PODCAST

The Stacks

j. the curator

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

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

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

03:56:54

Episode 96 - Dirty Ho + You Only Live Twice

The Stacks ·

2023/05/07

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/

03:17:55

Episode 95 - A Snake of June + Two Orphan Vampires

The Stacks ·

2023/04/30

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

03:10:46

Episode 94 - Bloody Mama + Convoy Busters

The Stacks ·

2023/04/23

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/

03:14:46

Episode 93 - Battles Without Honor and Humanity +...

The Stacks ·

2023/04/16

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

03:26:41

Episode 92 - The Ipcress File + Slumdog Millionaire

The Stacks ·

2023/04/09

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

03:30:05

Episode 91 - Carrie + Snake Eyes

The Stacks ·

2023/04/02

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/

03:49:02

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

The Stacks ·

2023/03/26

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

03:55:42

Episode 89 - Rear Window + Highway Racer

The Stacks ·

2023/03/19

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/

03:54:44

Episode 88 - Flatliners + Bio-Zombie

The Stacks ·

2023/03/13

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. explore the boundaries of life and death with Joel Schumacher's 1990 morality play Flatliners (0:00-1:45:08) and Wilson Yip's 1998 Hong Kong mall zombie apocalypse picture Bio-Zombie (1:45:08-3:07:20), followed as always by discussion of all the other stuff we've watched on physical media since last week, and we decide on what we'll be covering next week. The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

03:33:14

Episode 87 - Gamera vs Guiron + Fast Five

The Stacks ·

2023/03/05

This week on The Stacks we return to our coverage of the classic kaiju series Gamera with its fifth entry, Noriaki Yuasa's 1969 picture Gamera vs Guiron (0:00-1:24:31) featuring cannibal ladies from space and a big knife-headed monster who shoots shurikens out of his nose, followed by Justin Lin's 2011 film Fast Five, the fifth in the Fast & Furious superhero / action figure / carsploitation franchise (1:24:31-3:03:16). The live list of The Stacks is online at

03:32:31

Episode 86 - The Tall T + The Chooper

The Stacks ·

2023/02/27

This week on The Stacks we're spending some time in desolate arid western landscapes with Budd Boetticher's 1957 noir western The Tall T (0:00-1:17:13) and Ray Dennis Steckler's exploitation slow cinema proto-slasher The Chooper (aka Blood Shack, 1:17:13-2:49:34), as always concluding with discussion of the other physical media stuff we've watched since last time and deciding on what we're covering next. The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

03:39:55

Episode 85 - Fucking Åmål + Alien: Covenant

The Stacks ·

2023/02/19

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss the 1997 Swedish coming-of-age LGBT romance Fucking Åmål (directed by Lukas Moodysson, discussion running to 1:28:46) and the most recent entry in the Alien franchise, 2017's Alien: Covenant (directed by Ridley Scott, discussion continuing to 2:47:59), as usual concluding with a run-through of all the other boutique blu-ray stuff we've watched this week and decision-making on what we'll cover next week. The live list of The Stacks is online at

03:54:05

Episode 84 - Rope + Trainspotting

The Stacks ·

2023/02/12

This week on The Stacks, we're continuing our coverage of classic Alfred Hitchcock with his ambitious 1948 film Rope, loosely based on the Leopold & Loeb true crime case (0:00-1:40:33), followed by Danny Boyle's landmark 1996 film about heroin addicts in Scotland, Trainspotting (1:40:33-3:10:35), and concluding as always with The Watched Stacks, discussing additional movies watched this week and deciding what to cover next. The live list of The Stacks is online at

03:12:50

Episode 83 - Black Sabbath + Freeway

The Stacks ·

2023/02/05

This week on The Stacks, we're talking some fundamental stylish horror with 1963's Black Sabbath, directed by Mario Bava (discussion running to 1:33:45), followed by the 1996 black comedy / crime thriller Freeway, directed by Matthew Bright (discussion continuing to 2:32:25), as always concluding with some talk about other movies we've watched this week and decisions on what we'll cover next week. The live list of The Stacks is online at https://letterboxd.com/jshopa/list/the-stacks/

03:56:26

Episode 82 - Stroszek + Prometheus

The Stacks ·

2023/01/29

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. make a foray into the filmography of Werner Herzog with 1977's melancholy masterpiece Stroszek (discussion running to 1:20:27), followed by Ridley Scott's unfairly maligned 2012 quasi-prequel to Alien, Prometheus (discussion continuing to 3:06:46), which we come to praise, not to bury. Apologies for some audio issues in the first fifteen minutes and dropouts during the Watched Stacks discussion of part three, they did not make themselves known until the

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