Is there a more perfect fit then a gritty revenge flick starring Michael Caine? 2010′s B-movie goodness looks like it is bound to continue with this British contribution that is bound to make me giggle with devilish glee.

Set in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follows one man’s journey through a chaotic world where teenage violence runs rampant. As a modest, law abiding citizen, Brown lives alone. His only companion is his best friend Leonard. When Leonard is killed, Brown reaches his breaking point. Harry Brown is a powerful, character driven thriller starring two-time Academy Award winner Michael Caine in a tour-de-force performance.

Title: Harry Brown
Director: Daniel Barber
Starring: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles, David Bradley
Release Date: April 30, 2010 (USA limited)

And we’re back! And with this quick turn around we are once again back on schedule to complete twelve episodes of High and Low (Brow) this year. Hopefully you are as excited by that prospect as we are.

In this episode we focus on the two works from the vaunted Hammer Films, a British movie studio best known for its modern takes on Universal horror classics such as Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. But along with those films Hammer produced a vast number of films in the horror and thriller genres and as we discovered, they weren’t adverse to making films about the fantastic either.

We sat down with the 1972 film Vampire Circus, a film filled with curses, lycanthropes, mutilations, titillation and devoured children. Not to be outdone we follow that up with the science fiction epic Quatermass and the Pit, a film widely regarded as the finest film Hammer ever produced. Will it live up to the hype? And of course make sure to stick around for our selection process for next month’s episode as James once again tries his hand at picking the theme and the films so I can have a much deserved month off.

If you have any recommendations for films we could watch for the podcast, or want to suggest a potential theme for us to use, or simply want to tell James how awesome he is, feel free to email us and tell us your ideas. If you enjoy the show make sure to subscribe through iTunes or our RSS feed so you can catch every new episode. Also, please friend James on Facebook. Because it will frighten and confuse him. And while you’re there be sure to join our relatively new Facebook group devoted to Where the Long Tail Ends.

One more thing, if you enjoy the show feel free to donate to it through PayPal in either a single installment or as a recurring donor. We’d love to upgrade some of our equipment and anything you donate will go directly towards us getting some decent mics and perhaps even pop screens that aren’t made out of cotton balls.

As always, thanks for listening!

Opening Music – Adonai by Ennio Morricone
Closing Music – Big Wheel by Jim Croce

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I’ve been on a bit of a Terrance Stamp kick as of late. I’ve been a fan of him for sometime, probably ever since his General Zod showed me the sublimely manicured face of evil all the way back in Superman II, but much of his early work I simply had never gotten around to watching. But after James and I took the time to watch The Mind of Mr Soames for one of our High and Low (Brow) podcasts (Episode 4 – Comas), I decided that perhaps it was finally time to devote some real effort into watching some of his earlier films, which brings me to The Collector, a film that only recently graced my radar after I found out that a very loose remake was being released in theatres last year.

Now, it isn’t often that you see films co-opted, manipulated and outright subjugated to the whims of modern remakes. Wait, let me rephrase that. Alright, so it is common. But in the case of The Collector it has been a very unique form of modern bastardization. You see the title was taken and the idea of collecting people was used (or mis-used as the case may be) and that was the end of it. Complex characters were abandoned for one dimensional stock. The creepy, slow burning plot was replaced with the now standard mess that highlights gore and ignores everything else. It is a thin thread that ties the modern “remake” to the original. Which, honestly, is a good thing.

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The Heights Theatre along with Take-Up Productions is proudly presenting the British noir classic Peeping Tom from famed director Michael Powell. The film is now known for killing Powell’s illustrious career due to its graphic and disturbing images of a serial killer who films his victims as he kills them. The film was so reviled by critics, that Alfred Hitchcock decided not to screen Psycho for them because he was so worried his film would receive the same treatment and kill any chances it would have to find box office success.

Some time ago I reviewed this now legendary film, and while I found it fascinating, the film is harmed by the fact that nearly every thriller has blatantly cribbed from this rather impressive source material, neutering the film to some degree compared to its modern counterparts, yet the film still is unquestionably a must see film for those who appreciate thrillers. Tickets are just $8 and there will only be one showing this upcoming Monday so make sure to make the time to see this fascinating film.

Peeping Tom
The Heights Theatre
January 25th
7:30 pm | $8

Along with several staff members at my theater, we have recently decided that we are going to write up a variation of the “Laminate list”. The Laminate List goes by all sorts of different names, but is generally known as the list of 5 celebrities that one is allowed to sleep with. But rather then this be a list about sleeping with people, we decided that we wanted to make it more of a fan list styled phone tree. So that if one of your Top 5 celebrities happens to come into the theater and you are not working, you would get a phone call and be provided the opportunity to stop in to the theater and possibly actually get to meet them.

Now at most places of business this would be a completely frivolous list. More of a way to pass the time and ignore whatever it is you are supposed to be doing. But I work at a movie theater in a relatively major metropolitan city. Celebrities are actually a fairly regular occurrence here in Minneapolis. A handful call the area home, and countless others swing on buy during their various tours, press meetings, or even being paid to party at our nightclubs.

Unfortunately, of the three Landmark Theaters in town mine is by far the least hip and the furthest away from the cultural epicenter that is Uptown. Because of this our level of celebrities tends to be rather low. Sure we got Bai Ling that one time, but who hasn’t had her? Or then there was the time Ned Beatty hung out for an afternoon, which was cool, but he also did it in part because he was trying to get us to sell his new CD. Which, by the way, was entirely devoted to him singing Gospel songs. I’m pretty sure we still have a case of them lying around somewhere. But outside of that we haven’t garnered much higher then the Minneapolis Mayor or local Sportscaster Mark Rosen.

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