Mellow, spoiler-heavy discussions exploring an absurd physical media collection
Episodes
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Monday Feb 05, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part 1 (0:00-1:46:22) Shana and j. continue to dig into the work of legendary actor Lee Marvin with the 1984 French black comedy / crime satire Dog Day (aka Canicule, directed by Yves Boisset), as well as continuing to go through the classic 1966 Ultra Q TV series with its fifth episode, "Peguila Is Here!" In part 2 (1:46:22-2:55:03) we have two additional features, the career-spanning 2019 autobiographical documentary Varda by Agnes, and the Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell 2018 space western Prospect. As usual, in part three we talk about all the other stuff we've watched on physical media in the previous week 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/
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Monday Jan 29, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:38:13) Shana and j. continue exploring the films of Lee Marvin with John Boorman's 1967 neo-noir masterpiece Point Blank as well as continuing our ongoing coverage of the Ultra Q TV series, with episode 4, "The Mammoth Flower." Then in part two (1:38:14-2:56:31), we have two additional features, the 1990 Tulsi & Shyam Ramsey Bollywood horror banger Bandh Darwaza, and the 1981 Czech steampunk comedy The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians. As usual, in part three, we conclude with discussion of the other physical media we've watched during the past week and decide what to cover next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part 1 (0:00-1:12:46) we discuss John Carpenter's debut, the USC student film expanded to feature length of Dark Star (1974), an absurdist sci-fi satire about blue collar workers blowing up planets, in addition to continuing coverage of the Ultra Q TV series with its third episode ("The Gift From Space"). In part 2 (1:12:47-2:21:36) we discuss three additional films - Ivan Passer's 1981 neo-noir Cutter's Way, the experimental theatre / air disaster documentary Charlie Victor Romeo (2014, directed by Robert Berger & Karlyn Michelson), and the totally unclassifiable erotic philosophy film What's Love (begun in the 70s by Bill Cable, completed in 1987 by Carlos Tobalina), and as usual in our third section, we chat about all the other movies we've viewed on physical media since last episode, and make our choices for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Monday Jan 15, 2024
This week, continuing our New Years Resolutions month, we kick off in part one (0:00-1:47:56) with Alain Resnais' labyrinthine 1961 art film Last Year at Marienbad, followed in part two (1:47:57-3:06:08) by two 70s crime features - Michael Ritchie's 1972 New Hollywood meat and sex trafficking picture Prime Cut, and Enzo G. Castellari's 1976 ultra-violent high-octane poliziotteschi The Big Racket. As usual, we conclude with The Watched Stacks, with some capsule reviews of all the other physical media we've watched since last week, leading into next week's picks.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
For the first entry in The Stacks recorded in 2024, we continue our ongoing coverage of Andy Sidaris' Malibu Bay Films with 1989's Savage Beach, as well as episode 2 of Ultra Q ("Goro and Goro" from 1966, directed by Hajime Tsuburaya) in part 1 (0:00-1:27:31), while in part 2 (1:27:32-3:02:58) we talk about the odd Amando de Ossorio Spaghetti Northern, 1965's oddly-named Hudson River Massacre, in addition to Bob Clark's 1983 modern holiday classic A Christmas Story. As usual, we conclude with discussion of all the other movies we've watched on physical media in the past week and decide what to cover in next week's episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
This week on The Stacks, we close out 2023 with four features - in part 1 (0:00-1:07:35) we're discussing the second Harry Palmer film, Guy Hamilton's 1966 entry Funeral in Berlin, which remains satirical but hews closer to existing spy cinema, and in part 2 (1:07:35-2:37:05) we have a triple feature, discussing Richard Franklin's surprisingly good 1983 slasher legacy sequel Psycho II, the violent and silly 1976 Sonny Chiba picture Karate Warriors (directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi), and the totally unique Filipino musical / comedy / yakuza conspiracy Kakabakaba ka ba? (or Will Your Heart Beat Faster, 1980, directed by Mike De Leon). We conclude as usual with discussion of all other stuff we've watched on physical media since last time and make our picks for the first episode of 2024.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. talk Sonny Chiba, with the 1972 Ryuichi Takamori exploitation film Yakuza Wolf (0:00-54:01), followed by an extended part two (54:01-2:53:25) featuring a roundup of the last six pictures in the Indicator collection From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormond Family, concluding our discussion of the set, as well as some counter-programming with the deranged 1989 Umberto Lenzi spring break slasher Nightmare Beach. As usual, we conclude in part three with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched since last week and make our picks for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss Terry Gilliam's 1985 dystopian Christmas classic Brazil (0:00-1:54:30), followed in part two (1:54:30-2:56:49) by Makoto Naito's deranged 1975 yakuza exploitation film The 13 Steps of Maki as well as Luca Balser's 2023 New York anthology picture What Doesn't Float. Then we conclude as usual with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched since last week, leading into next week's picks.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. finally return to the Outlaw Gangster VIP series with its second entry, from 1968, directed by Keiichi Ozawa, featuring the continuing adventures of emotional swordsman Goro, quiet-quitting his yakuza position (0:00-1:09:18), followed by discussion of both Rene Cardona Jr.'s wild exploitation potboiler La casa que arde de noche (or The House That Burns in the Night, 1985) and the intense 1986 Czech stop-motion version of the classic Pied Piper folktale, directed by Jiří Barta (these run 1:09:19-2:14:36). We conclude as usual with discussion of the other physical media we've been watching this week, leading into our choices for next week's episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. talk about a classic Toho Ishiro Honda kaiju picture, 1956's Rodan, as well as the first episode of influential kaiju TV series Ultra Q ("Defeat Gomess!" from 1966) in part one (0:00-1:00:42), followed in our second part (1:00:43-2:21:08) with discussion of Piotr Szulkin's 1986 dystopian sci-fi black comedy Ga-Ga: Glory to the Heroes and Michael J. Murphy's DIY 1990 erotic thriller Torment, concluding as always with discussion of all the other movies we've watched since last episode, leading into our selections for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/