Mellow, spoiler-heavy discussions exploring an absurd physical media collection
Episodes
Monday Jun 03, 2024
Monday Jun 03, 2024
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. finally return to the OG Godzilla franchise with the second entry, 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, directed by Motoyoshi Oda, in addition to the next two episodes in our coverage of Ultra Q (episodes 19 and 20, "Challenge From the Year 2020" and "The Primordial Amphibian Ragon"). Regrettably, there was an issue with the separate audio tracks so the levels are a bit messy for part one (0:00-1:14:23). This is resolved in part two (1:14:24-2:23:08), where we discuss five additional features - the 1950 Ron Ormond poverty row western King of the Bullwhip, the next two entries in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, II: Secret of the Ooze (1991, directed by Michael Pressman) and III (1993, directed by Stuart Gillard), Troma landmark The Toxic Avenger (1984, directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz), and concluding with 2003's The Matrix Reloaded (directed by the Wachowskis). In part three as usual we talk about all the other physical media we've watched 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 May 27, 2024
Monday May 27, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part 1 (0:00-1:30:23) we discuss the landmark 1962 revisionist western Ride the High Country, directed by Sam Peckinpah, in addition to the 18th episode of Ultra Q, "The Rainbow's Egg." In part 2 (1:30-24:2:33:00), after some brief general talk on Millennium Actress, we discuss Satoshi Kon's next film, 2003's Christmas-themed anime adventure Tokyo Godfathers, as well as the 1954 Charlton Heston adventure (and major Indiana Jones influence) The Secret of the Incas, directed by Jerry Hopper, and finally 1967's Rene Cardona lucha feature The Panther Women, featuring a fake Santo. As usual, we conclude with discussion in part 3 of all the other physical media 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/
Tuesday May 21, 2024
Tuesday May 21, 2024
This week in The Stacks, Shana and j. are talking about six movies - in part one (0:00-1:14:13) we talk about the second entry in Jose Mojica Marins' legendary Coffin Joe series, 1967's This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, in addition to the 17th episode of Ultra Q, "The 1/8th Project" (directed by Hajime Tsuburaya). In part two (1:14:14-2:52:48), we have five additional films - The Wachowksis' seismic film event of 1999, The Matrix, Tobe Hooper's 1974 video nasty landmark The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Jon Moritsugu's latest (to date) film, 2013's Pig Death Machine, the very early silent feature Dante's Inferno (1911, directed by Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, and Giuseppe de Liguoro), and finally Pere Portabella's 1971 experimental documentary Caudecuc, Vampir. As usual in part three, we briefly discuss everything else we've watched on physical media since last time out and make our picks for next week.
Apologies for the late post this week, there were technical difficulties.
The live list of The Stacks is found online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday May 13, 2024
Monday May 13, 2024
On The Stacks this week, Shana and j. return to the Sartana series in part one (0:00-1:19:27) with the excellent third entry in the series, Sartana Is Here, Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin (1970), directed by Giuliano Carnimeo, as well as the 16th episode of Ultra Q, "Garamon Strikes Back!" directed by Samaji Nonagase. Next, in part two (1:19:28-2:27:07), we have four additional features - an impenetrable digital video Schuylkill note of a film, Blood on Melies' Moon (2016, directed by Luigi Cozzi), the sunny, buzzy 1968 lucha feature The Bat Woman (directed by Rene Cardona), the 1976 Joe D'Amato quasi-Emanuelle film Black Cobra, and Douglas Trumbull's 1972 hippie sci-fi effects masterpiece Silent Running. As usual, in part three, we talk about everything else we've watched on disc 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 May 06, 2024
Monday May 06, 2024
On The Stacks this week, part one (0:00-1:17:14) features the next entry in the original Gamera series, Noriaki Yuasa's 1970 film Gamera vs Jiger, while in Ultra Q episode 15, "Kanegon's Cocoon" we encounter a yokai rather than a kaiju. In an extended part two (1:17:15-2:52:56), we discuss four additional features, going deep on Steve Barron's 1990 kids' movie classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Amir Shervan's delirious lo-fi 1991 action b-movie Samurai Cop, the beautifully aesthetic 1990 triad film from Benny Chan, A Moment of Romance, and the bizarre 2023 sci-fi beat-em-up Divinity, from Eddie Alcazar. As usual, in part three, we discuss all the other physical media we've watched in between episodes and make our picks for next week.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Apr 29, 2024
