The Stacks

Episode 98 - Wild Things + Bloodstream

This week on The Stacks, we're talking about John McNaughton's 1998 beer ad noir Wild Things (0:00-1:25:25) and Michael J. Murphy's strange no-budget 1985ish meta-slasher Bloodstream (1:25:26-2:23:45), followed by discussion of all the other physical media we've watched since last time.

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

Episode 97 - Apocalypse After + Silver Bullets

This week on The Stacks, in a bit of a change of pace, we're covering a collection of short films for our first part, the Mondo Macabro / Altered Innocence joint release Apocalypse After, collecting surrealist shorts from Bertand Mandico (discussion running 0:00-2:27:31), followed by Joe Swanberg's 2011 mumblecore drama Silver Bullets (2:27:31-3:24:19), concluding as usual with capsule reviews of all the other physical media we watched in the previous week, feeding into our picks for next week's episode.

Apologies for the missed week, a hand injury made editing quite difficult.

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

Episode 96 - Dirty Ho + You Only Live Twice

This week on The Stacks, we're returning to Arrow's Shawscope Volume 1 with Lau Kar-leung's great 1978 kung fu comedy Dirty Ho (0:00-1:12:48), followed by the 1967 James Bond feature You Only Live Twice, directed by Lewis Gilbert (1:12:49-3:02:20), concluding as usual with discussion of the various other physical media we've watched this week and choosing our picks for next week.

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

Episode 95 - A Snake of June + Two Orphan Vampires

This week on The Stacks we're watching a couple deep vibes blue-tinted films involving erotic longing and mortality. First, we continue with our ongoing coverage of the films of Shinya Tsukamoto with 2002's blue pink film A Snake of June (and fill in a gap with a brief discussion of his early short film The Adventure of Denchu-kozo) (0:00-1:29:41), followed by our first venture into the moody romantic midnight world of Jean Rollin, with 1997's Two Orphan Vampires (1:29:42-2:39:57), concluding with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched in the past week as we decide what to cover next.

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

Episode 94 - Bloody Mama + Convoy Busters

This week on The Stacks, we're delving into some wild 70s crime cinema, beginning with the 1970 Roger Corman "true crime" self-examining exploitation film Bloody Mama (0:00-1:16:23), followed by Stelvio Massi's dense, bloody 1978 poliziotteschi Convoy Busters (1:16:24-2:22:16), and concluding as always with discussion of all the other physical media we've watched this week and our picks for next week.

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

Episode 93 - Battles Without Honor and Humanity + Body Parts

This week on The Stacks, we're diving into Kinji Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series with the sprawling super-dense chaos of its first entry, 1973's Battles Without Honor and Humanity (0:00-1:25:15), followed by Eric Red's silly, elevated 1991 evil limbs film Body Parts (1:25:16-2:22:57), then into The Watched Stacks, where we talk about all the other physical media watched this week and decide on next week's picks.

Apologies for the crummy sound quality in parts 2 and 3, my co-host didn't let me know about the issues during the recording.

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

Episode 92 - The Ipcress File + Slumdog Millionaire

This week on The Stacks, we've got a pair of British films, starting with Sidney J. Furie's 1965 cool domestic espionage thriller The Ipcress File (0:00-1:19:53), first in the Harry Palmer series starring Michael Caine, followed by the 2008 Academy Award winner for best picture, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (1:19:53-2:51:37), as always concluding with capsule discussions of various other movies we've watched on physical media during the week and our decisions on what to cover next week.

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

Episode 91 - Carrie + Snake Eyes

This week on The Stacks it's a Brian De Palma double feature, beginning with his landmark 1976 Stephen King adaptation Carrie (0:00-1:35:47), followed by the underappreciated 1998 Nic Cage ultra version of a locked-room murder mystery Snake Eyes (1:35:47-2:45:24), then The Watched Stacks, with capsule reviews of other physical media watched this week and our decisions on what to cover next.

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

Episode 90 - The Great Yokai War + Goodbye 20th Century

This week on The Stacks we conclude Arrow's Yokai Monsters box with the 2005 Takashi Miike remake/reboot The Great Yokai War (0:00-1:59:19) and puzzle over the bizarre 1998 Macedonian candidate for best foreign film, Goodybe 20th Century, directed by Darko Mitrevski & Aleksandar Popovski (1:59:19-3:01:08), concluding with capsule reviews of other physical media we've watched this week and our decisions on next week's picks.

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

Episode 89 - Rear Window + Highway Racer

This week on The Stacks we're digging deep into the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock voyeur suspense masterpiece Rear Window (0:00-2:02:46), followed by the 1977 Stelvio Massi poliziotteschi Highway Racer (2:02:46-3:16:00), concluding as always with discussion of all the many other things we've watched on physical media in the past week and deciding what we'll be covering next week.

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