Phil is playing hurt with a nasty head cold. Dean is braving the sub-zero temperatures. And somehow, they manage to bring you one of the most epic installments yet of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! They start the show by discussing some of the upcoming 2026 cinematic releases that the Criterion Collection has on their list of the films they are most anticipating. Then, they analyze the Academy Award nominations, the surprises, the snubs, and the historic trends they see unfolding. From the best in cinema 2025 to the worst in cinema, an email from a loyal listener inspires Dean and Phil to discuss the Razzie Awards. Finally, your friends in podcasting wrap things up by revealing each of their lists of the five films that angered them, frustrated them, or downright confused them in 2025.

Big changes are coming, with much more content each week. This week, Dean and Phil hint more at what these changes might bring, while whetting the appetite thru discussions of art, culture, television, movies and acting. The festivities begin with Dean revealing which of the cities he has lived in most inspired his painting. The return of Vince Gilligan to the small screen gets discussed, the hilarious new sitcom “Stumble” gets reviewed, and the cancellation of Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face” AND his plans to revive it get analyzed. In “Celebrity Deaths”, the maverick independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom gets remembered and his ongoing legacy and influence are pondered. Then a whole raft of new Netflix films get mentioned before Dean doffs his cap at Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix version of Frankenstein, and Phil wags his finger at the preposterous The Woman in Cabin 10. Finally, The Fantastic Four: First Steps gets revisited before the state of acting in the 1970s gets hailed as, perhaps, the all-time peak of screen acting.

Now that Dean once again lives in the USA, he and Phil will be recording YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour on Monday mornings! This week, they compare notes on the Steve Martin-Martin Short touring stage show, and share thoughts about the recent spate of re-booted television series of yesteryear and those reboots recently announced. The lives of a “swamp rock” legend, a WW II “Monuments Man”, the inventor of green bean casserole, the greatest trumpeter of his generation, and Phil’s all-time favorite baseball player will be remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, grab the popcorn because your friends in podcasting have a bunch of disparate cinematic offerings to discuss, from horror classics like Nosferatu and The Wolf Man to such contemporary releases as Bohemian RhapsodyBoy ErasedA Private War, and Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind.

The world really took it on the chin this week with abominable violence in Brussels and the deaths of a groundbreaking rapper, a gentleman actor-turned-union leader, and one of the most influential figures in the history of comedy. Your friends in podcasting will try to make sense of all of it, while celebrating new voices in comedy, a great new sci-fi film, and challenging their own industry to send bolder, more clear messages that discrimination anywhere will not be supported.

Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness – When the world is at its worst, they tend to be at their best.