Despite being recorded later than we like, and despite one of your friends in podcasting definitely “playing hurt”, this installment certainly proves to be a delight. Much hilarity starts the show, in no small part thanks to an email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!), before Dean and Phil get into a fascinating conversation about the court-approved settlement terms for the merger of Paramount/Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The “Live Event of the Week” returns, thanks to the launch of Phil’s own monthly stage show! He and Dean discuss, and Phil reveals he busted up his ankle falling down a flight of stairs many weeks back. Dean has begun his homework for the next “Deep Dive” into (neo) noir, and has thoughts about François Truffaut’s 1960 New Wave crime drama Shoot the Piano Player. Finally, since “spooky season” has begun, Phil does an in-depth comparison of John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing and Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien.

Your friends in podcasting have a great deal on their minds … Cold weather in the nation’s capital, the hell of home renovations, fire and long-term unhealthful air and the Olympics in Los Angeles … And they discuss it all on this week’s show. They also remember the late David Lynch, suggesting that no artist has ever loved Los Angeles more than he did. They discuss the latest in the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively (and now Ryan Reynolds!) lawsuits, and this leads to a discussion of the “abuser’s playbook”. The programming glories of the Detroit Film Theater (at the Detroit Institute of Arts) and the Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum (at the L.A. County Museum of Art) get celebrated and lead to a discussion about “old school” wide-screen filmmaking, and big screen “pacing”, as well as cyber punk and yacht rock! Finally, analysis will be directed onto the Directors Guild and Producers Guild awards nominations and what they portend for this week’s Oscar nominations. Oh, yeah, and the show opens with an epic Dean Haglund meltdown!

A brief history lesson: In May of 2007, Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness started changing the way people listen to the internet with “From The Heart of Hollywood”. After a cease and desist from an individual claiming “brand confusion”, the name was changed to (YOUR) YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. On December 2 2019, after 652 previous episodes, Dean & Phil launched “Season 2” making the move to live streaming on Odysy Radio. Sometime later, “Odysy” rebranded to “Subspace Radio”. Last week, based on math that defies our understanding (100 episode “seasons” now?) was Season 4 Episode 17, and what turned out to be the LAST live streaming episode of this show … For now anyway. This week’s installment is our 17th Anniversary episode and it features Dean and Phil TOGETHER in Michigan, discussing the future of the show, answering emails from listeners, discussing Alex Garland’s Civil War, Japanese Breakfast’s “Be Sweet”, a forthcoming documentary about Detroit and some of the many charms of the Wolverine State (“Go, Blue!”).

This week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour comes at you a little bit later than we like, though it’s definitely worth the wait and boasts almost 15% more “hour”! During their intercontinental connection, your friends in podcasting discuss Dean’s trip to Melbourne, where he hosted Melbourne WebFest, an award show honoring the best in web series. Finally, at long last, Dean also talks about his work (as Iago!) on the award-winning web series “Shakespeare Republic”. After that, it’s time for “Celebrity Deaths” where a noted futurist and a music family patriarch are remembered. There is some more feedback on their “Top Ten Comedies of All Time” episodes, Phil asks Dean about the 1930’s comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. Then Phil sings the praises of HBO’s “Westworld”, which leads to he and Dean waxing rhapsodic about the brilliance of Jeffrey Wright, before they turn their attention to movies. Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Ocean’s 8, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, First Reformed, Upgrade, and Hereditary all get (spoiler free) reviewed and discussed.