Tag: Orson Welles

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 28

Posted on by PHIL19

Big changes are coming, with much more content each week. This week, Dean and Phil hint more at what these changes might bring, while whetting the appetite thru discussions of art, culture, television, movies and acting. The festivities begin with Dean revealing which of the cities he has lived in most inspired his painting. The return of Vince Gilligan to the small screen gets discussed, the hilarious new sitcom “Stumble” gets reviewed, and the cancellation of Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face” AND his plans to revive it get analyzed. In “Celebrity Deaths”, the maverick independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom gets remembered and his ongoing legacy and influence are pondered. Then a whole raft of new Netflix films get mentioned before Dean doffs his cap at Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix version of Frankenstein, and Phil wags his finger at the preposterous The Woman in Cabin 10. Finally, The Fantastic Four: First Steps gets revisited before the state of acting in the 1970s gets hailed as, perhaps, the all-time peak of screen acting.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 27

Posted on by PHIL19

After almost 19 years of “changing the way you listen to the internet”, your friends in podcasting are about to change the way they continue to … change the way you listen to the internet! They discuss their plans on this week’s absolutely excellent show. Dean discusses a big improv performance he gave this weekend and goes deep into explaining the improv game “crime endowment”. In the long-awaited return of “Celebrity Deaths”, iconic rock guitarist Ace Frehley, and all-time great actress Diane Keaton get remembered. During those celebrations, Dean and Phil take a detour into a deep dive analysis of people dying from falls. A little-known 1973 film about the JFK assassination gets discussed, as does whether we can ever truly know history in general, and JFK assassination history in particular. Finally a rather terrible documentary about beloved actor John Candy gets reviewed.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 25

Posted on by PHIL19

In what might be a first, Dean will offer up both a point and a counterpoint (all on his own) about the merits and deficits of Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter. Then, Phil will discuss the long career of the great cinematic surrealist Luis Buñuel and take a deep dive into one particular masterpiece of his, the 1950 Los Olividados (“The Young and the Damned”). Buñuel’s famous collaborations with Catherine Deneuve will lead Phil and Dean to discuss this legendary star’s almost unparalleled status as the “face” of 1960s cinema. Jacque Demy’s singular The Umbrellas of Cherbourg gets celebrated as a result. If Ms. Deneuve was NOT the face of global cinema at that time, then that title belonged to the late, great Claudia Cardinale, who gets remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 17

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It’s the symbolic final weekend of summer 2025 and your friends in podcasting commemorate in style with almost 70 minutes of rich podcasty goodness! They discuss how one of Dean’s all-time least favorite films might become a television series. They discuss how a Todd Haynes period detective film they would have loved to see might just be back from the dead. They discuss how and why Weapons has captured the cultural conversation in a way few movies do any more. They discuss how and why Netflix had the #1 film at the box office, why Netflix didn’t want you to know that, and what it might portend for the future. They discuss the merits of the new Netflix mystery The Thursday Murder Club. They discuss the 1987 classic River’s Edge and the 1949 all-time masterpiece The Third Man. In the return of the “Live Event of the Week”, Pink Martini performs under the stars at the Greek Theatre. In “Celebrity Deaths”, an Oscar-winning composer, a Tejano legend, a chart-topping flugelhorn player, a co-founder of “Derek and the Dominos”, and the jazz singer dubbed “the lady with the million-dollar ears” all get remembered. Finally, Dean and Phil pay tribute to the great Terence Stamp. Happy Labor Day, USA! Happy Monday, everyone else.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 1

Posted on by PHIL19

Phil is back from Fort Worth, Texas, and has a Logan’s Run location story to share with Dean. Phil also regales Dean with the story behind a delicious cocktail at the Grand Hotel in Oslo (named in “honor” of pop icon Madonna). Dean and Phil try to make sense of Jon Voight’s plans to “save” Hollywood and how the President seized on those plans while probably misunderstanding them completely and/or intentionally. Meanwhile, “Sinners” might end up affecting real change in the film business and your friends in podcasting will discuss how. One of the all-time great actors, William Holden, and one of the all-time great actresses, Barbara Stanwyck, get discussed through the prism of two films: Executive Suite and Stella Dallas, and THE all-time greatest film (according to the 2022 Sight and Sound poll) also gets analyzed. This film is celebrating its 50th anniversary and so the conversation turns to other films of the era, including, perhaps, the greatest of all Francis Coppola films (and no, we’re not talking about The Godfather Part II).

