Your friends in podcasting and broadcasting start the show with a “cold open” about some greats of Italian cinema and the genius of Jennifer Coolidge and the cinematographer of “The White Lotus”. Then, after Phil regales with tales of a one-day, 650 mile road trip to Turlock and back, Dean and Phil spend the bulk of the show doing a deep dive into analyzing the year in movies 2022. They take the 10 nominees for the Best Picture Oscar and compare/contrast that list with both the critics’ choices for the top dozen or so films of the year and the top ten box office releases of the year. What emerges is an analysis of the present, and perhaps the near future of moviemaking and movie-going.

Because Dean is “on assignment” in the UK, he and Phil recorded a very special episode for this week! Dean and Phil pay tribute to their friend Mark Bennett, who died at the end of 2021. Mark was a journalist, a filmmaker, a philosopher, a researcher, and a truly gentle, caring man, who features prominently in Dean and Phil’s The Truth Is Out There, and who last appeared on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour in March of 2021. He has been described as a “spy from the future” and as such, Dean and Phil’s memories of him segue nicely into an email from friend of the show Jon Lawlor all about time travel movies. Keep pen, pencil or keyboard handy, because Dean and Phil hit you with a bunch of really cool movie recommendations!