Highbrow Lowbrow

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special comedy-themed episode, we look at two films which are guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles.

Steve’s pick is Noises Off, an adaptation of Michael Frayn’s play within a play in which everything goes horribly and hilariously wrong!

Dan’s choice is The Tall Guy, in which Jeff Goldblum’s struggling actor comes to terms with life, love and Weetabix without milk.

We hope our rib-tickling choices will leave your sides on the brink of splitting, dear listener. Prepare to turn that frown upside down and, as always, beware spoilers and enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special episode devoted to the work of Martin Scorsese, we look at two films which have been unjustifiably overlooked in the career of one of the world’s greatest directors.

Steve’s pick is The Age of Innocence, in which Daniel Day-Lewis plays a nineteenth-century lawyer torn between true love and the expectations of the high society he belongs to.

Dan’s choice is Bringing Out the Dead, which he argues features Nicolas Cage’s greatest performance as a burnt-out paramedic haunted by the ghost of a patient he failed to save as he drives an ambulance through Hell’s Kitchen every night.

We hope our choices will drive you back to the more overlooked films in Mr Scorsese’s eclectic career. Beware spoilers and enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special biopic-themed episode, we look at two films which celebrate the highs and lows in the lives of artists.

Steve’s pick is Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, in which Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the titular Dorothy Parker, a gifted but melancholy writer who spent ten years partying hard with the writers of the Algonquin Round Table.

Dan’s choice is the rockumentary Anvil!, which takes a look at the fortunes and misfortunes of Canadian Heavy Metal band Anvil. Once the darlings of the rock world, Anvil have fallen on hard times, but can a new European tour restore them to their former glory?

Does fame and success bring the artist happiness?  Listen up, dear listener, and we’ll leave the final decision to you. Beware spoilers and enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special episode devoted to the work of Peter Weller, we look at two films which highlight the talents of one of Hollywood's most versatile actors.

Steve’s pick is The New Age, in which Peter Weller and Judy Davis play a married yuppie couple who lose all of their money and have to find a new purpose after giving up the finer things in life. Will they find happiness? Steve argues that it's hilarious watching them try.

Dan’s choice is the sci-fi flick Screamers, which he argues transcends its genre limitations to become one of the strongest Philip K Dick adaptations ever made for the screen.

We hope our choices do Mr Weller justice. Part actor. Part academic. All talent. Beware spoilers and enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this festive special, Steve is off to Montreal to see if Patrick McGoohan and Alexis Kanner are Kings And Desperate Men in a radio station hostage drama on Christmas Eve. Does it deserve regal status, or should it be clapped in irons?

Meanwhile, Dan takes cover as Bruce Willis takes on some terrorists (again) on Christmas Eve (again), this time at Washington DC's Dulles Airport. Does Die Hard 2 start the holiday season with a bang, or is it a damp squib? The final decision, dear listener, is up to you. Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special Halloween-themed episode, we look at two films with only one thing in common: the capacity to disturb.

Steve’s pick is The Rapture, in which a call-centre operator played Mimi Rogers, bored with her dull job and swinging sex life, converts to Christianity and becomes obsessed with the Rapture. Her new religious lifestyle does not go entirely to plan, but it’s not the end of the world. Or is it?

Dan’s choice is the blood-soaked horror classic Saw. Despite its grisly reputation, Dan argues that the true star of Saw is its great script and inventive special effects pulled off on a miniscule budget. Forget the torture-porn label; Saw is a film you should see.

Which one of these films will leave you the most sleep-deprived and freaked out this Halloween? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special episode dedicated to the director William Friedkin, who died in August of this year, we look at two lesser-known films from the auteur’s canon.

Steve’s pick is Sorcerer, in which a group of desperate men transport unstable dynamite across two hundred miles of the Amazon jungle. A critical and commercial bomb when it was first released, Steve argues that Sorcerer is a journey worth taking and shouldn’t be considered dead on arrival.

Dan’s choice is To Live and Die in LA. It’s a crime film often described as The French Connection of the 1980s West Coast, but does Friedkin pull off the transition?

