This weekend, your friends in podcasting got together on the pool deck of a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” and boy did they have a lot to discuss! The status of downtown, Dean’s travels AND his official “wedding engagement” get covered. The Olympics closing ceremony and Tom Cruise’s role in it get revisited. The “Live Event of the Week” is “Duo it Again” a brilliant and psychedelic game of telephone that is the hottest party you can find on a Tuesday night in Los Angeles. There is movie news involving Joaquin Phoenix doing one of our greatest filmmakers and a maverick indie producer “dirty” and Phil and Dean both have more thoughts about Wolfs losing its wide theatrical release. Casablanca on 4K and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix both get reviewed. A whole lot of reference to the great documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself gets made throughout the show. Finally, a groundbreaking comedy radio producer-turned television writer and the peerless Gena Rowlands both get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

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!

Awards season is finally behind us and Phil is finally back in Los Angeles, and normalcy is restored on this week’s episode, or at least as much as “normal” is ever on our audio menu! Dean and Phil will reveal any thoughts they have about last week’s Oscars as well as if or how they celebrated St. Patrick’s Day this weekend. In a “Live Event of the Week”, Phil will regale with stories about seeing the great indie rocker Hamilton Leithauser at the legendary Cafe Carlyle. Five movies get discussed: the current smash hit Dune 2, a possible future cult favorite Argylle, the recent Marvel flop The Marvels, the interesting Nicolas Cage vehicle Dream Scenario, and the brand new, utterly brilliant performance documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus. All that, plus a groundbreaking stunt performer and a British actor of stage and screen get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

This week’s show begins with Dean and Phil discussing one of Dean’s all-time favorite films and filmmakers: My Winnipeg by Guy Maddin. Phil hails it as perhaps the greatest film NOT to be on the Sight and Sound poll of the 250 greatest films ever made. From great movies to great television, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting shift gears to discuss the end of “Succession”, the end of “Barry”, the end of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, the end of “Ted Lasso”, Season 1 of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, and Season 2 of “Star Trek: Picard”. And speaking of “Picard” the actress who played the Borg Queen will get remembered in Celebrity Deaths, as will a beloved French-Canadian actor, an incredible Mexican character actor, the stunt man who inspired Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” … And the lead character in that film has also died?!

Welcome to an excellent installment of your Chillpak Hollywood Hour that begins with tales of springtime before a couple of great soapbox moments courtesy of the “sensitivity editing” of Agatha Christie and newspaper headline treatments of black men in the media. An actress who starred in many beloved projects, a screenwriter behind crowd-pleasing movies, a singer in a legendary doo-wop band and the designer responsible for the way Phil smelled throughout his teens and twenties (!) all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean champions Cocaine Bear, Elizabeth Banks, and the return of Nicolas Cage (not that he went anywhere). Phil regales with amazing original casting choices for a couple of popular recent films before launching into an appreciation of the fable-making on display in John Wick: Chapter 4.

On this week’s installment, your friends in broadcasting and podcasting tackle the latest show biz news, including criminal charges in the on-set shooting death of Halyna Hutchins, and the closure of dozens of multiplexes in the Regal Theater chain. Three musicians, two groundbreaking dancers, a legendary broadcaster and two famous jumpsuits all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Oscar nominations get announced this week, and Dean and Phil offer reviews of no fewer than three current award-hopefuls. All that, plus an all-time classic from Michelangelo Antonioni gets celebrated and a round in the “vintage movie ad” game gets played – this one 75 years in the making!

After their most drunken episode ever, this week’s show finds Dean back in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham and Phil in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Thanks to an email from a loyal listener and frequent collaborator, they will be revisiting a discussion of Wu Tang Clan from two weeks ago. And thanks to developing news, they will follow up on last week’s discussion of the movement to remove tributes to D.W. Griffith’s legacy in Hollywood. There will be further analysis on the state of the box office in the U.S. and there will be reviews of two new movies: The comedic DC comic book actioner “The Suicide Squad” and a feature documentary about AND photographed by Val Kilmer. Yet another “Night Court” star will get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”, along with the actress daughter of an iconic filmmaker, an award-winning folk music star, and a beloved cast member of TV’s “Sherlock”. Plus, we still have many celebrity death memories (of a Clint Eastwood collaborator, a legendary voice actor, and a best-selling sci-fi author) recorded during last week’s red wine bacchanal that we include at the end of this week’s show!

This week’s episode is a grab bag of what you’ve come to expect from YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. A broadcasting legend, perhaps the greatest record producer ever (though also a convicted murderer), a chart-topping early rock and roll star, and many others get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Phil and Dean discuss a review given to their film The Lady Killers (now available to rent or to own everywhere in the world). Phil once again quizzes Dean on movie ads from the 80s and 90s before they analyze the latest Covid-19 fallout to theatrical movie releases and to theaters themselves. Then, Phil regales with details of his “Drive-In Movie Adventure”, Dean reviews Wonder Woman 1984, and your friends in podcasting close with “What We’re Reading”, including an hilarious and disturbingly relevant book from 15 years ago that arrived to Phil by mistake!

On this week’s brand new, action-packed episode #544, Dean and Phil are discussing great movies again, as they count down their lists of the Top Ten Action Movies of All Time!