This week’s show begins with a mea culpa to those of you who actually listen to the show in podcast form. After that, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting follow up on last week’s “What We’re Reading” with amazing tales of the Knights of Malta and of the great artist Caravaggio’s time in Malta. Then the Hall & Oates “Lawsuit of the Week” gets revisited and clarified, before loyal listener Maurice Terenzio sets Dean straight on a lawsuit that involved puppetry giants Sid & Marty Krofft. In “Celebrity Deaths”, a groundbreaking pianist, a groundbreaking soap opera actress, a trailblazing television producer, an Oscar nominated French Actress, and a beloved American movie star all get remembered. And because awards season in Hollywood is now in full swing, two new television series get described and appraised.

This week’s show picks up right where last week’s show left off with Dean and Phil revealing which films topped their lists as the best of 2022! Dean regales (?) with tales of his recent adventures in the nation’s capital before he and Phil compare notes on their respective Valentine’s Day plans. Phil then takes Dean to task about two films on his Top Ten list – The Kitchen Brigade from France and All Quiet on the Western Front from Germany. Dean then takes Phil to task about the Edgar Allen Poe mystery on Netflix, The Pale Blue Eye. Dean and Phil will then tackle the controversy that swirled around the Academy Award nomination for To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough, and the latest troubling reports coming out of the prosecution of Alec Baldwin. Loyal listeners like you (yes, YOU!) have concerns about the variable frame rates in Avatar: The Way of Water and the proposed variable seat-pricing plan at AMC Theaters. Your friends in podcasting and broadcasting will weigh in on both topics, as well as on the “Lawsuit of the Week” involving breakfast cereal and an indie rock band.

Dean is on a crazy road trip from Detroit, one that has led him to Des Moines and Denver. What city beginning with “De” will be his next stop? You will find out! The show opens with a tale of bad behavior by one of the biggest stars currently living in the Hollywood Hills. The latest on the Rust on-set shooting tragedy, and ensuing legal chaos, gets covered. A holocaust survivor-turned-sitcom star, the composer of one of the most iconic themes in cinema history, and an Oscar-nominated filmmaker all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. A whole mess of 2022 movies get reviewed, including leading “Best Picture” hopeful Women Talking, as well as The Woman King, Where the Crawdads Sing, and The Outfit. An overlooked noir-ish classic from Carol Reed gets reappraised, as does a Nazi gold caper film from the 1970s, and a truly bizarre satire about presidential assassination from the author of “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Prizzi’s Honor”.

During this week’s cold open, Dean and Phil finish up their discussion of Marlon Brando and Jack Lemmon, offering up some final movie recommendations. Phil is back after a lengthy trip to the east coast and he returns with tales of a Shakespeare Theater production about Leonardo Da Vinci and thoughts inspired by Hurricane Ian about how human beings become fixated on the statistically anomalous and he also shares with Dean the exciting way in which their former podcasting home – the Eastern Columbia Building – had a starring role in the new season of Amazon’s fashion competition show “Making the Cut”. Loyal listener Maurice Terenzio checks in with a thought-provoking email that brings the conversation back to Marlon Brando before the return of Lawsuit of the Week focuses Dean and Phil’s attention onto the ill-fated Alec Baldwin western Rust. Celebrity Deaths begins by bringing the conversation once again back to Marlon Brando (!) with a remembrance of activist and artist Sacheen Littlefeather. Many other notables get remembered as well, including an Oscar-winning actress, a comedic “love goddess”, a comic book artist who dazzled live audiences, and a chart-topping rapper-turned-reality star. Finally, two movies get reviewed: the current whodunit theatrical release See How They Run and the 2020 Netflix offering from Charlie Kaufman, I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

This week’s show runs the gamut culturally, from a production of “Uncle Vanya” in “Live Event of the Week” and a discussion about whether the play is a comedy, to stories of jury duty prompted by a “Lawsuit of the Week”, from an excellent documentary recommendation by a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) to a deep dive analysis of the U.S. box office (including a quiz!). The success of Where the Crawdads Sing gets paid particular attention, as does the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. The once-every-ten years Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made leads to a discussion of the Daniels, Edgar Wright and Roy Andersson. Finally, great stories about the making of David Lynch’s Dune, Blue Velvet and The Straight Story get shared.

