Tag: Star Wars

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 27

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After almost 19 years of “changing the way you listen to the internet”, your friends in podcasting are about to change the way they continue to … change the way you listen to the internet! They discuss their plans on this week’s absolutely excellent show. Dean discusses a big improv performance he gave this weekend and goes deep into explaining the improv game “crime endowment”. In the long-awaited return of “Celebrity Deaths”, iconic rock guitarist Ace Frehley, and all-time great actress Diane Keaton get remembered. During those celebrations, Dean and Phil take a detour into a deep dive analysis of people dying from falls. A little-known 1973 film about the JFK assassination gets discussed, as does whether we can ever truly know history in general, and JFK assassination history in particular. Finally a rather terrible documentary about beloved actor John Candy gets reviewed.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 19

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In another episode featuring now regular contributor Jon Lawlor (longtime purveyor of excellent Chillpak Hollywood Hour theme songs), Dean tells stories of his ongoing trip back to his hometown of Winnipeg and the workshopping of a theatrical play that was the reason for his trip. He also reveals details of what may, or may not, be a Winnipeg-themed art collection he will be (or might not be) showing at a forthcoming Hamilton, Ontario, art show! Jon and Phil compare notes on the live stage show (“Viva Los Feliz”) in which they both performed last week. Then, the focus turns to Spike Lee’s latest “joint”, a remake of an Akira Kurosawa classic itself based on a novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter). Particular attention is paid to the cinematography and the music. Finally, it’s time for more Superman discussion, as a longtime, brilliant listener takes Dean and Jon to task for what they “missed” in their scathing reviews of one of this year’s most beloved, and most talked about movies. Oh, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes quite a few strays in the process!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 1

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Phil is back from Fort Worth, Texas, and has a Logan’s Run location story to share with Dean. Phil also regales Dean with the story behind a delicious cocktail at the Grand Hotel in Oslo (named in “honor” of pop icon Madonna). Dean and Phil try to make sense of Jon Voight’s plans to “save” Hollywood and how the President seized on those plans while probably misunderstanding them completely and/or intentionally. Meanwhile, “Sinners” might end up affecting real change in the film business and your friends in podcasting will discuss how. One of the all-time great actors, William Holden, and one of the all-time great actresses, Barbara Stanwyck, get discussed through the prism of two films: Executive Suite and Stella Dallas, and THE all-time greatest film (according to the 2022 Sight and Sound poll) also gets analyzed. This film is celebrating its 50th anniversary and so the conversation turns to other films of the era, including, perhaps, the greatest of all Francis Coppola films (and no, we’re not talking about The Godfather Part II).

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – 18th Anniversary Show

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During this week in 2007, YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour was born! Of course back then, we were called From the Heart of Hollywood until a “cease and desist” led to us … ceasing … and desisting. This week, your friends in podcasting and two special guests on Monday as they celebrate (in style!) the show that continues to “change the way people listen to the internet” becoming old enough to be out on its own! They will discuss the “Poverty Row” studios of the silent film era, the “soundies” of World War II, Las Vegas casinos circa 1980, a current Jazz artist making a name for herself, the late great Jill Sobule, the current movies Sinners, The Surfer, and The Wedding Banquet, The Muppets, Jim Henson, Star Wars Day, “Andor”, and more! And please, don’t be happy about the 18 years of shows that have passed. Instead, be sad about the 18 years of shows still to come!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 51

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Our last show before our 18th Anniversary is also our last show to be recorded via Skype! It’s also an action-packed 72 minutes that boasts the return of “Lawsuit of the Week”, where Dean and Phil get down and dirty discussing the Paramount merger with Skydance, the fate of CBS’ long-running “60 Minutes”, DEI initiatives, the FCC and Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Several films get discussed in depth, including Easter Parade, Diary of a Mad Housewife and Meshes of the Afternoon – each of which leads to discussions about husband-wife creative teams. In “Live Event(s) of the Week”, the delightful TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and the super-talented “Medicine Woman” Veronica Osorio both get celebrated. “Celebrity Deaths” this week is a lightning round quiz edition featuring remembrances of a game show host, a child star, a TV cowboy, a Canadian movie director, an Emmy Award-winning dramatic actress who starred in and co-created one of the most legendary dramas of all time, a Tony-winning composer and lyricist, a rock drummer, and a neo-expressionist painter. Finally, Dean discusses the Seth Rogen-starring Apple TV+ series “The Studio”.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 36

