This week, Dean and Phil will begin to slowly roll out the new era of Chillpak Hollywood, releasing much more content each week. Phil provides details at the outset. Then, he and Dean engage in much show biz “water cooler” discussion. The most famous modernist home in the world is up for sale for the very first time. Dean and Phil talk about the house, its history, and some of the movies that were filmed there. Warner Bros. is also up for sale, apparently (again!), and Dean and Phil both discuss it and sort of lament it! A loyal listener is very upset about the film Bugonia, so Dean and Phil revisit their debate about the film’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos. The lack of box office this year for accomplished and acclaimed films aimed at adults gets discussed broadly, with two of these films (the Channing Tatum vehicle Roofman, and the recent spy thriller Black Bag) going under the microscope. Finally, two classic films get re-appraised and celebrated anew: Rian Johnson’s Brick on its 20th anniversary, and the rollicking 1966 western The Professionals. Finally, one of Phil’s all-time favorite actors, indeed one of the greatest figures in Japanese cinema history, gets remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

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.

If you are interested in movies, movie making, or the movie business, you are going to find this week’s show fascinating. Dean and Phil do deep dives into the cinematic delights brought to us by the Marx Brothers, the Canadian films produced under that country’s 100-percent Capital Cost Allowance tax shield for investors, Jon Voight’s plan to save Hollywood and the wildly different reactions to that plan within the industry, the ways the smash hit Sinners might change the economics of the biz, and the just-commenced 78th Cannes Film Festival (including one apparent all-time masterpiece that made its debut as well as a “secret” documentary about the Red Hot Chili Peppers). As if that weren’t enough, your friends in podcasting go overtime to remember two impactful filmmakers, an Oscar-winning makeup artist, a beloved big screen “tough guy”, and a prolific child star of the 1930s and 40s.

Phil is in Los Angeles, Dean is back in home in Detroit (or its environs) and normalcy is restored on this week’s show. Dean offers up his final thoughts about Lisbon, shares the status of his ongoing home renovations, and weighs in on the in-flight movies he availed himself of: John Woo’s remake of his own The Killer and a zombie dog horror film from South Korea. Phil weighs in on a once-great television series that has jumped the shark and a great spy film from Steven Soderbergh that is meeting with box office failure. The state of the box office, film distribution, and what can be done to fix all of it gets analyzed. Then, in “Celebrity Deaths” two great character actors, two chart-topping music-makers, a heavyweight champion turned grillmaster, and a philanthropist who championed architecture all get remembered.

Dean traveled to D.C. and Virginia. Phil traveled to New Orleans, Mississippi and Memphis. Therefore, this seemed like the perfect week for a pre-recorded Top Ten show! As this is the 10th year of Netflix original movies, your friends in podcasting spend the entire hour discussing their all-time favorite Netflix films. Ordinarily, Dean and Phil have some overlap between their lists. This time, they have no favorite films in common! Butter the popcorn and keep those Netflix queues handy because you are bound to learn about some movies you didn’t know about, or pay attention to, when they were released!

Three weeks shy of their 17th Anniversary show, your friends in broadcasting & podcasting bring you this action-packed installment. A Tony-winning playwright whose work revealed genuine comedy brilliance, a football player-turned movie star-turned (alleged) murderer, a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist, a groundbreaking drummer, an iconic news journalist, the director who helped launch many of the most beloved T.V. shows of all time, and the matriarch of a great filmmaking dynasty (an award-winning filmmaker herself), all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, the movie talk continues with two great, internationally hailed documentaries and two recent releases from (once) great filmmakers now available for streaming: Matthew Vaugn’s Argylle and Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls. Finally, Dean has thoughts about the current theatrical release Wicked Little Letters. All that, plus the return of “What We’re Reading”.

On this week’s installment, your friends in broadcasting and podcasting tackle the latest show biz news, including criminal charges in the on-set shooting death of Halyna Hutchins, and the closure of dozens of multiplexes in the Regal Theater chain. Three musicians, two groundbreaking dancers, a legendary broadcaster and two famous jumpsuits all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Oscar nominations get announced this week, and Dean and Phil offer reviews of no fewer than three current award-hopefuls. All that, plus an all-time classic from Michelangelo Antonioni gets celebrated and a round in the “vintage movie ad” game gets played – this one 75 years in the making!

After two weeks of special “theme” shows, your friends in podcasting return to what they do best this week: Making sense of a world gone wild! From absurdities to atrocities, from freedom of speech to bad behavior, from consciousness to conspiracy theories, Dean and Phil will offer up a hearty and healthy helping of insight, irreverence and inspiration. Then, in “Celebrity Deaths”, they will remember a prolific movie director, a British Invasion star, a World War II hero, the last Civil War widow, a “Charlie’s Angel”, a castaway on “Gilligan’s Island”, a break-dancing superstar, a controversial educator immortalized on film, a pioneer of Space Age style design, and the father of fiber optics. Finally, Dean and Phil celebrate one of the best miniseries of all time before celebrating that at long last, English-speaking viewers outside the USA can enjoy their disturbing, dark comedy feature film The Lady Killers! 

 

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.  

This week’s episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is a lot of fun. A hockey great and a beloved 80’s sitcom star get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. The news concerning the real-life “Brady Bunch” house in Studio City and major changes to the Oscars telecast get reported and dissected. A recent hit-man thriller, a current, hilarious and suspenseful indie comedy-drama, a classic 1970 comedy war film and a current Lionsgate “digital” release starring Guy Pearce and Pierce Brosnan all get discussed. All that, plus there is on-air planning of Phil’s upcoming bachelor party!