The Stacks

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:08:36), we talk about Yasuzo Masumura's noir procedural The Black Report, in addition to the eighteenth episode of Gravity Falls. In an extended part two (1:08:37-2:40:15) we talk in shorter form about 12(ish) additional features: Matt Johnson's great 2025 time travel comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, the 2001 Pamela Sutch WAVE-style fetish video women-in-peril satire The Gosh-Darned Mortgage, the G1 Transformers episode "Triple Takeover", the 1987 Paul Verhoeven satirical action classic Robocop, the excellent Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Silicon Avatar", the 1996 Alan Parker adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical Evita, the heavily Miami Vice-inspired 1989 John Glen Timothy Dalton Bond entry Licence to Kill, the 2003 Peter Weir epic nautical warfare masterpiece Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the singularly baffling 2015 militarization of space / Hawaii romcom (?) Aloha, discussion and loose furry-casting of J.J. Abrams' 2015 Star Wars picture The Force Awakens, the classic G.I. Joe episode "The Viper Is Coming" and the goofy Star Trek Animated episode "Bem" - apologies for some noise in this section, there was construction work. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:35:47), we conclude the Daiei Gamera series with Noriaki Yuasa's Gamera vs Zigra, in addition to the sixteenth and seventeenth episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:35:48-2:53:30) we talk in shorter form about  additional features: Uli Edel's crummy 2015 Nic Cage Insidious mockbuster Pay the Ghost, Steven Quale's excellent 2011 horror franchise entry Final Destination 5, the wacky 1980 Enzo G. Castellari poliziotteschi Day of the Cobra, the trashy 1997 Luis Llosa creature feature Anaconda, David Ayer's hated 2016 comic-book/needle-drop trailer-as-film Suicide Squad, Alberto Sedano's 2024 documentary Exorcismo! The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada S, the 2012 Barry Sonnenfeld sci-fi comedy trilogy conclusion Men in Black III, Ang Lee's 1991 independent debut feature Pushing Hands, and a quick furry-casting for Norman Jewison's 1973 musical classic Jesus Christ Superstar. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:51:48), we go super deep on Rob Hedden's wacky slasher sequel Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, in addition to the fourteenth and fifteenth episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:51:49-2:58:00) we talk in shorter form about 7 additional features: the 2023 Louis Leterrier blockbuster franchise entry Fast-X (with our rankings for the series), John Glen's 1987 entry in the James Bond series (the first starring Timothy Dalton), The Living Daylights, the 2011 Cameron Crowe parenting romcom quasi-film We Bought a Zoo, the wacky 2014 Luc Besson movie Lucy, the previously lost 1966 Andy Milligan post-apocalyptic sexploitation film The Degenerates, Steven Soderbergh's 2007 rebound sequel Ocean's Thirteen, and Peter Weir's extremely prescient 1998 reality TV sci-fi The Truman Show. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:25:51), we talk about Jose Mojica Marin's 1968 horror anthology The Strange World of Coffin Joe, in addition to the twelfth and thirteenth episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:25:52-2:47:47) we talk in shorter form about 9-ish additional features: Justin Lin's 2021 Fast Saga entry F9, the widely-disliked 2014 Marc Webb superhero rebootquel The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the hyper-liminal 2007 Olivier Assayas film Boarding Gate, Andy Milligan's 1965 debut, the queer bathhouse short Vapors, Peter Weir's excellent 1993 air crash trauma film Fearless, the hated 2002 Barry Sonnenfeld sequel Men in Black II, Radu Jude's crazy, shitposty AI-parodying 2025 Dracula film, Amanda Kramer's 2018 riff on The Lord of the Flies, Ladyworld, and the 2004 Robert Rodriguez / Frank Miller garage digital environment comic book movie Sin City. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:29:49), we talk about Richard Fleischer's big comic-book-y sequel Conan the Destroyer, in addition to the tenth and eleventh episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:29:50-2:57:22) we talk in shorter form about 8-ish additional features: Marc Webb's 2012 Marvel reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, the Star Trek animated series episode "The Pirates of Orion" (season 2 episode 1), the 2006 David Frankel fashion industry comedy The Devil Wears Prada, Doug Liman's 2014 action-sci Groundhog Day riff Edge of Tomorrow, David Gregory's 2025 documentary The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan, the 1990 Peter Weir romcom Green Card, the fascinating 1999 Richard Sandler documentary The Gods of Times Square, the final Roger Moore Bond entry, 1987's A View to a Kill (directed by long-time Bond director John Glen), and the 2016 Gareth Edwards 'Star Wars Story' Rogue One. