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 weekend, Dean and Phil got together in-person on the “American Riviera” for a fascinating discussion inspired by a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!). The conversation involves the importance of awards not only recognizing and rewarding great work, but also rewarding the great stories surrounding the making of that work! Somehow that inspires Phil to reappraise the entire filmography of James Mason. That great Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, gets more time in the spotlight, as Dean and Phil take a little more time giving both a doff of the cap and a wag of the finger to Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile and Phil, who took the time during the week to unearth the final Peter Ustinov performance as Agatha Christie’s protagonist, has some thoughts about Appointment with Death from the infamous Cannon Film Group. Finally, in a riff on their usual “Celebrity Deaths” section, Dean and Phil discuss three non-celebrity friends who died recently.

Phil (in Hollywood) and Dean (in the environs of Detroit) checked in with each other before, during and after Sunday night’s Oscars and recorded their conversation about the movie industry’s big night. There are insights, there are jokes, there is snark, there are criticisms, and oh, yes, Dean has been drinking!

On this week’s episode, Dean and Phil pick up right where they left off last week when they were discussing the SAG Award winners. Specifically, they will analyze what the foreign-language “Squid Game” winners tell us about the ways Americans in general (and younger generations in particular) consume their entertainment and their openness to subtitles. This conversation continues with a review of the multiple Academy Award-nominated Norwegian film The Worst Person in the World. Other nominated films get reviewed, including Coda, and the 1961 classic Judgment at Nuremberg gets reappraised. The box office triumph of The Batman and what it might mean for movie-going gets examined. An awards season controversy and what it means for the Best Picture odds of The Power of the Dog get dissected. Dean offers up a BBC Series recommendation. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, one author, three musicians, and the “Freddy Krueger of Magic” get remembered.

Phil is back from Hawaii and bringing with him observations about how the islands AND America have changed since he last visited the spots he traveled to (24 and 36 years ago respectively). He and Dean bring back “What We’re Reading” after a lengthy absence, and the discussion of books will lead to discussions of comedy, the Golden Age of Radio, watercolor painting and YouTube instructional videos! In “Celebrity Deaths”, an Oscar-nominated star of M*A*S*H, one of the greatest comedy movie directors of all time, and the “Queen of Funk” all get remembered. The show concludes with an analysis of Sunday night’s Screen Actors Guild awards. What do the Film winners portend for the forthcoming Oscars, and whom did Phil and Dean vote for in these award categories? All that, plus what non-nominated film might be one of the very best of 2021?

Since it is Valentine’s Day, it’s only fitting that Dean and Phil are offering up a show that is nothing less than a love letter to movies, movie-going AND great comedic acting on television! In addition to a great story about Howard (“Dr. Johnny Fever”) Hesseman that involves the legendary Jack (“Dragnet”) Webb, and analysis of a handful of nominated films, shows and performances, Dean and Phil also engage in free-wheeling discussion about how we judge film and TV, how these works are consumed and what awards shows need to be moving forward. All that, plus a legend of visual effects and the Queen of Italian Cinema both get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.