Welcome to one of our most cinematic episodes of the year! Dean and Phil talk nothing but movies, doing deep dive analyses of the new Dave Bautista action-comedy vehicle (and tax dodge?) The Killer’s Game, the current Tim Burton-directed smash hit Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the Michael Keaton-starring vehicle and directorial effort Knox Goes Away, the recent “thriller in six chapters” Strange Darling, this year’s box office disaster The Fall Guy, a 1968 film undone by director Richard Lester’s cynicism (Petulia), and an all-too overlooked classic from director Joseph Losey and leading man Alain Delon (Mr. Klein). Finally, Phil regales Dean with a real-life unsolved murder that involved the late, great Delon.

 

Spring has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere and the entertaining and insightful conversation is in full bloom on this week’s episode! The Daptone Records recording artists The Budos Band and that jewel of Los Angeles theaters, the Fonda Theatre, get celebrated in “Live Event of the Week”. Then, Dean and Phil reveal what television series they’ve been watching with extra special attention paid to the Alan Tudyk-starring “Resident Alien” and the Jeff Bridges-starring “The Old Man”. Things then turn to the big screen as Phil hails the greatness of the Detroit Film Theatre, Dean reviews Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Phil puts the entire Ghostbusters franchise and history under the microscope for analysis. Finally, a Japanese inventor who changed leisure activities the world over, and a groundbreaking filmmaker who launched an enduring cinematic franchise both get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

This week’s show begins with a mea culpa to those of you who actually listen to the show in podcast form. After that, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting follow up on last week’s “What We’re Reading” with amazing tales of the Knights of Malta and of the great artist Caravaggio’s time in Malta. Then the Hall & Oates “Lawsuit of the Week” gets revisited and clarified, before loyal listener Maurice Terenzio sets Dean straight on a lawsuit that involved puppetry giants Sid & Marty Krofft. In “Celebrity Deaths”, a groundbreaking pianist, a groundbreaking soap opera actress, a trailblazing television producer, an Oscar nominated French Actress, and a beloved American movie star all get remembered. And because awards season in Hollywood is now in full swing, two new television series get described and appraised.

This week’s show covers a lot of ground thematically AND geographically! The death of João Donato takes us to Brasil and the era of bossa nova. The death of Dianne Feinstein takes us back to San Francisco of 1978. The death of Jane Birkin inspires discussion of her daughters, fashion, Hercule Poirot, Dirk Bogarde, and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania! And the death of Sir Michael Gambon inspires Phil to get up on his soapbox railing against those who think of the great actor as “Dumbledore”! The charms of Savannah, Dean’s ongoing battle with Covid after-effects, the end of the Writer’s Strike, and murder mystery dinners are all on the menu as well!