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If any week warranted an episode of epic length, it was the week that was. With Phil Leirness coming at us from the beaten and battered City of Angels and Dean Haglund coming at us from an air mattress on a hardwood floor not far from the Motor City, this week’s show covers a lot of terrain in a little more than 68 minutes. Your friends in podcasting discuss Copenhagen wedding plans and the role that city played in our understanding of quantum physics. They talk about the cold of New York City, the importance of heeding one’s intuition and the horrifying, almost unbearably sad events still ongoing in Los Angeles. Fires, bad behavior and the need for us to stop breaking things all get discussed before Dean and Phil finally put the “Hollywood” into Chillpak Hollywood Hour, briefly revisiting last week’s “Lawsuit of the Week” (involving It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni and star Blake Lively). They re-visit (and double down on) their praise for Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside”, Dean sings the praises of both “So Help Me Todd” and “Elsbeth” before the discussion turns to recent big-screen efforts by Guy Ritchie and Clint Eastwood. Finally, in the return of “Celebrity Deaths”, Phil quizzes Dean about a former U.S. President, a billionaire businessman, a Shakespearean movie star, the Gold Leader from Star Wars, a Broadway legend turned sitcom star, and a folk music icon, before setting his sights on and saying good riddance to a notorious bigot. Trust us, if you have ever enjoyed our free weekly show that has been “changing the way people listen to the internet” since May of 2007, you won’t want to miss this one!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 21

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Because of some crazy travel plans (London! New York! Tokyo!), the next three episodes of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour promise to be unusual even by our standards! This week’s topics include a forthcoming Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross”, the crazy, big screen experience Megalopolis, the lineage of Longlegs director Oz Perkins (and a bit about one of the film’s stars), and a “smart house” thriller from Canada, Red Rooms. The North American tour of (“the Modfather”) Paul Weller becomes “The Live Event of the Week”. The deaths of master stone carver Simon Verity, best-selling mystery novelist Nelson DeMille, beloved actor James Earl Jones, and the utterly peerless legend of the stage and screen Maggie Smith all get discussed. Art, architecture, mythology, philosophy, movies, television, music and more on this week’s show – in other words, something for everyone, right?

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 14

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After a brief cold open where Phil and Dean discuss Dean’s trip to Los Angeles this week, your friends in podcasting get into a spirited and frequently hilarious discussion about the Olympics. Then Phil has notes for the brilliant Jon Batiste about his hot mess of a live show. A legendary agent and a trailblazing actress get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean plays “armchair executive” in analyzing the news surrounding the forthcoming George Clooney-Brad Pitt vehicle Wolfs. Phil re-watched Barry Lyndon and he and Dean take a deep dive into that film and analyze the way the film has been so dramatically reappraised in recent years.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 7

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Dean and Phil got together in Los Angeles this week to watch David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows, to see if it’s as good as they remember OR if, as Quentin Tarantino claims, the film does not “play by its own rules”. You will hear the discussion in real time as your friends in podcasting watch the film and analyze it. First though, because a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) asked, Dean & Phil will tackle the controversy surrounding the use of AI-generated art in the recent Late Night with the Devil (a film Dean loved and which Phil pointed out definitely discards its own rules 75 minutes in). Finally, actress-singer-writer-improviser Lily Holleman drops in to discuss Juneteenth, her birthday, the latest “refurbishments” at Disneyland, the demise of Siren Radio and the music of comedian Sinbad!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 4

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This week’s show begins with a correction about the great Death Race 2000 (discussed two episodes back) and about the talented filmmakers behind it. Then, in “What We’re Reading”, Dean discusses the Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries and Phil reveals his thoughts inspired by Brian Greene’s The Hidden Reality. These thoughts, in turn, lead to stories about UCLA great Bill Walton, who died this past week, and the Integratron, which Phil visited before last week’s show. After discussions of Multiverse theory, sound baths, and the wit and wisdom of John Wooden, focus shifts to a staggering array of movies and television shows. The movies include Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Egyptian comedy Voy Voy Voy, the Canadian vampire film Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, and the great Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman. The television shows are “The Mandalorian”, (followed by a deep dive into the entire Star Wars small screen universe), “Star Trek: Discovery”, (followed by an examination of a fatal flaw that has doomed “Star Trek” at various points in its history), and the genre mash-up Colin Farrell vehicle “Sugar” (for Apple TV +). After that, a question from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) leads to a discussion about the large screen format ScreenX. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, Phil quizzes Dean about a convicted felon-turned-actor and a two-time Oscar Winner for Best Picture!

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