This week’s show begins with a cold open about Spanish film star Carmen Sevilla. It continues with Dean and Phil previewing an email from a loyal listener (that they will answer on NEXT week’s show). The email involves the ongoing Writer’s Guild strike and Dean and Phil use it as a springboard to discussing the latest labor negotiation news in Hollywood and to ponder the question “Is Ryan Murphy (once again) the worst person in the world?” Last week, the life and career of Oscar-winner Glenda Jackson was celebrated. This week, Phil reveals tidbits from her final (?) still-to-be-released movie, The Great Escaper (starring Michael Caine). After that, Dean and Phil offer up remembrances of three more great stars of the silver (and small) screen: Julian Sands, Frederic Forrest, and Treat Williams. The second half of the show is all about Indiana Jones (and “The Dial of Destiny”), Akira Kurosawa (and two of his independent films), and the Martin Scorsese classic Raging Bull.

Your friends in podcasting and broadcasting start the show with a “cold open” about some greats of Italian cinema and the genius of Jennifer Coolidge and the cinematographer of “The White Lotus”. Then, after Phil regales with tales of a one-day, 650 mile road trip to Turlock and back, Dean and Phil spend the bulk of the show doing a deep dive into analyzing the year in movies 2022. They take the 10 nominees for the Best Picture Oscar and compare/contrast that list with both the critics’ choices for the top dozen or so films of the year and the top ten box office releases of the year. What emerges is an analysis of the present, and perhaps the near future of moviemaking and movie-going.

This week’s show runs the gamut culturally, from a production of “Uncle Vanya” in “Live Event of the Week” and a discussion about whether the play is a comedy, to stories of jury duty prompted by a “Lawsuit of the Week”, from an excellent documentary recommendation by a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) to a deep dive analysis of the U.S. box office (including a quiz!). The success of Where the Crawdads Sing gets paid particular attention, as does the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. The once-every-ten years Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made leads to a discussion of the Daniels, Edgar Wright and Roy Andersson. Finally, great stories about the making of David Lynch’s Dune, Blue Velvet and The Straight Story get shared.

Since 1984’s Risky Business, Tom Cruise has been one of the most reliable and bankable stars of major motion pictures. Since 1984’s Stranger than Paradise, Jim Jarmusch has been one of the most reliable and influential auteurs in independent cinema. This week, Dean and Phil compare and contrast these two icons’ filmographies, making recommendations, drawing parallels between two very different artists, and examining forty years of American culture and hundreds of years of American mythology in the process!

Dean is back from the UK and reports on his travels. Phil has been availing himself of classic movies and has thoughts on an indie gem from the 1980s, a mind-bending oddity from Joseph Losey, and a 1960 epic about the founding of Israel. The episodic series “Space Force”, “Barry” season 3, “Our Flag Means Death”, “Hacks” season 2, “The Book of Boba Fett”, “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and season 2 of “The Mandalorian” get discussed. Four giants of the music industry and 3 beloved character actors get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Finally, Dean and Phil explain why Tom Cruise was probably the perfect person to produce and star in a brilliant sequel 36 years after the original, and Phil shares some inspiring words relating to Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

With special “theme” shows planned to ring out 2020 and ring in 2021, this week’s show will be the last of Dean and Phil’s usual irreverent and insightful show biz grab bags for a few weeks! In it, they celebrate the lives of two Broadway legends, an accomplished New Orleans-based actress, and a “Star Wars” icon. They discuss some of their favorite Christmas movies and share what movies they have gravitated towards this holiday season. They offer up a few holiday-themed movie print ads in what has become a weekly tradition. They discuss why Hitchcockian cinema (i.e. Hitchock-like movies directed by people other than Hitchcock) might have had its peak in the 1970s. They weigh in on Tom Cruise’s Covid-19 safety protocol rant. All that, plus, “The Mandalorian”, “Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Boys” and John Cassavetes!

It’s our final show before the start of Season 2! After a week off, your friends in podcasting will be moving to ODYSY Radio Network starting Monday December 2nd. Once there, shows will “air” live at 9 pm eastern (becoming available as podcast a few hours later)! On THIS week’s show, our last EVER to exceed one hour (!), Dean and Phil discuss a Veteran’s Day-themed “Live Event of the Week”, remember an actress who starred in a handful of cult classics and the puppeteer responsible for Topo Gigio in “Celebrity Deaths”, compare notes on their upcoming travels, and weigh in on six new, upcoming, or recent movies: The LIghthouse, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Just Mercy, Judy, Tell Me Who I Am, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Dean Haglund spent part of his birthday recording this episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour and it turns out to be a very special, very personal installment for your friends in podcasting. Sure, they talk about a whole bunch of movies, including Mission: Impossible – FalloutHotel ArtemisSorry to Bother YouEat Me and The Breaker Upperers, and they celebrate John Waters’ Hairspray at 30. Of course, they also discuss the latest news regarding the James Gunn and Chris Hardwick controversies and weigh in on the ramifications surrounding the accusations leveled at longtime CBS head honcho Les Moonves. All that plus disturbing news surrounding two L.A. icons and the show biz disruptor that is (was?) MoviePass. What makes the episode truly unforgettable and personal, however, will have to remain a secret to all but those who listen to this week’s show. Which you can do NOW wherever good podcasts can be found!

After a special 2-part “Top Ten” show counting down the all-time great comedy movies, your friends in podcasting are back with a wide array of topics to discuss. Dean recounts his New Zealand adventures and previews his forthcoming trip to the USA. He and Phil celebrate the lives of the cat-loving gorilla with the huge vocabulary, the original Bond girl, and the celebrity chef who finds himself the subject of a conspiracy theory. Two emails from a loyal listener concerning the aforementioned “Top Ten” shows lead to a couple of great filmmaking stories and the discussion of another all-time great comedy film. Dean and Phil’s former collaborator, Chris Hardwick, has found himself in #MeToo hot water, and because they have been asked about it, Dean and Phil discuss it. There is a lot of “Star Trek” news to discuss, a slew of Netflix Marvel shows to review, as well as a popular HBO drama series based on an Australian-set novel to analyze. All that AND several recent cinematic releases get reviewed, including SoloThe Incredibles 2 and Isle of Dogs.

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!