Since it is Valentine’s Day, it’s only fitting that Dean and Phil are offering up a show that is nothing less than a love letter to movies, movie-going AND great comedic acting on television! In addition to a great story about Howard (“Dr. Johnny Fever”) Hesseman that involves the legendary Jack (“Dragnet”) Webb, and analysis of a handful of nominated films, shows and performances, Dean and Phil also engage in free-wheeling discussion about how we judge film and TV, how these works are consumed and what awards shows need to be moving forward. All that, plus a legend of visual effects and the Queen of Italian Cinema both get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

It’s the midst of the holiday season. Travel plans are ramping up and the awards season is starting to heat up! The American Film Institute has revealed its honorees as the top (ten) films of 2021 and a consensus has begun to form through critics Top Ten lists about the best movies of the year as well. Dean and Phil discuss it all. They analyze (and “contextualize”) three new award-hopeful releases from major directors: Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. They also celebrate foreign films, the Oscars, country rock, The Monkees, the Bronski Beat, New Orleans, The Beasts of the Southern Wild, Interview with the Vampire, telenovelas and more in “Celebrity Deaths”.

Another show 10 years in the making! Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness ring out 2019 by counting down their Top Ten lists of the Greatest Films of the Decade! Get that popcorn ready (and keep those Netflix queues handy) because we’re going to the movies …

 

Dean is back in Detroit, Phil is back in the swing of things and your friends in podcasting connect via Skype to discuss the backlash over the recent Oscars, the death of “Star Trek” on the big screen (after the cancellation of the 4th film in the JJ Abrams “Kelvin” timeline), and the rebirth of Trek on the small screen (with the revelation of the story-line for the forthcoming “Picard” series). There is a “Lawsuit of the Week” involving the long-running series “Bones” and there are a bunch of “Celebrity Deaths”. Among those being celebrated are one of the all-time great comedic actresses, a legendary whistleblower, a World War II hero immortalized in a classic film, and a four-time Oscar-winning composer, arranger, conductor (and father-in-law of Woody Allen!).

The biggest night of the year in Hollywood turns into one of the biggest podcast episodes of the year! Obviously, from the awards to the acceptance speeches, from the snubs to the (lack of a) host, the entire Oscars 2019 is fair game for Dean and Phil to dissect, analyze, critique and poke loving (?) fun at … They also discuss NON-Oscar movies, including a terrible animated sequel and a rather terrific Liam Neeson-starring remake of a Norwegian dark comedy. Plus, they tackle their long-teased conversation about remakes and reboots vs. long-delayed sequels. All that, plus, a boatload of celebrity deaths, including character actors, presidential candidates, and more!

It’s the biggest week of the year in Los Angeles in terms of splashy events. This weekend it’s the Academy Awards. Last weekend it was the Phil Leirness-Lily Holleman wedding! Hear all about the past weekend from Dean and Phil AND hear Dean help Phil lock in his final Oscar predictions. All in all, a very funny, touching hour for those who love movies and those who love love!

Lily Holleman joins Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness for 80 minutes (plus!) of wedding talk, wine, Time’s Up, the 4 Percent Challenge, BAFTA Awards and a no-holds-barred, highly competitive round of “Celebrity Deaths”!

The Academy Award nominations were announced this week and of the eight films nominated for Best Picture, only five ranked highly with critics (“Roma”, “The Favourite”, “Black Panther”, “BlacKkKlansman” and to a far lesser degree, “A Star is Born”). Only one Best Picture nominee finished in the top ten at the box office (“Black Panther”, which was the biggest hit of the year) and only one other even finished in the top 25 at the Box Office (“Bohemian Rhapsody”). What does it all mean? Only that it’s Dean and Phil’s turn! Your friends in podcasting count down their respective Top Ten Films of 2019 during this week’s 88 minute installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

Your friends in podcasting get 2019 underway with this epic 69 minute installment. As you loyal listeners know, last week, Dean and Phil only got through the first nine months of 2018 as they examined how and when the 52 best films (according to critics) and some of the biggest hits were released. This week, Dean and Phil tackle the final three months of the year, discussing no less than 20 awesome movies. Then, they switch gears to briefly discuss episodic binge-watching, tackling several television shows, including “The Man in the High Castle”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” and more! Finally, Dean and Phil wrap things up by celebrating the lives of a brilliant comedic actor, the male half of one of the most iconic recording duos of the 1970’s, and a nun who became a television star. Happy New Year from YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

Seven important notes about this week’s show:

1) It’s our 600th episode!
2) It features a brand new version of the theme song appropriate to Dean’s relocation to the Motor City.
3) A horrible recording problem leads to a few choppy transitions at the start of the show and to an extremely bad electronic hum during the first 25 minutes or so of the show.
4) We have done the best we can to get rid of the hum and to at least make these first 25 minutes listenable, and you will want to bear with us as those minutes contain very personal conversation between Dean and Phil about things they love lost in the current SoCal fires, what they love that is seriously threatened by those fires, and about a great Canadian actor of Dean’s acquaintance who died this month. There is also a great story about baby diapers!
5) Several amazing movies get discussed – including the Sandra Bullock starring post-apocalyptic, action-horror vehicle Bird Box, the Coen Brothers rather amazing Western anthology feature The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Alfonso Cuaron’s seminal black-and-white memory piece Roma and Dean and Phil’s very own The Lady Killers, which Dean has finally seen!
6) The show is 72 minutes long, with about 45 minutes of that boasting clean audio!
7) We wish you all a “Malkovich Hug”!