Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 47

Posted on by PHIL19

Phil is in Los Angeles, Dean is back in home in Detroit (or its environs) and normalcy is restored on this week’s show. Dean offers up his final thoughts about Lisbon, shares the status of his ongoing home renovations, and weighs in on the in-flight movies he availed himself of: John Woo’s remake of his own The Killer and a zombie dog horror film from South Korea. Phil weighs in on a once-great television series that has jumped the shark and a great spy film from Steven Soderbergh that is meeting with box office failure. The state of the box office, film distribution, and what can be done to fix all of it gets analyzed. Then, in “Celebrity Deaths” two great character actors, two chart-topping music-makers, a heavyweight champion turned grillmaster, and a philanthropist who championed architecture all get remembered.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 46

Posted on by PHIL19

Due to the ridiculous travel itineraries of your friends in podcasting, this week’s show is coming at you one day late, but is jumbo-sized to make up for its tardiness! The festivities get started on a midnight train ride through Denmark two Saturdays back as Phil Leirness and Jon Lawlor discussed sandwiches, the English language, the honor system of Copenhagen and swapped tales of the magnificent Copenhagen City Hall. Then, back in Los Angeles, Phil quizzes Lily Holleman (Leirness) about the terrors of London Heathrow Airport, the joys of steam-punk weddings, the incredible history of the Koronborg Slot (aka “Hamlet’s Castle”), the delights of Copenhagen breakfasts, and the inspiring art of Edvard Munch. Finally, Phil connects with Dean Haglund, who is enjoying his honeymoon in Portugal. They discuss Dean’s nuptials, their respective Nordic ancestry, Dean’s visit to Paris, the delights of Lisbon, Guy Maddin’s most recent film, the television miniseries “A Gentleman in Moscow” and much more!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 45

Posted on by PHIL19

Today is not only St. Patrick’s Day, it’s also Dean Haglund’s wedding day! Therefore, this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is an absolute travel adventure. First, Lily Holleman joins Phil at the Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen to share her thoughts about their trip to Venice. Then, we switch locations to a pub in Helsingør near the Kronborg Slot aka Hamlet’s Castle and the spot where Dean will be entering into the bonds of matrimony. At the pub, while Dean’s bachelor party is getting started, Dean reveals his most recent travel nightmares regales with tales of Turkish Airlines, in-flight movies from Turkey, and robots at the Istanbul Airport. There is a special cameo appearance from a surprise guest, and quite a bit of drinking, plus a lot of fascinating talk about the Copenhagen City Hall, ancient Constantinople and mermaids.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 44

Posted on by PHIL19

Coming at you from Venice, Italy, Los Angeles of the 1980s and everywhere in between, this week’s show is a wild pastiche. First, Phil gets the ball rolling from Venice, as he welcomes frequent contributor over the years, Lily Holleman (Leirness), who shares some thoughts about the ancient world capital. Phil issues a warning to anyone who is listening to the show from Los Angeles of the 1980s. Then, after Christopher Walken leads us into the show’s traditional opening, Marc Hershon drops by to discuss both recent television awards, the SNL50 special, and current shows of which you might be well advised to avail yourselves. Then, in the back half, Dean shows up to find out what Phil’s reading, and to share with Phil his advice of the must-see sights and much-do events Venice has to offer.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 43

Posted on by PHIL19

Later this week, your friends in podcasting depart for Europe. Last night, the Oscars were held. Last week, one of their dear friends celebrated his 81st birthday, another friend had a brain tumor removed, and another friend died. So, you will forgive Dean and Phil if this isn’t the most polished installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. It IS epic in length, and it is full of the heartfelt, the insightful, the irreverent and even the inspiring. Dean reveals that planning a home renovation a few months before getting married might have been a mistake. The winners of last night’s awards get analyzed both for their historical context and for what they say about the art and commerce of motion pictures right now. Actors Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg, screenwriter and producer Roberto Orci, singers Robert John and David Johansen, and chess champion Boris Spassky get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 42

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Your friends in podcasting have two more shows before they make their way (separately) to Europe and reconvene in Denmark! So, understandably, they have a full discussion agenda for this week’s show. They discuss the theft of thousands of art works from Venice and how a 1954 cinematic masterpiece helped in the reconstruction of one of the landmark buildings of that city. They discuss TWO “Live Events of the Week” and in so doing, discuss Shakespeare, Armin Shimmerman, and two of the most legendary Los Angeles stage actors. In “Celebrity Deaths” a chart-topping singer-turned-elected official gets remembered, as does a prolific character actor, a groundbreaking African filmmaker, and an influential poet and multimedia artist of the Beat era. The “SNL50” special gets discussed, as does an excellent new sports documentary series on Netflix. Finally, this weekend’s Spirit Awards (honoring the best in independent cinema) gets analyzed, and one of the most acclaimed animated films of 2024, one of the most acclaimed international films of 2024, and one of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2024 all get reviewed.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 40

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What do the movies The Brutalist, The Substance, Red Rooms and Anora have in common? They all made BOTH Dean AND Phil’s lists of the Top Ten Films of 2024! The Critics have all had their say, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have announced their nominations for the Best in Cinema 2024, and on this week’s show, your friends in podcasting finally have their say. Learn what other films made their lists as they count down their Top Ten from the cinematic year just past!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 39

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Following what many people seem to feel was the longest January on record, your friends in podcasting return to get February off to a good start, freewheeling their way through a variety of topics, including the closing of the most odd airport in the world, the reasoning behind Quentin Tarantino’s move into live stage work, a listener’s response to Dean and Phil’s dismissal of Oscar Best Picture nominee A Complete Unknown, and the influence David Lynch had on great Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. Dean and Phil take a deep dive into two films that figure prominently on many year-end Top Ten lists (Hundreds of Beavers and The People’s Joker) and they discuss two films that are NOT eligible for inclusion on their own lists (La Chimera and Midway). Finally, good friend of show Marc Hershon drops by to share a disturbing story about a screenwriting AI and to suggest two recent television shows.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 38

Posted on by PHIL19

For what it’s worth, awards season in Hollywood is firmly upon us and on this week’s show, your friends in podcasting examine the top ten 2024 releases at the U.S. box office, the top ten films according to critics, and the ten films selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Best Picture Oscar nominations. They analyze the surprises, the snubs and the meaning behind the Oscar nominations, before taking a deep dive into Gladiator II, Wicked: Part One and A Complete Unknown. And speaking of the Academy, Phil had a terrible experience at an Academy Museum screening – so terrible, he might never return. He fills Dean in on the details and they share memories of a colleague about whose death in 2020 they just learned.

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