PODCAST

The Stacks

j. the curator

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

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

03:45:27

Episode 120 - Brazil + 13 Steps of Maki + What...

The Stacks ·

2023/12/19

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

03:15:39

Episode 119 - Outlaw Gangster VIP 2 + La casa que...

The Stacks ·

2023/12/12

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

03:18:52

Episode 118 - Rodan + Ga-Ga: Glory to the Heroes +...

The Stacks ·

2023/12/05

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

03:21:08

Episode 117 - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly + Under...

The Stacks ·

2023/11/28

This week, Shana and j. finally return to our regular Stacks after our accidental hiatus and Halloween celebration. First up, we conclude our coverage of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy with the 1966 all-time classic Italian western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (0:00-1:19:26), followed with discussion of two deranged 80s action exploitation flicks, Rene Cardona Jr.'s 1980 heist / thriller grab-bag Under Siege (aka Hostages, aka Traficantes del Panico, or Panic Makers) and Gordon Hessler's

03:04:23

Episode 116 - McBain + O-Bi O-Ba: The End of...

The Stacks ·

2023/11/21

This week, we move back toward our regularly scheduled programming after Halloween. First up is the 1991 Christopher Walken peak action war on drugs film McBain (directed by James Glickenhaus, running to 1:10:43), then we head over to Eastern Europe for a double bill of Piotr Szulkin's dystopian sci-fi O-Bi O-Ba: The End of Civilization (1985) and Karel Zeman's whimsical children's adventure Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955), continuing on to 2:13:15. This is followed by our regular discussion

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/

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