Pile into the back of the car, buckle up, and join Dean and Phil, reunited on the mean streets of downtown Los Angeles, as they make their way into Hollywood for a live improv comedy show! On the way there, Dean reveals his Thanksgiving celebrations, Phil reveals his birthday celebrations, and they discuss the life and legacy of Irene Cara, and analyze a very important and interesting weekend at the box office. Such movies as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Spirited and The Fabelmans get reviewed. On the way back downtown, they take a deep dive into different kinds of improv comedy AND improv comics. Dean gets weepy about a robot documentary before he sings the praises of the Netflix series “Wednesday”. Phil does likewise with season 2 of “The Mysterious Benedict Society” before he and Dean close with thoughts about season 2 of “Avenue 5”.

Since 1984’s Risky Business, Tom Cruise has been one of the most reliable and bankable stars of major motion pictures. Since 1984’s Stranger than Paradise, Jim Jarmusch has been one of the most reliable and influential auteurs in independent cinema. This week, Dean and Phil compare and contrast these two icons’ filmographies, making recommendations, drawing parallels between two very different artists, and examining forty years of American culture and hundreds of years of American mythology in the process!

After a cold open in which Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness celebrate the fact that YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour becomes a teen-ager this week, they launch into what they do best, trying to make sense of a (Covid-19) world gone wild with humor, insight, irreverence and inspiration. In the return of “Wingnut of the Week”, Dean and Phil offer a wag of the finger at Covid-19 conspiracy theorists and a doff of the cap to UFO “truthers”. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they pay tribute to a true titan of comedy publishing and filmmaking, an international star who broke big in both Bollywood and Hollywood, a character actor-turned-casting director, an influential folk singer, and the musician who turned Hugh Grant into a pop star! Then, your friends in podcasting tackle how Covid-19 will affect the up-coming television season, and how it will affect the Oscars, before turning their attention to what years in cinema might rival 1962 as the best year ever for movies! 

This week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is a 75 minute, globe-trotting, space-faring, time-traveling adventure. 12 years ago this week, your friends in podcasting were discussing San Diego Comic-Con and “Star Trek”. This week, they are STILL discussing Comic-Con and “Star Trek”!  They are also discussing the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, great space movies, the Emmy nominations, great comedy shows, racism, freedom of speech and binge-watching. If you are going to be in Detroit this week, why not see Dean perform his live improv episode of “The X-Files”

This week’s epic, 80 minute long show begins with an hilarious update about Phil’s medical adventures before the return of “Live Event of the Week”, where classical music, Dean’s forthcoming live comedy show, and a sordid chapter of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club’s history get discussed. Then, the Chillpak Morgue is opened as character actress Sylvia Miles, heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and Jim Pike, lead singer of famed 60’s vocal group The Lettermen, are remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. And speaking of “Lettermen”, David Letterman has returned to Netflix with season 2 of his series “My Next Guest …” Phil raves about an episode featuring Ellen DeGeneres, on that boasts a cameo by Clint Eastwood, which gets Phil thinking about Clint’s acting career. HIs films Where Eagles Dare and The Bridges of Madison County get discussed. And those are far from the only movies Dean and Phil discuss. They re-examine the classic Hong Kong actioner The Killer on its 30th anniversary. They also analyze the recent box office failures of several previously unassailable cinematic franchises and offer suggestions of what franchise producers and studios can learn from the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as from the John Wick and James Bond series of films. 

Many years ago, your friends in podcasting had a very unique Summer Movie Preview episode that proved extremely popular. They’ve always thought of doing another, but for whatever reason, schedules never allowed. Finally, 7 years later, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness have done their prep work and are ready to deliver. After all, what is more “summer” in the movie biz than a long-anticipated sequel?! Perhaps, a sequel no one asked for …

Oh, well … On this week’s show, Dean and Phil preview all the hopeful blockbusters as well as several of the smaller comedies, documentaries and independent films hoping to make their mark at the box office as “counter-programming”. They do this by analyzing these movies’ trailers. Is the trailer good or bad? What can be gleaned about whether the film is good or bad? Do they think the film itself is like or unlike the one being advertised? The services AND disservices done to the audience by the way these films are marketed and advertised gets fully discussed. Film distribution nitty gritty, summer movie previews and much hilarity on this week’s brand new episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

The scathing commentary! The ugly truths! Listen and learn who will win the $10 office Oscar pool!

Dean’s back from Scotland! Phil and Dean catch up on summer blockbusters and discuss the obscure gems that slipped under the radar. Phil admits to being an a**hole, although he really isn’t. We love you, Phil.