PODCAST

The Stacks

j. the curator

Mellow, spoiler-heavy discussions exploring an absurd physical media collection

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

04:07:17

Episode 115 - Psycho Goreman + The Amusement Park +...

The Stacks ·

2023/11/14

This week, Shana and j. conclude our bonus week of rigorous exploration of The Spooky Stacks, concluding with another quadruple bill. First up is PG: Psycho Goreman, a 2020 Canadian horror-comedy directed by Stephen Kostanski, with the second part (1:02:37-2:31:03) comprising discussion of George Romero's shelved 1975 elder abuse PSA The Amusement Park, James Bryan's 1981 first wave slasher / video nasty Don't Go in the Woods, and from directors Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the eerie 1973

03:24:17

Episode 114 - Psycho + Dracula + Frankenstein

The Stacks ·

2023/11/07

This week, Shana and j. close out this year's spooky season with three all-time classics of the horror genre - Alfred Hitchcock's landmark 1960 crime drama / OG slasher Psycho (0:00-1:13:01), followed by the first two Universal Horror pictures, Tod Browning's Dracula and James Whale's Frankenstein (both from 1931, discussion continuing 1:13:01-2:26:45), and concluding as always with capsule discussion of all the other movies watched during this week, feeding into our decisions for next week's

03:39:49

Episode 113 - Ichi the Killer + The Exorcist

The Stacks ·

2023/11/02

This week, Shana and j. continue celebration of the spooky season with discussion of 2001's Takashi Miike yakuza splatter epic Ichi the Killer (0:00-1:26:16) as well as William Friedkin's monolith of Satanic horror, 1973's The Exorcist (continuing to 2:35:21), followed as always by additional discussion of all the other movies we've watched in the past week, and choose our movies for next week. A scheduling error led to this episode going up very late, apologies.

04:17:06

Episode 112 - Friday the 13th Parts 3& 4 + Mandy +...

The Stacks ·

2023/10/24

The Spooky Stacks continue with our October horror crawl in a quadruple bill! In part one (0:00-2:08:43) we discuss both Friday the 13th 3D (1982, directed by Steve Miner) and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, directed by Joseph Zito) and in part two, we talk about Mandy (2018, directed by Panos Cosmatos, continuing to 2:55:10) and Final Destination 3 (2006, directed by James Wong, running to 3:31:49), finally concluding as we usually do with discussion of additional movies watched during

04:12:45

Episode 111 - Friday the 13th Pt II + Certified Copy

The Stacks ·

2023/10/17

After an unexpectedly long absence, Shana and j. are back to open The Spooky Stacks for this October. This week, we cover key slasher canon with Friday the 13th Pt II (directed by Steve Miner, 1981, discussion running 0:00-1:31:30), followed by some arthouse surrealism with Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy (2010, running 1:31:30-3:04:34, also featuring shorter discussion of 3 Park Chan-Wook films (Thirst, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave), and concluding as always with The Watched Stacks,

00:54

Technical difficulties / Brief hiatus message

The Stacks ·

2023/09/01

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are in the midst of a two week break, once Shana's internet access is properly back up and running, so too will we be <3 -j.

03:30:34

Episode 110 - The Milky Way + War of the Worlds: Next...

The Stacks ·

2023/08/22

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. are talking some religion and politics (and aliens!), starting with Luis Buñuel's 1969 surrealist treatise on heresies and anathema, The Milky Way (running 0:00-1:25:35), followed by Piotr Szulkin's 1981 political satire War of the Worlds: The Next Century (1:25:36-2:27:50) and a little bit on John Coats' eerie 1977 UFO drama Foes (2:27:50-2:46:36), concluding as usual with capsule reviews of other physical media we've watched, leading into our picks for next

03:05:32

Episode 109 - Speaking of Murder + From Hollywood to...

The Stacks ·

2023/08/14

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. are discussing the 1957 French noir Speaking of Murder (directed by Gilles Grangier, running 0:00-1:05:43), followed by some loose conversation about the next four films in the From Hollywood to Heaven box set of films by the Ormond family, encompassing Forty Acre Feud, The Girl From Tobacco Row, The Exotic Ones, and If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do (all directed by Ron Ormond, running 1:05:43-2:17:25), concluding as we usually do with some mini-reviews

03:45:24

Episode 108 - Hiroshima Death Match + The Long Walk

The Stacks ·

2023/08/06

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

02:47:17

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

The Stacks ·

2023/07/30

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/

03:41:38

Episode 106 - Picasso Trigger + Golem

The Stacks ·

2023/07/24

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

02:42:12

Episode 105 - Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss +...

The Stacks ·

2023/07/17

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

03:28:35

Episode 104 - Female Prisoner Scorpion #701’s Grudge...

The Stacks ·

2023/07/10

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

03:05:07

Episode 103 - Viy + Forest of the Wolf

The Stacks ·

2023/07/03

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

02:52:59

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

The Stacks ·

2023/06/26

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/

03:50:49

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

The Stacks ·

2023/06/19

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

03:43:12

Episode 100 - Mission: Impossible + Alien From L.A.+...

The Stacks ·

2023/06/12

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/

03:18:57

Episode 99 - Killing Spree + Veerana

The Stacks ·

2023/06/05

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/

03:31:27

Episode 98 - Wild Things + Bloodstream

The Stacks ·

2023/05/29

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/

04:01:33

Episode 97 - Apocalypse After + Silver Bullets

The Stacks ·

2023/05/21

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

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