Is Dean’s Detroit-adjacent neighborhood of Birmingham, Michigan, a winter wonderland? What are bath bombs? What is conveyor belt sushi? These are just some of the pressing questions answered by your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) at the outset of this week’s show, before they get down to the business of remembering a founding member of Moody Blues and Wings, an Emmy-winning TV cop, a 1960s TV star-turned-casting director, a big screen star of British cinema, an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, and a wonderful character actor (and friend of Dean’s) in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves and dig deep into Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, the brand new Wonka, Godzilla Minus One and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

It’s Happy Birthday to Dean Haglund and boy has he been celebrating! On this week’s show, you will hear all about his celebrations. You will also hear about his road trip to upstate New York. And you will hear about a very bizarre social calendar for Phil! The latest news in the writers and actors strikes gets discussed, as does the controversy surrounding “waivers” being granted to certain productions. Dean offers up at least one more television series from the past you might want to avail yourself of while you wait for new seasons of your current favorites. Phil sings the praises of “Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 and Season 1of “Shrinking”. Last week, Dean revealed what he thinks of as Robert De Niro’s 5 greatest performances. Phil follows up with a couple of alternative picks this week. Finally, the surprising box office performance (failure?) of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One gets analyzed, and the film’s strengths get celebrated and missteps get dissected.

This week’s show picks up where last week’s show left off, in a cold open about Godard’s Contempt and Scorsese’s Raging Bull. Then, Dean and Phil talk about the importance of supporting movie theaters, and Dean offers up another vintage TV title ripe for viewing/re-viewing during what promises to be a very lengthy halt in television production. Phil shares deeply personal thoughts about two remarkable people who died this year. That leads to an edition of “Celebrity Deaths” dedicated entirely to great writers. Then, it’s back to Robert De Niro (and Raging Bull) as Dean celebrates what he believes to be the all-time five greatest performances by the multiple Oscar-winning legend.

A question from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) leads to a passionate and thoughtful discussion about what television and movies you should be watching while no new television and movies are being made due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Moreover, Dean and Phil will discuss the ways all of us can greatly improve the chances of an equitable outcome to the contractual impasses. In honor of the actors, four frequently overlooked films boasting excellent performances by major stars will get remembered. And two of the greatest films of all time will get analyzed. Plus, this week’s show includes more on Raging Bull, further insights into “wabi-sabi”, and the return of “The Live Event of the Week”.

This week’s show begins with a cold open about Spanish film star Carmen Sevilla. It continues with Dean and Phil previewing an email from a loyal listener (that they will answer on NEXT week’s show). The email involves the ongoing Writer’s Guild strike and Dean and Phil use it as a springboard to discussing the latest labor negotiation news in Hollywood and to ponder the question “Is Ryan Murphy (once again) the worst person in the world?” Last week, the life and career of Oscar-winner Glenda Jackson was celebrated. This week, Phil reveals tidbits from her final (?) still-to-be-released movie, The Great Escaper (starring Michael Caine). After that, Dean and Phil offer up remembrances of three more great stars of the silver (and small) screen: Julian Sands, Frederic Forrest, and Treat Williams. The second half of the show is all about Indiana Jones (and “The Dial of Destiny”), Akira Kurosawa (and two of his independent films), and the Martin Scorsese classic Raging Bull.

Somehow, through almost 15 years of bringing you YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour free every week, Dean and Phil have never dedicated an entire show to the career, artistry and genius of Bill Murray. This week, that oversight gets remedied, as your friends in podcasting march right into the holidays by programming a film festival they are entitling “A Very Murray Christmas”. Featuring seven double features, discussion of numerous other titles, analysis of Murray’s zen approach to life, art, career and business, and an appreciation of some of his key collaborators through the year, we think this will be a particularly fun and festive hour!

There may be tricks aplenty, but we can assure you, this week’s Season 2 Episode 99 will definitely be a treat for the listener! Before Dean and Phil can fully celebrate the spooky (like Dean’s live exploration this weekend of the haunted Wheeler Mansion), they have to discuss the truly horrifying – a real-life horror story ending in tragedy on the set of an independent film western that claimed the life of a talented young cinematographer. Dean shares a story from “The Lone Gunmen” of how he was almost killed on set! That will lead to remembrances of other talented individuals who died recently, including a beloved actor from TV and stage, the 7th friend on “Friends”, a longtime star of “The Andy Griffith Show” and the drummer for both Elvis Presley and Jerry Garcia! Then, it’s off to the movies, where your friends in podcasting discuss a handful of Halloween-appropriate classics before discussing the box office performance of Dune and review the film as well. Finally, it’s the return of the “Vintage Movie Ad” game, where Dean will try to guess the titles (3 remakes of horror classics and 3 sequels to modern horror classics) just from their ad copy!

Because Phil hosted “Leif Erikson Day 1953” at Friendship Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday night, he took a much needed day off on Monday. And so, this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is one day late … Your friends in podcasting reconvene and compare notes on their respective “Live Events of the Week”, including upcoming comedy shows everyone in the Detroit area can enjoy at Go Comedy! Phil also reveals details of a party he attended in the actual Salem’s Lot house! In “Celebrity Deaths”, Dean and Phil remember the “King of Confetti”,  an opera soprano, an unsung blues artist, a punk rock icon, a pioneering actress of stage and screen, and a delightful character TV performer. After a discussion of a little-known Buster Keaton classic “talkie”, the subject shifts to comic book movies. Martin Scorsese’s (perceived) indictment of such movies, Cynthia Erivo’s (sure to be Oscar-nominated) portrayal of Harriet Tubman and Todd Phillips’ Joker, a fascinating mess of a psychological period piece and villain origin story, all get analyzed.

Your friends in podcasting are one day late in delivering this week’s hearty serving of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, so they reward your patience with an extra 16 minutes of show!Phil and Dean follow up on last week’s conversation about empathy to analyze the ways we consume movies now and what those ways do for us, or TO us!  They preview the forthcoming Joker and Doctor Sleep. They examine the use of de-aging technology in movies. They analyze the evolving differences between the DC vs. Marvel cinematic universes. They review the current theatrical releases Ready or Not and The Peanut Butter Falcon, the recent home video releases Long Shot, Gloria Bell and Men in Black: International. All that, plus they will celebrate the lives and legacies of two music icons, a best-selling novelist, a Broadway trailblazer and a television character actor. 

Recorded at 6 am (Pacific) on a Monday morning, this 70 minute conversation between your friends in podcasting is a heartfelt, insightful, irreverent exploration of such topics as knife-wielding homeless, the NFL, The Joker, backstage yoga, the important life skills improv training can teach, the key to artful conversation, the danger of reading “news” online (especially on social media), curiosity, empathy, grief, The King of Comedy and more! Oh, and don’t forget to check out Dean’s live, improv, streaming comedy series, Gravity Hole!