Your friends in podcasting discuss Netflix’s (perhaps misleading) embrace of movie theaters, they celebrate the resurrection of Todd Hayne’s seemingly dead but now forthcoming detective film (with Pedro Pascal replacing Joaquin Phoenix), and an upcoming movie starring Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella and Quentin Tarantino. Nia DaCosta’s Hedda gets analyzed, as does the Thai comedy A Useful Ghost and the Charlie Chaplin masterpiece Modern Times. More upcoming movies get previewed and the outstanding discodelic soul of Say She She gets celebrated in the return of “Live Event of the Week”.

Phil is playing hurt with a nasty head cold. Dean is braving the sub-zero temperatures. And somehow, they manage to bring you one of the most epic installments yet of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! They start the show by discussing some of the upcoming 2026 cinematic releases that the Criterion Collection has on their list of the films they are most anticipating. Then, they analyze the Academy Award nominations, the surprises, the snubs, and the historic trends they see unfolding. From the best in cinema 2025 to the worst in cinema, an email from a loyal listener inspires Dean and Phil to discuss the Razzie Awards. Finally, your friends in podcasting wrap things up by revealing each of their lists of the five films that angered them, frustrated them, or downright confused them in 2025.

Phil is in Montecito, California. Dean is ALMOST back into his house in Birmingham, Michigan. They got together via the magic of podcasting (and zoom) to discuss: The week that was for “Cobra Kai” star Martin Kove, the latest company splits for “Legacy Media” conglomerates, and California’s now official increase in the annual Film & TV Tax Credit funding. Wes Anderson and The Phoenician Scheme, Apple and their F1 and Fountain of Youth, the Indiana Jones films, Bong Joon Ho and Mickey 17, and the “Mission: Impossible” films all get deep dive analyses as well.

Dean and Phil knew they were going to be celebrating the career of the great actor and star James Caan on this week’s show and then the floodgates opened, with many beloved character actors exiting the stage, so after a brief and hilarious cold open, Season 3 Episode 23 begins with “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, the whole concept of “celebration” as a lost “art” gets explored, before your friends in podcasting use it as a springboard to discuss several current television series and a handful of truly brilliant performances. The big screen will not be ignored either, as the cinematic output of Edgar Wright gets examined through the prism of his recent ghost story (Last Night in Soho) and a baseball comedy classic from the 1970s gets revisited.