And we’re back! This time on High and Low (Brow) James and I are joined by a live studio audience named Kevin who was invited because he offered us pizza and bread sticks. Delicious bread sticks. Buttery foodstuffs aside, this episode’s theme is HP Lovecraft, an author both of us enjoy, but who’s works have struggled to gain mainstream acceptance and have had even worse results in finding capable, or even enjoyable, versions brought to the silver screen.
Rounding out the show we have our selection process for the next episode, and once again we provide a twist on it to help keep things fresh and exciting. If you have any recommendations for films we could watch for the podcast, or want to suggest a potential theme for us to use, 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.
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 – Mother Made Me Do It by Mark Mallman
Closing Music – Okey Dokey by The Incredible Bongo Band
Well James and I got together over the weekend to record the latest episode of High and Low (Brow). We once again had a change in format (as is quickly becoming our format), but nonetheless we had a good time with our theme of HP Lovecraft. Haven’t done much with the audio file yet, but expect the episode to be up sometime this week.
Also, make sure to swing by RowThree.com next week to check out the newest episode of the Cinecast. We’ll be recording it on Monday night and the film we will be reviewing will of course be Where the Wild Things Are. But, unlike most episodes where it is just me, Kurt and Andrew, we will be joined by a special guest, Rian Johnson, director of Brick and The Brothers Bloom. Should be an interesting and fun discussion.
And once both those episodes are posted, make sure to keep an eye out for my reviews of several of the films that will be playing at next weekend’s Flyway Film Festival. I should be attendance for most of, if not the entire, festival and I hope to have reviews and some commentary from the event. And if things go really well, hopefully some audio interviews with several of the various directors, actors, producers and other luminaries in attendance.
Just look for this banner for any reviews of films that will be playing at this year’s Flyway Film Festival.
Just in time for our upcoming High & Low (Brow) podcast that will focus on two HP Lovecraft film adaptations, there is a new documentary devoted to him being released this week. While I am a fan of Lovecraft I’ve always felt he never has seemed to have received the amount of mainstream popularity he deserves, especially compared to other horror writers. He’s always seemed to be a bit more respected by horror nerds then general audiences, which is a shame.
Part of the reason might be that his stories tend to be a bit cumbersome to the uninitiated, with their flowery prose that is not often seen, especially from more modern authors like himself. His stories have also become rather notorious in Hollywood for how difficult they are to adapt, resulting in people being less impressed with his work by proxy and with a general reluctance from the studios to adapt his works.
Lovecraft: Spreading the Madness looks to correct these oversights and misconceptions on the man and his mythos, and they do so by rolling out an impressive group purveyors of the weird and wonderous like Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Straub, Stuart Gordon, Ramsey Campbell, S.T. Joshi, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Andrew Migliore and Robert M. Price to talk about Lovecraft and his influence on horror as well as their own lives. Its an impressive group, to be sure, and I can barely contain my excitement at getting a chance to watch this film. While I won’t have time to watch this before James and I record, you can be sure within the next few weeks I will make sure to get my hands on a copy of this potentially fabulous documentary.
Unbeknownst to you my dear reader, James and I secretly recorded a podcast almost one month ago. It was meant to be a trial run before we recorded our first official podcast. So if you are a little confused by the episode numbering, don’t you worry, they should be far more coherent from now on, unlike say, James and my film commentary.
As you will quickly realize, we are still pretty rough around the edges, but I think this format has a great deal of potential. Feel free to leave any comments, critiques or suggestions to help improve the podcast. Hope you enjoy!
FROM THE JOURNAL OF DR. ABEL MERRIWETHER
16 AUGUST, 2008
It was in the spring of the year that I was first approached by the carrier of the following document. Having spent much of my retirement studying certain obscure and fabled tracts, such as the black tome known as The Necronomicon of Dr. Abdul Alhazred, it was with no small measure of excitement that I gained possession of the final copy of The Netflix Ratings Rubric. The messenger turned the papers over to me with a brief word of caution that I proceed with great care in any attempts I might make at understanding the original author’s haphazard and fumbling summation of his personal application of the Netflix ratings scheme.
At first I was skeptical. I had for some time read various reports in Internet newsgroups that a document such as the one now being offered me existed. I took the papers into my hand and offered the messenger something in the way of a reward for his diligence in having procured the papers I had for so long sought proof of. He refused and made a hasty retreat to his white Dodge Intrepid that was parked at the end of my driveway.
Over the next several months I made an attempt at translating the Rubric into the common vernacular, as well as penning my own reflections on the rather meandering logic exhibited by the author. I include my translation in this journal entry and hope to follow with my own testament to the authenticity of the documents.
The contents of the papers given to me by the mysterious messenger were as follows…
[FRAGMENT BEGINS]
Dearest Warren,
I hope that you are keeping well. Please find attached to this e-mail a copy of the most up-to-date version of my Netflix Ratings Rubric, as well as a brief forward regarding its origins. I hope that your university chums will find it edifying. It is in .docx format. I trust you will not have a problem opening it. If need be, I will gladly convert it to a .pdf file for you. Merely say the word!
And we’re back! This time on High and Low (Brow) James and I are joined by a live studio audience named Kevin who was invited because he offered us pizza and bread sticks. Delicious bread sticks. Buttery foodstuffs aside, this episode’s theme is HP Lovecraft, an author both of us enjoy, but who’s works have struggled to gain mainstream acceptance and have had even worse results in finding capable, or even enjoyable, versions brought to the silver screen.
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