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:33:02), we talk about the fourth film in the Sartana series, Giuliano Carnimeo (under the name Anthony Ascott)'s 1970 film, Have a Good Funeral My Friend, Sartana Will Pay, in addition to the eighth and ninth episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:33:03-2:43:09) we talk in shorter form about eight-ish additional features: David Leitch's 2019 Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs and Shaw, David Gregory's fascinating 2014 film documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Dr. Moreau, Simon West's wildly excessive 1997 action spectacular Con Air, AGFA's Midnight Dream Theater Mixtape (featuring Meshes of the Afternoon, House of Dreams, and Carnival of Souls), the John 'Bud' Cardos small-town zombie apocalypse film Mutant (aka Night Shadows), the 1989 Peter Weir inspirational teacher film Dead Poets Society, the 2004 Zack Snyder Dawn of the Dead semi-remake, and the difficult and self-indulgent 2011 Steven Soderbergh anti-heist film Ocean's Twelve. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:27:33), we talk about the influential 2002 heroic bloodshed Hong Kong crime film Infernal Affairs, directed by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau, in addition to the sixth and seventh episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:27:33-2:33:26) we talk in shorter form about 7ish additional features: John Glen's 1983 Roger Moore James Bond entry Octopussy, Pierfrancesco Campanelli's 1994 giallo Bugie Rosse (The Final Scoop), Antoine Pellisier's 1985 short L'elue des enfers (The Chosen One of Hell), the Dekanalog 'An Evening With Rodney Ascher' anthology disc, the underappreciated 1986 Peter Weir coming-of-age drama The Mosquito Coast, the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot movie directed by Simon McQuoid, the horrible 1998 Brad Silberling angel romance weepie City of Angels, and the 2005 Cameron Crowe romcom fiasco Elizabethtown. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:41:39), we talk about the big Disney renaissance hit The Little Mermaid, directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, in addition to the fourth and fifth episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:41:40-2:40:56) we talk in shorter form about eight(ish) additional features: Radu Jude's fascinating 2021 film about sex tapes and pandemic brainrot Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, F. Gary Gray's 2017 entry in the Fast & Furious series Fate of the Furious, the legendarily disastrous 1996 John Frankenheimer adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau, Paul W.S. Anderson's 2017 conclusion to his video game franchise Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Radu Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz' 2024 advertising montage documentary Eight Postcards From Utopia, Cameron Crowe's 2001 odd arthouse romance remake Vanilla Sky, Derek Erdman's early 90s found footage piece Girls at the Carnival, Peter Weir's 1985 American breakthrough film Witness, and the 1997 Barry Sonnenfeld sci-fi comedy smash Men in Black. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:38:02), we talk about Michael Winner's highly influential 1974 vigilante drama Death Wish, in addition to the second and third episodes of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:38:03-2:27:13) we talk in shorter form about 8 additional features: Peter Weir's 1971 Australian debut Homesdale, the first Broken Lizard picture, 2001's Super Troopers (directed by Jay Chandrasekhar), the 1994 Steven E. de Souza video game adaptation Street Fighter, the 1966 Vicente Aranda surrealist picture Fata/Morgana, Steven Soderbergh's fizzy 2001 heist movie Ocean's Eleven, the 1981 Roger Moore Bond entry For Your Eyes Only (directed by John Glen), the 1984 sci-fi/comedy classic Ghostbusters, and Tim Burton's 1985 debut feature Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:03:06), we talk about the final Stray Cat Rock film, Toshiya Fujita's Beat '71, in addition to the first episode of Gravity Falls. In part two (1:03:07-2:10:41) we talk in shorter form about a dozen additional features: Pamela Sutch's 2000 homemade cat movie Catastrophy, James Wan's 2015 franchise entry Furious 7, the 1991 Dana van Rouveroy slasher-comedy Intensive Care, the 2012 Paul W.S. Anderson hyper-stylized video game movie Resident Evil: Retribution, the two 1965 lost horror films (The Horror From Beyond and Paradise of Terror) from Vinegar Syndrome's Reviver Two set, the powerful 1981 Peter Weir war film Gallipoli, the 1994 Carol Weaks Cassidy & Ruth Leitman documentary Wildwood NJ, the 1983 Hugh Kinniburgh Long Island mall culture doc Mall City, Cameron Crowe's autobiographical 2000 film on 70s rock stardom Almost Famous, and Joseph Kosinski's 2010 grimdark legasequel Tron: Legacy. In part three, we talk briefly about everything else we've watched 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/