Dean and Phil share seasonal decoration news, holiday plans, and Christmas travel tales. Then, Phil tells a hilarious story about an awards screening he attended. Wake Up Dead Man (“A Knives Out Mystery”) gets a deep dive analysis which leads into a new way of discussing the issues surrounding Netflix’s pending purchase of Warner Bros. Media. After that, the Netflix films Jay Kelly and Carry-On get reviewed before a soon-to-be-theatrically-released awards hopeful gets reviewed. Finally, a classic 1949 film noir and an underrated 1961 comedic gem from Billy Wilder get celebrated.

After a cold open wherein Phil sets the stage, the show gets started in mid-conversation as frequent contributor Jon Lawlor shares some of his thoughts about Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune. The topic then turns to Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love with particular emphasis paid to the way Anderson used music while shooting the film. This leads to Dean explaining the ways on-set music would be used in the silent film era, and how something called “click tracks” would be used in animation. In 2022 the great actor Stellan Skarsgard suffered a stroke and yet has been able to continue acting. The ways this has been achieved get discussed. The current heist picture The Mastermind from master filmmaker Kelly Reichardt is foremost in Phil’s thoughts, specifically why, despite universal critical praise, the film is being mostly hated by moviegoers, most of whom have seen it in multiplexes. Phil also shares with Dean and Jon the new set of questions he asks himself, and answers in writing, each night before bed.

Dean is getting into the spirit of Halloween, Phil is dressing up in steam punk to judge a fashion show, and they are both curious about Jim Thorpe PA, and they talk about all of this! The death of Nikki Finke inspires a celebration and analysis of the Deadline Hollywood website that was her creation and a discussion of a recent headline on the site about ageism in Hollywood. In “Celebrity Deaths”, Phil rants about people claiming anyone is “best known for” a particular work before he and Dean celebrate the lives and legacies of actress Angela Lansbury, actor Robbie Coltrane, author Peter Straub, groundbreaking disc jockey Art Laboe, and significant Hollywood matriarch Eileen Ryan. There is much discussion of the greatest film directors of all time (according to a 2002 Sight and Sound poll) before Dean and wrap things up where they began with Halloween-themed movie viewing.

Hear all about Los Angeles’ design for a new green space that will rival Manhattan’s High Line (and will give bicyclists and pedestrians an uninterrupted path from Burbank all the way to downtown), learn why Canada doesn’t have game shows, remember L.A.’s first official film czar as well as a folk music icon and some of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s great on-screen roles, and appreciate the difference between “English” and “Irish” …

All that, PLUS, your friends in podcasting examine the storytelling in Harmony Korine’s The Spring Breakers, make sense of the success of The Lego Movie, the failure of The Monuments Men and the claim that Chris Pine’s days as a leading man are numbered following the failure of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

With a full week’s supply of insight, irreverence and inspiration, it’s YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Enjoy!