Your friends in podcasting have been teasing episode #568 for weeks! They had really been looking forward to counting down their all-time favorite Mystery films and the final results prove to be a lot of fun. So, get those Netflix queues handy, because Dean and Phil will hit you with more than two dozen movies they discuss at length with four films actually finding a place on both their Top Tens. There are comedy “whodunits” from the 1930’s, foreign language allegories from the 2000’s, independent films that launched careers, classics from international masters that launched entire sub-genres, mysteries based on books, mysteries based on plays, mysteries set in the farthest reaches of space, mysteries full of post-war romance and cold war anxiety. The biggest mystery of all is after almost eleven years, how do Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness keep managing to provide an hour (plus) of free audio entertainment each week?!

It’s a special Top Ten show! Your friends in podcasting count down their all time favorite War Films! It’s amazing how many different sub-genres of war films, Dean and Phil discover and more than thirty films actually get discussed. Trust us – It’s totally awesome.

This week’s show is an interesting one that your friends in podcasting recorded together in Los Angeles. It starts with Dean describing two “Live Events of the Week” – a production of Something Rotten! and the debut Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation exhibit at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center on Wilshire – and Phil describing the truly horrible Office Christmas Party and the terrific The Trip to Spain. The show continues with Dean’s interview of one of the creative souls behind “The X-Files: Deep State” game. Then, Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves to figure out what’s right with “Star Trek: Discovery”, what’s wrong with it, and why viewers seem to hate it so much! All that plus a legendary broadcaster and a peerless singer are remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. The first episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour in 2018, wherever good podcasts can be found!

Your friends in podcasting discuss one of the most sad Christmas celebrations in history, before discussing the deaths of a pop music star, a Native American character actor, a documentary filmmaker and the mayor of SF. Then, Phil turns his attention to one of the most surprising facts to come out of the Disney purchase of 21st Century Fox and Dean tries to calm him down. Then, they delve into the trouble engulfing Matt Damon, before weighing in on three brand new Oscar hopefuls: Downsizing (starring Mr. Damon), Phantom Thread (starring Daniel Day Lewis in his final role), and the rather miraculous All The Money In The World. All that, plus Kyle Machlachlan weighs in on whether “Twin Peaks: The Return” was a terrific season of a television series or whether it was one of the best feature films of the year, and a fantastic note from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) is shared.

With how much ground your friends in podcasting cover on this week’s show, you’ll forgive them going almost eight minutes overtime, won’t you? The show starts with a “Live Event of the Week” as Phil regales Dean with tales of his 49th birthday celebrations on a day that involved marionettes, Norse mythology and the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. Then, for the first time in ages, Dean and Phil discuss what they’re reading. After that, it’s onto “Celebrity Deaths” which contains a correction of a correction from last week, as well as remembrances of a former teen idol, a jazz great, a country music great, a gospel great and two award-winning actors. Then, a few more thoughts about the latest news involving toxic masculinity, the United States Senate and “Whataboutism” before Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves to discuss almost a dozen movies, including both the 1974 and 2017 versions of Murder on the Orient Express, Orson Welles’ 1952 Othello, Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, and this year’s award hopefuls Last Flag FlyingCall Me By Your Name,Lady BirdMudboundHostiles and The Disaster Artist.

On this week’s brand new, action-packed episode #544, Dean and Phil are discussing great movies again, as they count down their lists of the Top Ten Action Movies of All Time!

Dean’s back in Sydney, Australia, Phil is back from The Magic Castle in Hollywood, and they embark on a fast-paced 67 minute odyssey into the realms of magic, comedy, art, classical music, vintage cars, vintage music boxes and much more …

Jerry Lewis, Mozart, Houdini, Valentino and Gershwin are just some of the big names that get discussed.

There are 7 lives celebrated in “Celebrity Deaths”.

There are multiple “Live Events of the Week”.

There are full details about Dean’s return to (season 11 of) “The X-Files”. Are The Lone Gunmen really back? Or do they appear in a flashback or hallucination or dream sequence or the like? Who wrote and directed the episode Dean shot this week? All these questions are answered by Dean.

YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Buckle up. Enjoy. And share with someone you love …

In many ways, this week’s show is a sequel to last week’s episode #534, with the promised celebration of Jeanne Moreau’s life and career, an email from a listener about Tom Jones’ “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer” and more from the British Film Institute List of “the 50 films you should see by the age of 14”.

Unlike most sequels, however, this show is even more irreverent, insightful and informative than last week’s!

The festivities commence with a clip of Dean on Australian television telling a (bestiality?) joke, and then after a special opening (a tribute to Glen Campbell), Dean comes out guns blazing, ranting about the internet speeds of his adopted land. After Phil calms him down, they discuss the news of David Letterman’s new show, they urge people to save the Salem Cinema (a jewel of the Pacific Northwest), they talk about an interview they did with the late Jim Marrs and they continue their discussion about the “death of discernment”, this time focusing on an appalling memo crafted by a then member of the National Security Council.

 

From there, it’s onto “Celebrity Deaths”, where, in addition to the Femme Fatale of the French New Wave and Glen Campbell, your friends in podcasting remember a Tony-winning star of Broadway’s “The Music Man”, the star of an early television western series turned right-wing anti-government activist, and the man inside the Godzilla costume.

Finally, Dean and Phil discuss a 1982 Australian western, a 1954 western that influenced the likes of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, the original King Kong, and the Will Rogers comedy Life Begins at 40.

Next week, your friends in podcasting will be back doing what they do best, trying to make sense of the world through insight, inspiration and irreverence. Because they are both still on the road, however, THIS week’s episode is another aural pastiche …

Lily Holleman joins Phil to discuss Route 66, her new movie, the return of “Twin Peaks” and what it was like to befriend The Lone Gunmen in Dallas. And speaking of The Lone Gunmen (in Dallas), the 2nd half of the show is a panel discussion, where Dean, Tom and Bruce answer questions from a moderator and from an audience.

This week’s episode spans some serious ground both thematically and geographically. In the USA’s capital, Phil Leirness recorded a very special (and hilarious) opening, before traveling to Baltimore to interview great friend of the show Page Branson, an artist, illustrator and podcast host. Then, it’s off to Brooklyn for a chat with the writer/performer of more than one Chillpak Hollywood Hour theme song, Mr. Jon Lawlor. Then, it’s back to Dallas for some improv comedy courtesy of your friend in podcasting, Mr. Dean Haglund.