Monday Apr 29, 2024
This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:21:52) we conclude the original Michael Caine Harry Palmer trilogy with Ken Russell's 1967 spy parody Billion Dollar Brain, in addition to the 14th episode of Ultra Q, "Tokyo Ice Age." In part two (1:21:53-2:32:57), we have four additional films - Bruno Mattei's 1983 Claudio Fragasso-penned entry in the Emanuelle series, Women's Prison Massacre (aka Blade Violent! or Emanuelle in Prison), the 1973 Peter Newbrook steampunk British gothic horror The Asphyx, Banmei Takahashi's 1988 home invasion thriller Door, and finally, Michael Fischa's absurd neon 1989 supernatural horror Death Spa. As usual, we conclude with capsule discussion of all the other stuff 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/
Monday Apr 22, 2024
Monday Apr 22, 2024
This week on The Stacks, after an unplanned week off due to illness, Shana and j. are back with a full-bore exploitation week, continuing coverage of the Stray Cat Rock series in part one (0:00-1:34:33) with both Toshiya Fujita's Wild Jumbo and Yasuharu Hasebe's Sex Hunter (both released in 1970) in addition to the 13th episode of Ultra Q, "Garadama" directed by series creator Hajime Tsuburaya. In part two (1:34:34-2:54:30), we discuss three additional films - Paul Verhoeven's cult classic 1995 Hollywood satire Showgirls, the 1991 Vanilla Ice vanity project Cool as Ice (directed by David Kellogg) and Bruno Mattei's 1982 Emanuelle women-in-prison mashup Violence in a Women's Prison. As usual, in (an extended) part three we talk about everything else we've watched on physical media since last time and make our picks for next episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Apr 08, 2024
Monday Apr 08, 2024
Breaking slightly with tradition for the titling this week, due to us covering six films this week (plus one TV episode). In part 1 (0:00-1:39:33), we discuss the next two entries in the All the Haunts Be Ours folk horror box set - the 1958 Norwegian film Lake of the Dead, directed by Kåre Bergstrøm, and the 1987 Icelandic TV movie Tilbury, directed by Viðar Víkingsson - as well as "I Saw a Bird," the twelfth episode of Ultra Q. In part 2 (1:39:33-2:28:40), we run through four additional films - the 1994 Jon Moritsugu cinema of transgression indie Mod Fuck Explosion, León Klimovsky's 1972 entry in Paul Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky series, Dr. Jekyll vs the Wolfman, and two David F. Friedman formative sexploitation / roughie productions, 1965's The Defilers (directed by Lee Frost) and 1966's A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine (directed by Byron Mabe, star of The Defilers). As usual in part three we talk briefly about all the other movies 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 Apr 01, 2024
Monday Apr 01, 2024
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss Michael J. Murphy's 1995 direct-to-video folk horror The Rite of Spring and episode 11 of Ultra Q, "Balloonga" in part one (0:00-1:33:48), while part two (1:33:49-2:50:05) features three 70s film picks - Pedro Olea's 1973 Spanish exploitation drama It's Not Good for a Man to Be Alone, a 1978 entry in the long-running Black Emanuelle series, Joe D'Amato's Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade, as well as the 1976 John Guillermin King Kong remake. As usual, in part three, we talk about all the other physical media we've watched since last time and decide on next week's picks.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/
Monday Mar 25, 2024
Monday Mar 25, 2024
This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. return to the films of Al Adamson, with part one (0:00-1:15:56) discussing his 1960 directorial and acting debut, Half Way to Hell, as well as his 1969 psychotronic western Five Bloody Graves. In part two (1:15:57-2:42:47) we talk about three additional features - the 2000 Coen Brothers megahit O Brother Where Art Thou?, Enzo G. Castellari's brisk 1974 poliziotteschi Street Law, and Jon Moritsugu's candy-colored PBS sitcom satire Terminal USA. As usual, part three consists of capsule discussion of everything else we watched on physical media in the past week and decisions on what to cover next episode.
The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/