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 43

Posted on by PHIL19

Later this week, your friends in podcasting depart for Europe. Last night, the Oscars were held. Last week, one of their dear friends celebrated his 81st birthday, another friend had a brain tumor removed, and another friend died. So, you will forgive Dean and Phil if this isn’t the most polished installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. It IS epic in length, and it is full of the heartfelt, the insightful, the irreverent and even the inspiring. Dean reveals that planning a home renovation a few months before getting married might have been a mistake. The winners of last night’s awards get analyzed both for their historical context and for what they say about the art and commerce of motion pictures right now. Actors Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg, screenwriter and producer Roberto Orci, singers Robert John and David Johansen, and chess champion Boris Spassky get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 42

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Your friends in podcasting have two more shows before they make their way (separately) to Europe and reconvene in Denmark! So, understandably, they have a full discussion agenda for this week’s show. They discuss the theft of thousands of art works from Venice and how a 1954 cinematic masterpiece helped in the reconstruction of one of the landmark buildings of that city. They discuss TWO “Live Events of the Week” and in so doing, discuss Shakespeare, Armin Shimmerman, and two of the most legendary Los Angeles stage actors. In “Celebrity Deaths” a chart-topping singer-turned-elected official gets remembered, as does a prolific character actor, a groundbreaking African filmmaker, and an influential poet and multimedia artist of the Beat era. The “SNL50” special gets discussed, as does an excellent new sports documentary series on Netflix. Finally, this weekend’s Spirit Awards (honoring the best in independent cinema) gets analyzed, and one of the most acclaimed animated films of 2024, one of the most acclaimed international films of 2024, and one of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2024 all get reviewed.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 3 Episode 53

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Last week, Dean and Phil discussed the ten films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the ten films released in 2022 that earned the most revenue at the domestic U.S. box office, and the ten (or twelve) or so films the critics have come to consensus on as the best of the year. This week, it’s Dean and Phil’s turn! They will revel their Top Tens, as they count down what might be the films they consider the best, the most groundbreaking, the most important, or just their favorites of the year. 

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 3 Episode 44

Posted on by PHIL19

Recorded late last week from a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles”, this episode begins with Phil doffing his cap about what Dean got right in discussing Sarah Polley’s Women Talking a few weeks back AND wagging his finger at what Dean got wrong while discussing Netflix’s “Wednesday” this past week. Phil then hails Joel de la Fuente (of “Man in the High Castle” and most recently “The Mysterious Benedict Society”) as his favorite actor. At that point, Dean and Phil switch gears for a show ten years in the making, analyzing the just-released, decennial Sight and Sound poll of all-time greatest films! What Dean and Phil were expecting and what surprised them leads to what promises to be an ongoing conversation about re-contextualization and the importance of learning how works of art resonate with different groups and different cultures.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 3 Episode 29

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This week’s show begins with a cold open about a … last week’s cold open! Lord Turlock then shows up to explain the unique heat patterns of the town of Turlock. From there, Dean and Phil discuss their pal, David Dean Bottrell’s remembrance of working with Anne Heche. That leads into “Celebrity Deaths” and celebrations of not only Anne Heche, but of filmmakers Wolfgang Petersen and Bob Rafelson, and actor David Warner. Then, Dean and Phil discuss movies, including Jordan Peele’s Nope, David Lynch’s Lost Highway and John Huston’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. Finally, Phil hails the finale of “Better Call Saul” and he and Dean re-visit “The Lone Gunmen” wondering what could have been if show-runner Vince Gilligan had been given the opportunity he was given on the sequel/prequel series to “Breaking Bad”.

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