This week’s show begins with Dean and Phil discussing the World Baseball Classic and sharing (and answering) an email from a loyal listener who wanted to celebrate the recent 25th Anniversary of Dean’s series “The Lone Gunmen”. Recorded on Sunday morning before the Oscars (and before the big “Firefly” announcement), the bulk of the discussion surrounds what Dean and Phil are looking for at Hollywood’s big night. They discuss how talented filmmaker and entertaining video host Ryan Casselman might just have devised scientific formulae for “decoding” Oscar voting. The controversy surrounding Timothée Hal Chalamet’s comments regarding ballet and opera get full analysis. Then, five films go under the microscope, including two by classic thriller director Henri-Georges Clouzot, two tales of nuclear paranoia from Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, and the multi-Oscar-winning 1983 classic Tender Mercies.

Dean and Phil discuss the fallout from Paramount supposedly closing the deal to acquire Warner Bros. and its assets. They celebrate the feat that Richard Linklater became the first-ever American filmmaker to achieve this week. They review three new genre films: a horror sequel (28 Days Later: The Bone Temple), an homage/deconstruction of 1960s Eurospy movies (Reflection in a Dead Diamond), and a sci-fi comedy that gives genuine 1980s “feels” (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die). They revisit the much-loved “classic” Field of Dreams. In honor of Dean’s first wedding anniversary that takes place this month, Phil offers previews of two forthcoming cinematic marriage stories. Finally, the big casting news for the reboot of “The X-Files” gets analyzed.

Our first installment of 2026 finds your friends in podcasting discussing why the President of the United States is so insistent on there being another Rush Hour movie from director Brett Ratner. Then, Dean and Phil delve into the two final “Mission: Impossible” movies, both 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and 2025’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Then, they delve deep into the strengths and weaknesses of Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix film version of Frankenstein. Finally, just in time for Twelfth Night, they go thru a whole lot of seasonal fare, both movies and television specials, including “Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special”, the Rankin-Bass “Frosty the Snowman”, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

After a week of travel and creative work, Phil is back in Turlock and ready to discuss both with Dean! Phil then asks Dean about one of Dean’s all-time favorite movie directors. This leads into a discussion of two great movies, and the desperate plight of movie theaters in the wake of both the pandemic and the overturning of the Paramount Consent Decrees. From there, Dean and Phil shift gears to discuss the recent Emmy nominations for Best Drama Series, and at least one really fun new television series on HBO. Of course, there are also “Celebrity Deaths” wherein two great character actors, one chart-topping pianist, a legendary ballerina, and a jazz great all get remembered. 

Robbie Consing is one of the top storyboard artists in the film biz. Since starting in 1991, Robbie has lent his illustrating talents to the pre-visualization of more than forty feature films. He has worked on such blockbusters as Batman Forever, The Rock, Face/Off, Armageddon, Inspector Gadget, The Haunting, Mission: Impossible 2, Pearl Harbor, Minority Report, X2, Terminator 3, National Treasure, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Transformers. He has collaborated with such acclaimed directors as David Fincher, Oliver Stone, John Woo, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Doug Liman and JJ Abrams. Currently, he is hard at work on the new Spider-Man reboot. Most important of all, he’s a loyal listener of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! And now he’s our guest!