This week’s show will be action-packed and an especially fun show for movie-lovers. In “What We’re Reading”, Dean will update us on his Da Vinci-esque “Mind Maps”. In “Celebrity Deaths” a chart-topping singer and an iconic TV star of the 60s who went on to star on-screen and on-stage for more than 60 years will be remembered. Cinemas are re-opening in the U.S., but should they? Not according to filmmakers whose movies are actually going to play in those theaters! Dean and Phil will discuss, and they will analyze both the controversy surrounding Netflix’s “Cuties” and the changes the Oscars will be making to its “Best Picture” category to promote greater diversity in front of and behind the camera. Finally, a whole mess of great films will get celebrated, with a particular emphasis on the greatest British filmmaking team of all time. And if that’s not enough, there’s even a new Chillpak Hollywood Hour drinking game!

This week’s show picks up where last week’s left off, with Dean and Phil discussing their favorite Canadian films of all time, including a title by one of the most brilliant filmmakers working today. Then, your friends in podcasting celebrate the life and career of another towering filmmaker in “Celebrity Deaths” before focusing on three noted writers, which in turn, inspires the return of “What We’re Reading”.

Wherever you are listening to this week’s show, we hope it finds you feeling healthy and safe. Your friends in podcasting briefly share their latest “lockdown” adventures, before sharing a tribute sent to them by a friend of the show about the SF Bay Area radio performer they discussed on last week’s episode. Then, Dean and Phil celebrate the lives and legacies of one of the biggest country music-pop music crossover artists of all time, of an an award-winning playwright, of an African soul icon, of a Swam Pop music legend, of a brilliant researcher, of a true showman on the basketball court, of a popular character actor of the 1980’s, of an influential horror director, and of one of the most prolific and influential drummers in rock. They discuss the joys of the Elton John musical biopic Rocketman, paying particular attention to the terrific performances by Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell and the inspiring friendship of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They discuss a new book that argues 1962 was the greatest year for movies. They discuss a great way for you in the USA to stream 15 classic movies and documentaries a month for free in the comfort of your own home. They begin to discuss the horrible battle between Goldie Hawn and Jonathan Demme over 1984’s Swing Shift, a movie that has been compared to The Magnificent Ambersons as lost cinematic classics, forever destroyed by those who didn’t know better. YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Covid-19 free since May of 2007!

After several weeks of special shows, your friends in podcasting are back to doing what they do best, providing irreverent, insightful and occasionally inspiring conversation on a wide array of entertainment topics … In “What We’re Reading”, Dean and Phil discuss Tintoretto and Hillbilly Elegy. In “Live Event of the Week” they discuss The Grammy Museum and a stirring concert featuring Bebe Rexha. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they pay tribute to five musical greats, a character actor, an Oscar-nominated writer, director and actor, the creator of “Ugly Betty”, a groundbreaking member of “Monty Python”, a TV star of the 50’s and 60’s, and an NYPD police detective. All that, plus they begin what will be an ongoing discussion about great monologues in movies delivered by women, AND they tackle the recent SAG Awards.

Another big week here at YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour we welcome our first guest of 2020! Phil interviews the wonderful Annette Andre, a natural born performer who worked as a dancer, singer, and actress in radio, theatre, television and film in Australia, Europe, the UK and Hollywood. She performed opposite the likes of Peter Graves, Bob Hope, Benny Hill, Michael Crawford, Buster Keaton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris. She witnessed Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s romance firsthand on the set of Cleopatra. She stood toe to toe with the mercurial Patrick McGoohan on “The Prisoner”. She picknicked with Sammy Davis, Jr. She became not only a fixture on British Television, appearing on such shows as “The Saint” and “The Avengers” and her own “Randall and Hopkirk Deceased”, but was immortalized in photographs as one of the “Birds of Britain” during the height of the swinging 60’s! She is also the author of the spellbinding memoir Where Have I Been All My Life? The bad news is that the heater in the historic Ranger House where Phil interviewed Annette makes a lot of noise during the show! The good news (at least for listeners here in the USA) is a very special offer described during the show (click on Annette’s book title in this episode description to take advantage of the offer)!

As loyal listeners know, Phil darn near went blind. As a result, he and Dean have not discussed books in a long time! Well, Phil’s eyesight is back, thank you very much, and so is “What We’re Reading” on this week’s show! In fact, Phil’s selection ties in very much to TWO conversations Dean and Phil will have this week. One about Buster Keaton’s “The General” (which will re-visit last week’s theme of “failure”). The other about what television your friends in podcasting are watching right now. Comedy, drama, mystery and the paranormal are all on the small screen menu! And before your friends in podcasting depart from the small screen, they discuss the current SNL controversy surrounding the firing of a recently-hired performer. 

12 years ago this week, your friends in podcasting were recording their first show in stereo (rather than the two channel mono that was absolutely bonkers) and were discussing Gary Oldman’s sex appeal and The Last Mimzy. A clip from that discussion opens week’s show before Phil provides an update on his recovery from AND preparation for eye surgery, and Dean provides an update on some very interesting live comedy shows he is doing. One is his improv episode of “The X-Files” and you can see it this month in Detroit! Then, the gents move this week’s episode into the Chillpak morgue, where a maverick U.S. Presidential candidate, an all-star pitcher who became a controversial author and a successful actor, one of the greatest character actors of all time, a legend of Italian cinema, and a star of the original “Willy Wonka” all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. A couple more thoughts related to last week’s discussion of what approach will most likely lead to creating great television get shared. Then, Dean and Phil discuss the controversy surrounding the American Cinematheque and the landmark Egyptian Theatre. Finally, they compare notes on Alfred Hitchcock’s fascinating Rope and the recent releases Us from Jordan Poole and Under the Silver Lake from David Robert Mitchell.  

It’s a new month, it’s Canada Day and it’s the day before Phil’s first eye surgery and your friends in podcasting have a ton to discuss, from the latest crazy examples of climate change to celebrations of a World War II hero, a romance novelist, a New Orleans music great and an Italian filmmaker-knight-politician. Twelve years ago, Dean and Phil were discussing movie marketing and that is STILL foremost on their minds. What they had not thought about in years was “torture porn” and in the first of what we think will be a weekly “flashback” segment, they play a few minutes from July of 2007, where the controversy surrounding Captivity was at its height. How have times changed and how have they stayed the same? Find out on this week’s show! Plus, you can learn about Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers and the art of screen comedy. 

In the second of two face-to-face episodes recorded this past week while Dean was in Los Angeles, your friends in podcasting discuss two “Celebrity Deaths” and three current cinematic releases. The creator of “SpongeBob SquarePants” and the woman who co-wrote “American Graffiti” and who gave Princess Leia her fighting, courageous spirit are the celebrities remembered by Dean and Phil. The documentary “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” (about Orson Welles’ 15 year-long effort to make the unparalleled “The Other Side of the Wind”), the heist thriller “Widows” from director Steve McQueen (“Shame”, “12 Years a Slave”) and “If Beale Street Could Talk” from director Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) are the movies Dean and Phil go into great depth discussing. on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.

Hopefully you enjoyed last week’s bizarre audio walking tour of downtown Los Angeles with your friends in podcasting. On this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Dean and Phil treat you to a sequel of sorts. It begins with a skyline view from outside the top floor of the city’s iconic city hall. then moves inside the presentation room, where several films get discussed, a brilliant character actor gets remembered, a rock ‘n roll lawsuit gets analyzed. All that plus a ton of laughs, a preview of Dean’s potential future enterprise in Detroit AND a major update on his long-awaited graphic novel!