Pop quiz: What do an Oscar-winning writer-editor, four dead actors, the story of how William Shatner became a star, 3 hilarious movie ads from the 1980s, anti-trust lawsuits pitting writers against actors, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, a graphic novel, and the brother of presidential assassin James Wilkes Booth have in common? They are all a part of this week’s episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

This week’s proceedings begin with an in-depth appreciation of the cinematic legacy left behind by Sean Connery and on the most thorny aspect of his public life. That leads into the judge’s ruling in a Johnny Depp “Lawsuit of the Week”. Then, Dean and Phil compare notes on their Halloween festivities. Phil will share thoughts sent to him by his new pen pal about conversations in recent episodes involving comic book culture and superhero movies and will compare the genre to the most classic of movie genres, the western. Finally, the show closes with a tribute to one of the last great Beat poets.

No broken finger can keep Dean Haglund from joining Phil Leirness for another brand new installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! This week, your friends in podcasting talk about what they miss because of Covid-19 (and are certain to be missing for the rest of this year at least). Dean and Phil then explain why there might not be many new movies or television shows for a long while. They will, however, discuss several recent titles like Cats, Alita: Battle Angel and It Chapter Two as well as several under-appreciated, vintage gems like John Frankenheimer’s Seconds, Samuel Fuller’s The Crimson Kimono and the jazz adaptation of “Othello” All Night Long. Plus, Phil has harsh criticism for a couple beloved musicals from the 1950s! In “Lawsuit of the Week”, Dean and Phil discuss a courtroom victory for Jerry Seinfeld. Then, following a mea culpa from Dean about an error made on last week’s show, the Chillpak Morgue opens for “Celebrity Deaths” where a glass ceiling-shattering broadcaster and a world-class independent filmmaker and director of top television are remembered. Finally, Phil shares a story about perhaps the greatest phrase ever uttered before death. 

It’s the penultimate episode of the Australian Era of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour and your friends in podcasting are offering something for everyone on this particularly nourishing and personal installment. First Dean Haglund shares a bit about what he will miss about being “Down Under” and regales with descriptions of some of his favorite places in Australia. Then, Phil Leirness shares an email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU) about editing techniques, a continuation of a discussion about how editing affects actors’ performances that began on last week’s show. Somehow both fascism and democracy get discussed in the context of film editing! From there, Phil celebrates the 25th Anniversary of “The X-Files” by asking Dean about his favorite episodes and who his favorite character is (other than “Langley”, of course). Dean’s answers might just delight you! Then, Dean and Phil weigh in on how the show’s influence is still being felt on television today in shows as disparate as Vince Gilligan’s “Better Call Saul” and NBC’s sitcom “The Good Place”. The final “Lawsuit of the Week” of the intercontinental era is a re-visitation of Shari Redstone’s efforts to re-merge CBS with Paramount and what the failure to do so means for the companies and for their flagship franchise, “Star Trek”. The show concludes with a fascinating discussion of prolific television writer, producer and show-runner Gregory Berlanti’s hit feature film Love, Simon. The film’s themes are celebrated, and what the film’s style says about the state of, and future of, big-screen storytelling is questioned.

Because Dean Haglund is packing up for Galaxy Fest in Colorado Springs, Colorado (to perform comedy and show The Truth Is Out There), and Phil Leirness is hitting the road for the 2012 International UFO Congress in Fountain Hills, Arizona (where the TRUTH is also screening), this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is coming to you a few hours later than we like.

It is, however, one of our very best shows!

That it’s President’s Day in the U.S. leads to a discussion of presidential UFO lore, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and Merv Griffin. The special friendship between The UK’s “The Midweek Drive” and YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, leads to a discussion of Phil’s pajamas and his forthcoming tour of the UK. The book The Wayfinders leads to a discussion of cultural relativism, the biosphere, the ethnosphere, the living history of Los Angeles, and Dreamtime and The Dream Factory. An Albert Einstein quote leads to a discussion of the intuitive mind and the rational mind and the way we might move beyond divisiveness in an effort to address the common challenges facing us all. The Chillpak Hollywood Live Event of the Week leads to a discussion of Phil’s admiration for an actress he had never before seen, the best director working in theatre today, and the way storytellers’ strengths in one medium can serve as weakness in another.

All that, plus TWO Chillpak Hollywood Lawsuits of the Week (the one involving Chris Pine, “Captain Kirk” from JJ Abrams’ re-boot of Star Trek is a particular hoot.

Your friends in podcasting definitely brought their “A” game. We hope you will enjoy it enough to share it with others …