Dean is back from Japan. He will speak about his trip on this week’s show. Phil is grieving the death of his sister. He has some thoughts about her and about grief and about two wishes he has that he will share. If you would like to read about Phil’s sister, he included a tribute to her influence on him in “Haunted”, the most recent essay he published for his The Voice of Los Feliz Substack. Dean and Phil will discuss a wild grab bag of other topics as well, including the city of Glendale, California, improv comedy shows, the ongoing brilliance of “The Simpsons” and the enduring (and growing?) legacy of the British filmmaking team The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). Finally, a lightning round of quizzes for Dean will comprise this week’s “Celebrity Deaths”.

Phil is back from a weekend excursion to Catalina and regales with tales of his trip. Dean previews his forthcoming trips to London, Los Angeles, Japan and Europe. Many different Netflix shows starring comedian John Mulaney get discussed, and his work ranging from stand-up to sketch to performance art gets analyzed. Three recent movies also get analyzed: the “found footage” horror favorite Late Night with the Devil, the Ian McShane-starring indie thriller American Star, and a modern classic from France, The Taste of Things. Finally, Hollywood giant Roger Corman gets remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

 

Because Phil is traveling, he and Dean pre-recorded this week’s show on Sunday morning BEFORE the Oscars, so there will be scant little Academy Awards conversation on the episode. Instead, Dean and Phil re-visit some of the more troubling aspects of the legacy of “The X-Files” and examine two other television series: The acclaimed “The Bear” and the divisive season 4 of “Star Trek: Discovery” (including friend of show Luke Y. Thompson’s hilarious review of season 4). Last week’s “Live Event of the Week” gets re-visited thanks to an email from the subject of that segment! We will learn more about the great dancer and teacher Fujima Kansuma and Dean and Phil will ponder the possibility of someday taking a “deep dive” into the art of Kabuki on the show! Two fascinating films get discussed: Wim Wenders’ 1993 Wings of Desire sequel, Faraway, So Close! and the 7th greatest film of all time according to the Sight and Sound Poll, Claire Denis’ 1999 masterpiece Beau Travail (which is having a 25th anniversary re-release). “Celebrity Deaths” includes a bit of a quiz for Dean about a legendary Japanese artist and Canada’s First Lady of Jazz, before a great Italian filmmaker, an influential and controversial British playwright, and a beloved “entertainer” all get their turn in the spotlight.

This week’s installment takes its cues from last week’s show and starts with several “Celebrity Deaths” involving music industry notables. Beloved comedian-turned-actor Richard Lewis will also get remembered, as will an incredible Japanese-American dancer-turned-teacher who was just a few months shy of her 105th birthday when she died! The “Live Event of the Week” involves a church in Malibu, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Phil’s dear friend June Aochi Berk, fascism, and Nisei Week! The return of “What We’re Reading” covers Caravaggio, art, the plague, violence, MGM, Hollywood and the most important movie of the 20th Century that you probably haven’t seen (or perhaps even heard of). Finally, Phil hops back on his soapbox in an effort to help save Siren Radio (read all about this effort and help by signing the petition at https://www.change.org/p/support-our-siren-saving-siren-radio-lincoln-s-first-community-radio-station). All that and … Oh, yeah! Happy 70th Birthday to longtime listener and friend of the show, Maurice Terenzio!

This week’s show will pick up right where last week’s Season 4 Episode 6 left off, with a pre-recorded segment wherein Dean Haglund reveals his top two films of 2023, and Phil Leirness reveals his number one choice. Then, Dean and Phil hook up live on digital audio to discuss a wide array of topics, including: the choreography of Pina Bausch, the German nominee for the Best International Film Oscar, the Mardi Gras jazz of Delfeayo Marsalis (and a real-life backstage mystery!), the Houdini Estate in Hollywood, “Bicycle Thieves”, the French classic “Diva”, and why February 10 was a terrible day for breakfast!

On this week’s installment, your friends in broadcasting and podcasting tackle the latest show biz news, including criminal charges in the on-set shooting death of Halyna Hutchins, and the closure of dozens of multiplexes in the Regal Theater chain. Three musicians, two groundbreaking dancers, a legendary broadcaster and two famous jumpsuits all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Oscar nominations get announced this week, and Dean and Phil offer reviews of no fewer than three current award-hopefuls. All that, plus an all-time classic from Michelangelo Antonioni gets celebrated and a round in the “vintage movie ad” game gets played – this one 75 years in the making!

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.

Dean is back in the environs of the Motor City, Phil is back in Los Angeles, and they have a lot to discuss on this week’s show … Phil asks Dean about his SoCal travel adventures and about Dean’s grandfather, a truly remarkable man. Dean and Phil preview new seasons from two utterly terrific television series and also discuss a current show you might just want to check out. The box office is, at long last, seemingly revived and there are a lot of movies out! Dean and Phil discuss some of them, but pay particular attention to the return of Ke Huy Quan, a new Chris Pine spy vehicle, a classic 1960s musical from France, an unusually personal 1981 detective film from Peter Bogdanovich, and the movie that features James Stewart’s all-time favorite performance he ever gave. In the return of “Celebrity Deaths”, several sitcom character actors, a beloved stand-up comic and voice actor, and a groundbreaking dancer, all get remembered.

This week, Dean and Phil follow up on one of their best episodes ever by discussing the importance of manners as they relate to masks, shoes, and award shows! They have some bracing words about the nature of “safety” in show business. Then, they turn their attention to the Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul before discussing Oscar-winner George Chakiris and what he thought made original West Side Story choreographer Jerome Robbins so great. They also discuss the importance of representation, which leads to a discussion of an early Vincente Minnelli film, Cabin in the Sky from 1943, featuring an incredible all-black cast. That leads to a discussion of the version of A Star is Born produced by and starring Minnelli’s one-time wife, Judy Garland. It was a remake, of course, and has been remade twice more. And speaking of remakes, Dean and Phil conclude by analyzing Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, why it failed as a movie and what is being blamed for its failure at the box office.

This week’s episode is a very unusual installment, even by our very unusual standards! Part 1 features Dean and Phil continuing their discussion of last week about the future of awards shows in general, and the Oscars in particular, while paying tribute to two great films from last year that went overlooked by the Academy: David Lowery’s The Green Knight and Rebecca Hall’s Passing. And because Phil is on his long-delayed honeymoon, Dean will spend part 2 interviewing one of his key collaborators on his “Scared & Alone” show, the Gentleman Psychic, Richard-Lael Lillard!