Dean and Phil follow up on last week’s awesome show by discussing more about “Hollywood accounting” and how in show biz the “bottom line” is often NOT the bottom line! Last week, while discussing the box office struggles of the brand new In the Heights, Dean and Phil were inspired to look back at two dance films based on the same craze that opened on the same day many years ago, one of which boasted a music score from Phil’s frequent collaborator, Greg De Belles. Greg composed the score for Phil’s Karl Rove, I Love You and for Dean and Phil’s The Truth Is Out There and The Lady Killers. Greg died on Friday, and Dean and Phil speak of their immensely talented friend. Of course, the box office struggles continue, so Dean and Phil discuss how a Pixar movie might have been able to change everything. That leads into a deep dive into Disney +, the movie Soul, the miniseries “WandaVision” and the episodic series “The Mandalorian”. There is also a lot of talk about painting, from the advice given by the great Leigh McCloskey to the thematic approach of the Barbizon school of artists and the brilliance of Julian Schnabel’s Van Gogh film At Eternity’s Gate. Finally, Dean and Phil celebrate the careers of an Oscar-nominated character actor and a beloved sitcom actor and director.

The heartfelt and the hilarious are both in abundant supply this week. For Phil Leirness and Dean Haglund, one of the best things about co-hosting YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour these past (almost) 14 years has been the friendships they have enjoyed because of the show. And these friendships are very much on their minds. Sure, there is the latest show biz-related Covid-19 news, a great joke about people’s reaction this past week to Dr. Seuss books, reviews of movies both recent and classic, fun with movie ads from the year 1986, “Celebrity Deaths” featuring two great reggae artists, and the return of “What We’re Reading”, but there will also be special birthday wishes, the celebration of a good friend’s new music, tales from a friend’s memoir, lessons learned from a friend’s work as a podcaster, and more. Dean will also discuss the show he did this past week with his good friend Gary Jones, and Phil will preview the two new podcast series he will be producing!

With special “theme” shows planned to ring out 2020 and ring in 2021, this week’s show will be the last of Dean and Phil’s usual irreverent and insightful show biz grab bags for a few weeks! In it, they celebrate the lives of two Broadway legends, an accomplished New Orleans-based actress, and a “Star Wars” icon. They discuss some of their favorite Christmas movies and share what movies they have gravitated towards this holiday season. They offer up a few holiday-themed movie print ads in what has become a weekly tradition. They discuss why Hitchcockian cinema (i.e. Hitchock-like movies directed by people other than Hitchcock) might have had its peak in the 1970s. They weigh in on Tom Cruise’s Covid-19 safety protocol rant. All that, plus, “The Mandalorian”, “Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Boys” and John Cassavetes!

This week, your friends in podcasting definitely put the “Hollywood” into YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, not only with the topics they discuss but by recording the show in, you know, Hollywood! That’s right, the “Turlock” drinking game might need to take a couple weeks off, while Dean and Phil discuss jury duty, a forthcoming X-Files/Lone Gunmen virtual convention and a spate of recent “Celebrity Deaths” (including a Supreme Court justice, a founder of Women’s Studies, the founding figure of reggae, a controversial jazz journalist and cultural critic, and more). Phil and Dean sing the praises of the late, great Bea Arthur (discussing both “Maude” and “The Golden Girls”). A comparison of Martin Scorsese to David Lean leads to a conversation about Robert Mitchum. A conversation about last week’s show leads to a discussion of the Vincent Price/Diana Rigg vehicle Theatre of Blood, which leads to a discussion of what it will take for movie theaters – and moviegoing – to survive the pandemic and the digital streaming age. Finally, there is the return of “Lawsuit of the Week” featuring everyone’s (real? phony?) favorite heavy metal act, Spinal Tap! 

 

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!

Fires and heat waves have returned to California, Snow has returned to Colorado and the Dakotas, Covid-19 has returned to Detroit, and movies (and movie-goers) have returned to theaters! Dean and Phil cover it all, as well as Queen Elizabeth turning one of her homes into a drive-in theater, and Prince Harry and Megan Markle signing a production deal with Netflix. Never before have your friends in podcasting discussed as many musical acts as they do in this week’s “Celebrity Deaths” where members of Malo, Fleetwood Mac, Molly Hatchet, Primal Scream, New Order, and The Roots get remembered. The life of a Mexican comedy legend gets celebrated as well before Dean and Phil turn their attention to television and movies. The latest installment of “The Trip” series gets reviewed. Netflix’s “Dead to Me” gets analyzed. Two animated series are foremost on Dean’s mind: “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “X-Files: Albuquerque”. Finally, Phil wraps things up with some hopeful, helpful advice in “What We’re Reading”.

After a week away, Phil is back in Turlock, and reports on the air quality. Meanwhile, Dean Haglund is in Detroit where his power went out. Fires? Power outages? These things can’t stop your friends in podcasting from bringing you their latest installment of free weekly entertainment! On this week’s show, Chadwick Boseman, a groundbreaking jazz trombonist, a screen star of the 1950s and 1960s, a World War II hero and computer pioneer who fathered a legendary filmmaker, and a beloved figure from TV animation all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, Phil runs Dean through the eight shows nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series, and Dean shares his thoughts.

California is on fire and Phil gives a full report from Turlock. Meanwhile, Dean Haglund is singing for charity along with the entire cast of “The X-Files” to benefit the World Central Kitchen. And speaking of “The X-Files” Dean wants to discuss the films of former “X-Files” director Rob Bowman in anticipation of a series of shows about the movie directors that are the all-time favorite filmmakers of your friends in podcasting. As promised last week, the implosion of the SAG-Aftra health plan gets dissected and analyzed from several angles. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, a classically trained star of stage of screen, a young star of 70’s independent cinema, a 70’s sitcom fixture, a sex symbol of early TV, a Beat Goddess and Canada’s First Lady of the Blues all get remembered and celebrated.

Because he’s been driving all over California, Phil tackles the insane, apocalyptic weather racking the Golden State, and Dean updates on the building of his steam room and his graphic novel (both of which are long-awaited) on this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. The madness of America is addressed through the oddly appropriate lens of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ and speaking of Scorsese, his mentor, John Cassavetes is very much a subject of discussion, from his directing of the under-seen classic The Killing of a Chinese Bookie to his acting in such crowd-pleasers as the 1964 version of The Killers and The Dirty Dozen. And one of the “Dozen”, the great music star-turned-actor Trini Lopez gets remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Robert Altman’s penultimate film, The Company, receives some fascinating analysis. And speaking of fascinating analysis, somehow a discussion of TV’s “Columbo” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” allow Dean and Phil to figure out once and for all why the Back to the Future sequels are so bad! At the close, your friends in podcasting preview next week’s show when they will be discussing the series nominated for the Emmy in the “Best Comedy” category and the dire circumstances threatening SAG-Aftra in the wake of the union’s health plan implosion.

After a week of travel and creative work, Phil is back in Turlock and ready to discuss both with Dean! Phil then asks Dean about one of Dean’s all-time favorite movie directors. This leads into a discussion of two great movies, and the desperate plight of movie theaters in the wake of both the pandemic and the overturning of the Paramount Consent Decrees. From there, Dean and Phil shift gears to discuss the recent Emmy nominations for Best Drama Series, and at least one really fun new television series on HBO. Of course, there are also “Celebrity Deaths” wherein two great character actors, one chart-topping pianist, a legendary ballerina, and a jazz great all get remembered.