Phil is back from Fort Worth, Texas, and has a Logan’s Run location story to share with Dean. Phil also regales Dean with the story behind a delicious cocktail at the Grand Hotel in Oslo (named in “honor” of pop icon Madonna). Dean and Phil try to make sense of Jon Voight’s plans to “save” Hollywood and how the President seized on those plans while probably misunderstanding them completely and/or intentionally. Meanwhile, “Sinners” might end up affecting real change in the film business and your friends in podcasting will discuss how. One of the all-time great actors, William Holden, and one of the all-time great actresses, Barbara Stanwyck, get discussed through the prism of two films: Executive Suite and Stella Dallas, and THE all-time greatest film (according to the 2022 Sight and Sound poll) also gets analyzed. This film is celebrating its 50th anniversary and so the conversation turns to other films of the era, including, perhaps, the greatest of all Francis Coppola films (and no, we’re not talking about The Godfather Part II).

What do the movies The Brutalist, The Substance, Red Rooms and Anora have in common? They all made BOTH Dean AND Phil’s lists of the Top Ten Films of 2024! The Critics have all had their say, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have announced their nominations for the Best in Cinema 2024, and on this week’s show, your friends in podcasting finally have their say. Learn what other films made their lists as they count down their Top Ten from the cinematic year just past!

Next Monday, your friends in broadcasting and podcasting will return with a brand new “live” show that will catch you up on all the news of the season. This week, it’s part two of the road trip adventure Dean and Phil recorded on Friday December 9 when they drove from downtown Los Angeles to Montecito and back. The Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made, the #16 film on that poll, surrealism, dream logic, and the works of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali are the topics that open the proceedings. Then, after a shift to the (very loud) Summerland Beach Café, Phil tackles two films making a lot of Top Ten Lists this year: the donkey adventure tale EO and the latest from auteur Robert Eggers, The Northman. Please bare with the difficult audio, for soon Dean and Phil will be back in the car, riding alongside the sparkling blue Pacific and discussing the Netflix series “1899”, the improv collaborations of Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams, and whole lot of casting “what-ifs”. There is also analysis of a law-change benefiting sexual assault survivors, and a fascinating “trash talk” interaction in the National Basketball Association. Hop in and buckle up!

A day late, but now available on Stitcher (you can get the Stitcher app and rate and review the show!), your friends in podcasting are back at it, battling back the forces of darkness with their lethal wits and their irreverent bon mots!

Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness discuss the snubs in the recent Oscars’ “In Memorium” tribute, Dean’s upcoming live comedy shows, MesoAmerican art, Chris Carter’s new show, their ongoing search for the TRUTH and much, much more …