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 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

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?

Welcome to Highbrow Lowbrow, the show where our

In this special Halloween-themed episode, we look at two

Steve’s pick is The Rapture, in which a call-centre

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

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

In this special episode dedicated to the director William

Steve’s pick is Sorcerer, in which a group of desperate men transport unstable dynamite across two hundred miles of the

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

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....