There are many very good tower speakers in the $1500 range. Especially if willing to buy used!
That said I'll take you a different path, try looking at Jim Salk's and Rick Craig's designs(salksound.com & selahaudio.com). Both use top-notch drivers, have furniture grade cabinets, and most importantly, both have a great ear for sound. I especially like Jim's 1801f, which may be a $100 over the above budget. Everybody is their own movie critic but I would put the 1801f against anything you can find in the store in the $3-4k price range.
Good luck in your hunt.
Regards, Jeff