocalypse motorcycle stunt mayhem flick 2020 Texas Gladiators, the landmark early 80s Indonesian supernatural horror Satan's Slave (directed by Sisworo Guatama Putra), Yang Zhimou's glossy, tony update of the 70s triad film to 90s international arthouse style with 1995's Shanghai Triad, and finally the Surf Reality Movie of the Month, Dick & Jane Drop Acid and Die, directed by Matt Mitler. As usual, in part three, we discuss everything else we've watched on physical media since last time and make our choices for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Aug 26, 2024
Monday Aug 26, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:13:41), Shana and j. get back into classic kaiju territory with Ishiro Honda's 1966 film War of the Gargantuas, as well as covering the iconic fourth episode of Star Trek (TOS), "The Naked Time" with a swashbuckling Sulu. In part two (1:13:42-2:40:02), we have six additional features: Georgiy Danileya's 1986 Soviet satire Kin-Dza-Dza, Law Kei's demented 1977 Brucesploitation oddity The Dragon Lives Again, the 2015 Peyton Reed MCU superhero entry Ant-Man, the unfinished 1969 Oliver Drake regional exploitation flick The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals, Roland Klick's bleak, icy 1974 crime neo-noir Supermarkt, and the silly, bloody 2001 Todd Reynolds SOV feature Kitty Killers. As usual, in part three, we discuss everything else we've watched on physical media since last time and make our picks for next week's episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Tuesday Aug 20, 2024
Tuesday Aug 20, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:24:58), we continue the films of Bruce Lee with the breakthrough 1972 Lo Wei feature Fist of Fury, in addition to the third episode of Star Trek (TOS), "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Next, in part two (1:24:59-2:47:35) there are six additional features - the 1978 Italian TV movie Closed Circuit, directed by Giuliano Montaldo, Giuseppi Patroni Griffi's 1974 experimental mystery Identikit, Michael Mann's hyper-stylized 1986 feature Manhunter (first appearance of Hannibal 'Lecktor'), the Y2K Hong Kong-satellite teen gang / coming-of-age picture Spacked Out (directed by Lawrence Ah Mon), Vojtěch Jasný's demented 1986 Canadian children's movie The Great Land of Small, and finally, Klaus Kinski's sole directorial entry, the borderline incoherent 1989 biopic Paganini. As usual, in part three we discuss everything else we've watched on social media since last time.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Aug 12, 2024
Monday Aug 12, 2024
On The Stacks this week, in part one (0:00-1:42:08), we return to the Solid Metal Nightmares box set with the next two Shinya Tsukamoto movies, 2004's Vital and 2005's digital video short feature Haze, in addition to "Charlie X" (the third episode of Star Trek TOS). In part two (1:42:09-3:02:14) we discuss six additional pictures in shorter form - James Gunn's 2014 MCU blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, the weird, dark, franchise-expansion of Ted Post's 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Lin Pin's quasi-documentary 1975 Brucesploitation simulacrum Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death, the ultra-self-aware 2015 mumblecore omphalos-infinity of Todd Rohal and Joe Swanberg's Uncle Kent 2, the third Surf Reality Movie of the Month (Robert Prichard's Thrill Kill Video Club) and finally, Todd Reynold's loving 1996 SOV drone tribute to Romero and Lynch, Living a Zombie Dream.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Kicking off year three of The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:48:14) we return to the Black Emanuelle series with a piece of strange apocrypha, discussing Christian Anders' 1981 film Divine Emanuelle (as well as its alternate director's cut Fanataco... When the Goddess Calls) in addition to beginning coverage of Star Trek (The Original Series) with its first episode, "The Man Trap." In part two (1:48:15-2:56:10) we talk more briefly on the great 2023 Jeff Rowe animated feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Weston Razooli's retro-70s dungeon synth children's fantasy Riddle of Fire (also from 2023), Hajime Sato's bizarro 1966 tokusatsu manga adaptation The Golden Bat, and the very silly Troma-distributed exploitation flick They Call Me Macho Woman! (as well as talking about the special features from Canadian International Pictures' Animation Night in Canada vol.1). As usual, we continue in part three with discussion of everything else we've watched on physical media 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/
Monday Jul 29, 2024
Monday Jul 29, 2024
This week, Shana and j. celebrate completing three full years of the podcast with our annual Stacks Awards! In part one (0:00-1:30:47) we break programming a bit to finish off our coverage of the 1966 Ultra Q TV series with its final three episodes. In part two (1:30:48-3:10:09) we go in-depth on Lana Wachowski's fascinating 2021 legasequel The Matrix Resurrections, in addition to talking about Wolf Gremm's 1982 dystopian satire Kamikaze '89, Dave Green's surprisingly enjoyable 2016 live-action sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Michael J. Murphy's third and final stab at his favourite chivalric legend, 1999's Tristan, Penny Lane's idiosyncratic quasi-animated documentary on old-school huckster John R. Brinkley in Nuts!, and finally Dennis Hopper's 1990 overheated sleazy neo-noir The Hot Spot. In part three, in addition to our usual discussion of what we've watched since last time and our picks for next, we go very extended with the 3rd Stacks Awards, ranking the best and worst from the 200 or so movies we've covered in the past year.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Jul 22, 2024
Monday Jul 22, 2024
On The Stacks this week, part one continues our coverage of the Yakuza Papers / Battles Without Honor and Humanity collection from Arrow with Kinji Fukasaku's 1973 film Proxy War (running to 1:10:09). In part two (1:10:10-2:22:34), we have a roundup of a broad swath of additional features - the Canadian International Pictures collection Animation Night in Canada Vol. 1, the deranged 1966 Sadao Funatoko tokusatsu film Watari the Ninja Boy, Tony Scott's hyper-aesthetic 1987 buddy-cop sequel Beverly Hills Cop II, Nick Millard's notorious 1975 regional lo-fi proto-slasher Criminally Insane, and Bennett Thiessen's 1992 shot-in-a-day Surf Reality Movie of the Month, Manic a Go-Go. As usual, part three consists of discussion of everything else we've watched on physical media since last time and our picks for next week's episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Jul 15, 2024
Monday Jul 15, 2024
Regrettably, Shana was ill and unable to record this week but we will be back next week. With love from The Stacks <3
Monday Jul 08, 2024
Monday Jul 08, 2024
On The Stacks this week, in part one (0:00-1:26:03) Shana and j. go in-depth on Jean Rollin's 1973 feature Shiver of the Vampires, as well as episode 25 - "The Devil Child" - of the Ultra Q TV series. Part two (1:26:04-3:14:36) we go extra long, featuring discussion of 2003's anthology film The Animatrix, the 2014 Jonathan Liebesman reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Luigi Cozzi's magical and bizarre 1983 reboot of Hercules, Joseph Kong's 1980 Brucesploitation joint The Clones of Bruce Lee, Martin Brest's 80s buddy-comedy masterpiece Midnight Run, and finally Johnnie To's borderline-absurdist 1997 Hong Kong action fire-fighter flick, Lifeline. As usual in part three, we talk about all the other physical media we've watched since last time and decide what we're going to cover next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/