Tag: Cate Blanchett

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 46

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This week’s episode starts off with a follow-up to a fascinating bit of silent film history discussed on this weekend’s “Celebrity Deaths” show. That leads into discussion of the landmark 107 year-old Santa Monica Airport and what is to become of that land now that the airport is (finally) shutting down. AI is creating a “new” Val Kilmer performance for an upcoming feature film. Dean and Phil have thoughts. Likewise they have thoughts about three movies: the 2016 classic zombie thriller Train to Busan, the most recent film from indie film legend Jim Jarmusch, and an all-time masterpiece from The Archers. Then, your friends in podcasting wrap up the festivities by discussing several more of the theaters that made Time Out’s list of the 100 Greatest Movie Theatres in the World RIGHT NOW!

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 39

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It’s part one of a special two-part episode! After a rather hilarious cold open, Dean and Phil immediately get down to the serious (ridiculous?) business of counting down their respective lists of the Top Ten Best Films of 2025. This week, they reveal #10 thru #6 on their lists. As with years past, Dean’s list includes films he has hopefully seen, and Phil’s list stretches the definition of “ten” in “Top Ten”. Because they actually accomplish this week’s task in less than an hour, Phil takes some time at the end to regale Dean with what might be the best sci-fi movies to be coming out in 2026! So, buckle up and prepare to celebrate the (recent) past AND look forward to the (near) future.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 47

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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 – Season 3 Episode 54

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This week’s show picks up right where last week’s show left off with Dean and Phil revealing which films topped their lists as the best of 2022! Dean regales (?) with tales of his recent adventures in the nation’s capital before he and Phil compare notes on their respective Valentine’s Day plans. Phil then takes Dean to task about two films on his Top Ten list – The Kitchen Brigade from France and All Quiet on the Western Front from Germany. Dean then takes Phil to task about the Edgar Allen Poe mystery on Netflix, The Pale Blue Eye. Dean and Phil will then tackle the controversy that swirled around the Academy Award nomination for To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough, and the latest troubling reports coming out of the prosecution of Alec Baldwin. Loyal listeners like you (yes, YOU!) have concerns about the variable frame rates in Avatar: The Way of Water and the proposed variable seat-pricing plan at AMC Theaters. Your friends in podcasting and broadcasting will weigh in on both topics, as well as on the “Lawsuit of the Week” involving breakfast cereal and an indie rock band.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 3 Episode 41

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After a brief cold open about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Dean and Phil switch gears from the Holiday Season to “Awards Season” as they tackle a handful of this year’s award hopefuls, including Tár, Don’t Worry Darling, The Menu, Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes. There is a brand new “Lawsuit of the Week” AGAIN involving the tragic Alec Baldwin-starring western Rust. An email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) about a celebrity death will be followed by … “Celebrity Deaths”! A versatile actor, a comedy impresario, and a legendary prop comic have their lives and legacies celebrated. All that, PLUS Phil shares a hilarious account of a recent 50th high school reunion.

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 2, Episode 5

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Another show 10 years in the making! Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness ring out 2019 by counting down their Top Ten lists of the Greatest Films of the Decade! Get that popcorn ready (and keep those Netflix queues handy) because we’re going to the movies …

 

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour #645

Posted on by PHIL19

As loyal listeners know, Phil darn near went blind. As a result, he and Dean have not discussed books in a long time! Well, Phil’s eyesight is back, thank you very much, and so is “What We’re Reading” on this week’s show! In fact, Phil’s selection ties in very much to TWO conversations Dean and Phil will have this week. One about Buster Keaton’s “The General” (which will re-visit last week’s theme of “failure”). The other about what television your friends in podcasting are watching right now. Comedy, drama, mystery and the paranormal are all on the small screen menu! And before your friends in podcasting depart from the small screen, they discuss the current SNL controversy surrounding the firing of a recently-hired performer. 

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Chillpak Hollywood Hour #454

Posted on by PHIL19

As you know, each year, your friends in podcasting celebrate what they think were the best films of the previous year. Well, this year, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness welcome special guest, film critic and Los Angeles Film Critics Association member Luke Y. Thompson to help them as they discuss the best films AND the worst films of 2015! 

Best and worst in one show?! 

Why, that sounds like two shows! And it almost is. At almost 1 hour and 50 minutes, this is our longest show ever (if you don’t count the 28 hour live “podcastathon” Dean and Phil did to ring in the end of the Mayan Calendar). So, get those Netflix queues handy, power up with the caffeinated beverage of your choice and let’s begin

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