As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. 

In this episode, the clock is ticking in a countdown to Suspense. Dan's choice is The Andromeda Strain, a techno thriller based on a Michael Crichton novel in which science is the star.

Steve takes a look at Juggernaut, in which an all-star cast finds themselves lost at sea on a cruise with only a mad bomber for company.

Expect some sweat on the brow and prepare to bite those nails in this suspense-themed special. Beware spoilers and enjoy the show....

An unedited video version of our wellbeing episode. Thanks to Chris Simon for the recording.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. 

In this special wellbeing episode, Steve and Dan are joined by University of Liverpool staff member and all-round good guy Chris Simon to discuss three education-themed films which always make us feel happier and that we hope will resonate with students today who need a good movie to decompress from their studies.

Steve's highbrow pick is Educating Rita, in which Michael Caine's moribund academic career is brought back to life when he meets a feisty mature student played by Julie Walters.

Chris's middlebrow pick is School of Rock, as he loves to rock out to Jack Black's unconventional teaching methods, which turn a prep school upside down.

Dan's lowbrow pick is Scream, as he argues that horror films help to release our anxiety, especially this Wes Craven classic in which a group of high schoolers are stalked by a masked killer.

Time to swot up on those college movies, dear listener; remember those growing pains and be prepared to relive the best years of your life. Beware spoilers and enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. 

In this episode, revenge is a dish best served cinematically as we look at two films where the lead protagonists get mad and then get even.

Steve’s choice is The Reckoning, in which Nicol Williamson puts his marriage, career and liberty on the line to find the man who killed his father.

Dan’s pick is Dirty Weekend, a Michael Winner revenge flick in which Lia Williams goes on a killing spree after waking up one day and deciding that she’d had enough.

Stop nursing that grudge, dear listener. Put that petty feud to one side. We’re getting serious about revenge and we take revenge very seriously.

Beware spoilers and enjoy the show...

On the next Highbrow Lowbrow, it's all about #revenge....and Steve's dinner.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we look at two films which are both marvels of narrative cinema, and also landmark works in technical innovation.

Steve’s choice is John Huston’s twisted melodrama Reflections in a Golden Eye, a film which was originally released in an all-gold colour palette.

Dan takes a look at Searching, a film for the internet age where all of the footage is taken from social media accounts.

Do these experiments in cinema work? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Coming up on the next Highbrow Lowbrow...what was its title again?!

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. In this episode, we celebrate the eclectic career of Sir Michael Caine with two lesser-known gems from his body of work.

Steve’s pick is The Wilby Conspiracy, in which Caine teams up with Sidney Poitier to fight the racist system of apartheid. Dan’s choice is the black comedy A Shock to the System, in which Caine murders his way to the top in order to take revenge on the system that denied him promotion.

Brace yourself for film analysis and some dodgy cockney accents, and as always, dear listener, beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this war-movie episode, Steve discusses the WWII North Africa-set film Play Dirty, in which Michael Caine learns that there's no way to fight a clean war.

Dan looks into the future of conflict, by looking into the past, in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Be prepared to take cover, dear listener, and as always, beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. In this action-packed episode, Steve discusses the classic buddy-buddy, chase road movie Midnight Run. A perfect film for a Friday night deadline

Dan’s pick is Vantage Point. A time-bending, media-driven, conspiracy thriller which is guaranteed to find the right angle.

Buckle up, dear listeners, and as always, beware spoilers! Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. In our first episode of 2023, we shine a light on films which explore the dark side of human nature.

Steve's pick is Wait Until Dark, in which three criminals terrorise a blind Audrey Hepburn, only to find themselves outwitted one by one. Dan's choice is Devil, in which a seemingly random group of people endure the elevator ride from Hell... quite literally.

We hope you enjoy our choices, and remember, don't be afraid of the dark...only the things that lurk in it! Mind the spoilers and enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this festive-themed episode, Steve encounters some amateur dramatics thanks to Kenneth Branagh's In The Bleak Midwinter. Will the cast be able to successfully perform Hamlet for Christmas, or will the production end up like poor Yorick?

