One episode shy of their 1,000 installment of this show, Dean and Phil jokingly compare notes on the tolls reaching such a milestone have taken. Phil hints at some of his weekend 40th high school reunion adventures, Dean updates the prognosis of his beloved Doberman, Leloo, and previews his own birthday celebrations. Of course, Dean and Phil now produce several different podcasts each week through the “Chillpak Hollywood Presents …” Substack. And last week’s episode of “Celebrity Deaths” resulted in the need to begin with some corrections and/or clarifications! After those, it’s nothing but good news from the world of show biz, including the continued astonishing success of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the halt (til at least next year) of the Parmount-Warners merger, and the announcement that an iconic Hollywood locale will be reopening in 2028. Finally, Phil sings the praises of the one of the all-time best debut features for any director ever, the heartbreaking and hilarious, sexually explicit, gay biker BDSM film, Pillion, and Dean reveals his early reaction to the new spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory”.

In a truly confusing, but nevertheless hilarious, cold open, Phil offers a correction about “Malta Air”. Thanks to emails from loyal listener and frequent contributor Maurice Terenzio, Dean and Phil have a ball talking about three great actors of Hollywood’s golden age: Joe E. Brown, George Raft and Edward G. Robinson. The big show biz news of the week get discussed: the possible halt to the Paramount-Warners merger and the historic box office success for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Two new movies get reviewed: The brilliant comedy Stop! That! Train! and the hit Netflix offering Enola Holmes 3. Of course, Dean and Phil continue their ongoing film noir and neo-noir discussion, focusing on the nihilism of the 1970s as depicted in such modern classics as Arthur Penn’s Night Moves and the Paul New man vehicle The Drowning Pool. Finally, colleague Marc Hershon (star of the “Chillpak Hollywood Presents …” podcast Television with Marc Hershon) drops in to help your friends in podcasting come up with ideas for how they can commemorate their upcoming 1,000 episode, and to discuss ideas for Phil’s next movie, a documentary all about improv!

This week, you will hear your friends in podcasting discussing an ill-fated screening of Spaceballs, the 4th of July, patriotism, fireworks and the seminal band, Earth, Wind and Fire. In “Celebrity Deaths”, actor-singer Aki Aleong, journalist Bill Moyers, televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, actor Michael Madsen, and actor Julian McMahon all get remembered. Dean and Phil go back and forth singing the praises of the Netflix comedy-mystery limited series “The Residence” and take a deep dive into the 4th “Mission: Impossible” movie (“Ghost Protocol”). YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it …

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!

This week’s episode is quite the mélange and it begins with a cold open featuring a musical duet recorded late at night in Dean’s Motor City-adjacent home last week while Phil was visiting. Then, it is back to the “now” with Dean previewing his forthcoming trip to Minneapolis for a convention celebrating the 30th anniversary of “The X-Files” and Phil reveals the challenges he faced getting home from Detroit. Then, Phil reveals the latest show business strikes news and Dean offers up another vintage television series, this one an exemplar of Scandinavian Noir. In the return of “What We’re Reading”, Dean and Phil reveal the books that have garnered their attention, including a memoir, classic literature, historic fiction, poetry, music analysis and a guidebook. The phenomenon that is Oppenheimer gets discussed, as does large format film exhibition. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, Jimmy Buffett gets remembered (as do his cafes and hotels!).

Will this week be the final episode of “Season 2”? Will it be Dean and Phil’s final show Odysy Radio? They will discuss these matters (but, spoiler alert: yes to both!). They will also discuss Dean’s coddling of robots, Phil’s latest round of eye surgeries, Dean’s forthcoming watercolor series, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, the return of movies shown on film, as well as a whole lot of spirituality and music in this week’s show!

Your friends in podcasting celebrate summer and the traditional “summer movie season” with a show full of great movie directors. First, Dean and Phil remember three groundbreaking directors in “Celebrity Deaths” – one of whom directed some of the best box office hits of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, one of whom was a key figure in underground cinema and one of whom directed one of the greatest American movies of all time! Such titans of international cinema as Francois Truffaut and Sweden’s Roy Andersson get their turns in the spotlight as well. Then, it turns out one of the greatest filmmakers of our era has purchased one of greatest movie theaters in the world. Dean and Phil discuss what this portends for the future of movie-going. Finally, one brand new movie release from Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh and one classic Australian film from Bruce Beresford get appraised, before a long-promised Aussie-themed edition of our Vintage Movie Ad game gets played!

Is Dean Haglund embracing his madness with a new sleep schedule? And what is his favorite episode of “The X-Files”? These are but two of the questions asked and answered on this week’s show, which also features celebrations of the great comedian (and comedy writer) Paul Mooney and the great comic actor (and provocateur) Charles Grodin. Phil hates when old white guys (like himself) complain about “woke” culture so he gets out his soapbox to rant about it before shining a spotlight on the insidious global conspiracy to … convert people to Hinduism? Apparently in Alabama, elected officials think that’s a thing! After that journey down the rabbit hole, which includes discussion of yoga, meditation and desserts, Dean and Phil tackle three overlooked movies from 2020: Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, the documentary Dick Johnson is Dead, and the “weird western” from Brasil, Bacurau. Are movie theaters going to make a comeback? And if so, will projecting movies on FILM actually play a part in this comeback? Your friends in podcasting having thoughts about this!