Episode 11 June 12th, 2011

Highbrow! Lowbrow? is back after a 5 month or so hiatus and ready to bring the podcasting fury. Jesse and Shaun are two movie loving dudes who review the Top Box Office Earner and the Best Picture Academy Award Winner of the same year, a podcast we call Highbrow! Lowbrow? Alright so now that we are all up to speed, let's talk about the year 1973 with it's highbrow and lowbrow options, The Sting and The Exorcist, respectively.

The Sting, directed by George Roy Hill, re-teams the charming duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford as a couple of con men, Henry and Johnny, trying to pull off the con of their lives on big fish Doyle Lonnegan, played by Robert Shaw. Featuring the ragtime music of Scott Joplin, the movie is told in a very unique and stylistic manner with segments broken up into episodes headed by title cards. Redford and Newman keep up their charming ways which is enhanced by the music and the elaborate schemes they come up with. Shaw makes Lonnegan big in presence, an intimidating figure no one would tangle with. Despite that, the movie suffered a little for never allowing the villain to gain the upper hand as Redford and Newman were constantly pulling the wool over everyone. At the end of the day, The Sting succeeds as light escapist fare featuring strong talent and strong music.

The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, is the story of a young girl, Regan (Linda Blair), who becomes possessed by a sinister entity. Her mother, Chris Macneil (Ellen Burstyn), enlist the help of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) to purge the demon from her child. This movie is indelible in everyone's mind as the horror movie of our time due to the visceral images and dark subject matter. Everyone has their own personal recollection of this movie and how much it has affected. The story is surprisingly deeper than remembered with many subtle nuances and details that really tie the imagery to what's being said on screen. From the influences of religion to the spiritual meaning of it all, not everything is at seems as the story unfolds and we learn more behind the motivations of these characters. Jason Miller really shines in this film, he's the true hero of the story, but Max Von Sydow is strong as the head priest. Linda Blair must be admired not only for her talent, but her ability to endure the dark subject matter and the extensive special effects. Speaking of which, the specials effects and the makeup are still compelling after all these years, only occasionally showing their age. Though this movie is billed in the Lowbrow category (top box office earner) it definitely fit like the Highbrow Pick.

So which one did we end up choosing? Was it the fright classic with more depth than we were expecting, The Exorcist? Or was it the jaunty and fun romp featuring the ever charming duo of Redford/Newman, The Sting? Itune in and listen to find out.