Dan finds himself In Bruges along with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two Irish hitmen on the run. Will they get into the festive spirit or end up killing each other?

Beware of the spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, which comes to you tonight from the streets of Los Angeles.

In this episode, we celebrate films adapted from the novels of legendary crime novelist James Ellroy. Ellroy biographer Steve Powell goes back to the 1950s and looks at L.A. Confidential, in which three LAPD cops search for Mickey Cohen’s missing Big H while the notorious crime kingpin is doing time at Big Q. We ask the question, is this the greatest film adaptation of an Ellroy novel?

Dan’s pick is from the '80s and is Cop. James Woods investigates a series of 187s of women in L.A. Will he collar the killer before more women are slain? 

Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we celebrate films which are all talk. Steve looks at My Dinner With Andre, a film in which Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory discuss the big issues in life while enjoying a delicious meal in a New York restaurant.

Dan’s pick is Before Sunrise. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy take a stroll around Vienna and fall in love along the way.

Are these films veritable classics, or just a whole lot of verbiage? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Mind the spoilers. Enjoy the show.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we celebrate the work of maverick Dutch director Paul Verhoeven and look at two seminal films of his career. Steve looks at the gripping wartime drama Black Book and argues it deserves its distinction as the most successful film ever made in the Netherlands.

Dan argues that the sci-fi epic Starship Troopers was a career highlight of Verhoeven's Hollywood phase.

Have we argued our case successfully? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Beware the spoilers and enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we look at claustrophobic films which hinge on one powerhouse performance.

Steve's choice is Locke, in which construction foreman Tom Hardy tries to hold his crumbling life together through a series of phone calls while travelling on the M6. Locke will take you on an emotional journey involving love, loss and whether concrete should be C5 or C6.

Dan's pick is Buried, in which Ryan Reynolds awakes to find himself buried underground in a coffin in Iraq with only a phone, lighter, flashlight, pen knife and inquisitive snake for company. Will he make it out in time? Dan digs deep into this horror classic.

We hope you enjoy our discussion of these one-man films, and as always, dear listener, beware of spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special Halloween episode, we look at psychological horror films that are perfect viewing this All Hallows Eve.

Steve discusses The Man Who Haunted Himself, a doppelganger story in which Roger Moore is stalked by a double who turns his life into a living hell.

Dan looks at The Hole, in which teenage stars Thora Birch, Keira Knightley and Laurence Fox are trapped in a claustrophobic setting that is sure to leave you spooked.

We hope you enjoy our discussion of these cult horror classics. Mind the spoilers and please… don’t have nightmares. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we look at the work of Tennessee Williams on screen, and two film adaptations of his plays starring Elizabeth Taylor.

Dan argues that Suddenly, Last Summer is a near-perfect adaptation of Williams' work, mixing Southern Gothic and Queer Cinema with aplomb.

Whereas Steve argues that the little-seen Boom! may have been a box-office bomb, but is an essential episode in the Liz Taylor / Richard Burton soap opera played out on screen. 

Beware spoilers. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, we go down the rabbit hole and examine high-stress/high-octane movies set over the course of twenty-four hours. Steve examines Martin Scorsese's After Hours, the film in which Griffin Dunne's potential one-night stand turns into one night in Hell. And asks the question - is this the most underrated Scorsese film?

​Dan analyses Crank, in which Jason Statham keeps the British end up (and his testosterone) on the streets of LA after being poisoned by a Beijing cocktail. Is it a perfect recipe of action and comedy?

As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you.

Beware, spoilers ahead. Enjoy the show....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode we celebrate the work of British director Stephen Frears and look at two seminal films of Frears' career. Steve discusses the gangster road movie The Hit and argues it will take you on a journey towards cinematic heaven.

Dan argues that the music, romance and listing-obsessed movie High Fidelity should make it into your Top Five Rom Coms of all time.

