The Stacks

Episode 108 - Hiroshima Death Match + The Long Walk

This week, Shana and j. continue our coverage of the Battles Without Honor and Humanity / Yakuza Papers saga with part two, Hiroshima Death Match (aka Deadly Fight in Hiroshima, 1973, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, running 0:00-1:21:02), followed by the 2019 Lao time travel / psychological horror film The Long Walk (directed by Mattie Do, 1:21:02-2:31:39). As usual, we conclude with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched in the previous week and decide what to watch next in our third part, plus bonus JANDEK CORNER.

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

Episode 107 - Decision at Sundown + Sherlock Jr + The Navigator

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss the thorny 1957 Budd Boetticher / Randolph Scott western Decision at Sundown (0:00-1:09:37) as well as two exceptional 1924 Buster Keaton silent features, Sherlock Jr and The Navigator (1:09:38-2:11:53), concluding as always with some mini-reviews of the other physical media we've watched in the past week, and decide what we're going to cover next.

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

Episode 106 - Picasso Trigger + Golem

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. continue coverage of the films of Andy Sidaris with his James Bond-riffing 1988 action / spy / sexploitation flick Picasso Trigger (0:00-1:13:31), then a major change of pace for our second feature, Piotr Szulkin's 1980 Polish dystopian / existential sci-fi Golem (1:13:32-2:27:10), finally concluding in part 3 with a whole bunch of capsule reviews and decision-making on what we'll be covering next week.

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

Episode 105 - Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss + Treasure of the Amazon

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. cover the first entry in the Stray Cat Rock series of Japanese youth violence gang movies, 1970's Delinquent Girl Boss (0:00-1:06:02), followed by Rene Cardona Jr's 1985 post-Indiana Jones exploitation jungle adventure Treasure of the Amazon (1:06:03-2:01:59), concluding as usual with some mini-reviews of all the other physical media we've watched in the previous week and decision-making on what we're covering next week.

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

Episode 104 - Female Prisoner Scorpion #701’s Grudge Song + From Hollywood to Heaven pt1

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. conclude our coverage of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series with its off-model fourth entry, Female Prisoner Scorpion #701's Grudge Song (1973, directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, discussion running to 1:09:55), then we take a deep dive into the first disc of Indicator's From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormonds box set, covering Untamed Mistress, Please Don't Touch Me, White Lightnin' Road and the TV UFO doc Edge of Tomorrow (conflicting info on release dates, all directed by Ron Ormond, 1:09:55-2:32:10), and concluding as usual with some shorter reviews of the other physical media we've watched this week, leading into our decisions for next week.

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

Episode 103 - Viy + Forest of the Wolf

This week it's a folk horror double feature, with the first ever Soviet horror film, 1967's Viy (directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgy Kropachyov, running 0:00-1:07:56) followed by the 1970 Spanish true crime-themed folk horror Forest of the Wolf (aka The Ancines Woods, directed by Pedro Olea, running 1:07:56-2:11:10), and as always we conclude with discussion of other physical media we've watched this week and decide what to cover next.

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

Episode 102 - Zatoichi the Fugitive + The Man on the Roof

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. continue covering the Zatoichi series with the fourth entry, 1963's Zatoichi the Fugitive (directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, running to 1:15:17), followed by Bo Widerberg's 1976 police procedural The Man on the Roof (1:15:17-2:06:50), concluding as always with discussion of the other physical media we've watched in the past week and decisions on what to cover next week.

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

Episode 101 - Fight Club + Psycho-a-Go-Go

This week, Shana and j. start off the third year of The Stacks with an in-depth look at a fundamental modern classic, the 1999 David Fincher action satire Fight Club (0:00-2:03:35), followed by discussion of Al Adamson's 1964-1971 feature(s) Psycho A-Go-Go / Fiend With the Electronic Brain / Blood of Ghastly Horror (2:03:35-3:00:21), concluding as always with discussion of other physical media we've watched in the previous week and decide on next week's picks.

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

Episode 100 - Mission: Impossible + Alien From L.A.+ The 2nd Annual Stacks Awards

This week, we celebrate 100 episodes of The Stacks with Brian De Palma's 1996 blockbuster Mission: Impossible (0:00-1:16:40) and the 1988 Albert Pyun / Cannon Films fairytale Alien From L.A. (1:16:41-2:23:22), concluding with a look back on the 100ish movies we've watched in the past year, in the Stacks Awards.

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

Episode 99 - Killing Spree + Veerana

This week on The Stacks, we dig into some truly brain-fried regional horror  with Tim Ritter's 1987 16mm slasher satire Killing Spree (0:00-1:19:02), followed by the Tulsi & Shyam Ramsey 1988 Bollywood horror blast Veerana (1:19:02-2:32:35), concluding as usual with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched in the past week and deciding what to cover next week.

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