Have we argued our case successfully? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Spoilers ahead. Enjoy the show.

(A Spotify playlist to accompany this episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3uzBAFfgCjeuBaIArA3NoO?si=03f9db7138bb4b7c)

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In today's episode, Steve discusses Sexy Beast and argues it is the last great British gangster film.

Meanwhile, Dan makes the case for Shoot 'Em Up being the best film to have spoofed the action genre.

As always, dear listener, you make the final decision as to whether Steve and Dan have argued their point successfully. Beware of spoilers (and Cockney accents!) Enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. 

In today's episode, Dan examines Wolfgang Peterson's classic submarine drama Das Boot. Is it the greatest war movie of all time, or should it just stay submerged?

Continuing the Naval theme, Steve talks about his fondness for the Steven Seagal action film Under Siege. Is it a nineties classic, or just a waterlogged Die Hard ripoff?

As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you.

Spoilers ahead. Enjoy the show.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special War movie-themed episode, Steve discusses the World War Two murder mystery The Night of the Generals. Is it a perfect marriage of two genres - war and mysteries - or does it fail on all fronts?

Dan argues that Rogue One is among the best films in the Star Wars series. Does it hit the target, or is it just another Lucasarts misfire?

As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you.

Beware, spoilers ahead. Enjoy the show.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this special Horror-themed episode, Steve discusses the Vincent Price comedy-horror Theatre of Blood, in which Price plays an actor who murders critics who have been rude about his performances. Is it a case of justifiable homicide or just Price chewing the scenery?

Dan argues the merits of Paul WS Anderson's Hell in Space-themed Event Horizon. Is the film a neglected classic, or is watching it less preferable than eternal torment? As always, dear listener, the final decision is up to you. Beware, spoilers ahead. Enjoy the show...

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. In this episode, Steve examines Ken Russell's biopic Lisztomania. Is it a work of genius or such a bad film that watching it could induce madness?

Whereas Dan tries to salvage the reputation of the musical Xanadu. It was a notorious bomb, but can Dan persuade you that it was a missed opportunity with moments of brilliance?

A behind-the-scenes snippet of the preparation we put in and sacrifices we make in the name of entertainment....

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. 

In this special James Bond-themed episode, Dan defends the gritty, serious Bond played by Timothy Dalton in Licence to Kill to Steve who feels that Dalton just has a Licence to Bore. 

Whereas, Steve defends the tongue-in-cheek, light portrayal of Bond by Roger Moore in Moonraker to Dan who argues that the film should be shot into outer space. Enjoy!

(This episode was recorded shortly before the death of Electric Dreams star Lenny Von Dohlen was reported in the news.)

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture.

In this episode, Steve defends Peter Greenaway's arthouse classic The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover to Dan who felt the title wasn't long enough. It should have been called The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover & the Bored Viewer.

Meanwhile, Dan defends Eighties classic Electric Dreams to Steve who thought it was about as much fun as Electric Shock Treatment.

As always, beware of spoilers. Enjoy the show.

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow. The show where our podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery pit high art against low culture. In our last episode, Steve defended the epic Barry Lyndon to Dan who thought it was an epic bore, and Dan defended The Expendables to Steve who argued it was ripe for the cinematic dustbin.

In this episode, we look at neo-noir and the action thriller. Steve defends the George V Higgins adaptation Killing Them Softly to Dan who regarded it as slow torture. Meanwhile, Dan risks becoming part of a persecuted minority by having some good things to say about Taken 3. Enjoy.

Arthouse, Action Movies, Auteur Theory and Adventures Films, Highbrow Lowbrow is the podcast that has it all. 

Podcast hosts Steve Powell and Dan Slattery argue about the merits, or lack thereof, of high and low culture. 

Steve and Dan each pick one film that could be classified as either highbrow or lowbrow and have to defend their choice to each other, even though they know it’s a film the other person hates. 

Get ready for some good-natured debates, verbal jousting and celebrity gossip that will get you thinking about the films you adore and the reasons you love them.