Because Phil is traveling, he and Dean pre-recorded this week’s show on Sunday morning BEFORE the Oscars, so there will be scant little Academy Awards conversation on the episode. Instead, Dean and Phil re-visit some of the more troubling aspects of the legacy of “The X-Files” and examine two other television series: The acclaimed “The Bear” and the divisive season 4 of “Star Trek: Discovery” (including friend of show Luke Y. Thompson’s hilarious review of season 4). Last week’s “Live Event of the Week” gets re-visited thanks to an email from the subject of that segment! We will learn more about the great dancer and teacher Fujima Kansuma and Dean and Phil will ponder the possibility of someday taking a “deep dive” into the art of Kabuki on the show! Two fascinating films get discussed: Wim Wenders’ 1993 Wings of Desire sequel, Faraway, So Close! and the 7th greatest film of all time according to the Sight and Sound Poll, Claire Denis’ 1999 masterpiece Beau Travail (which is having a 25th anniversary re-release). “Celebrity Deaths” includes a bit of a quiz for Dean about a legendary Japanese artist and Canada’s First Lady of Jazz, before a great Italian filmmaker, an influential and controversial British playwright, and a beloved “entertainer” all get their turn in the spotlight.

Last week, Dean and Phil said hello to 2024 and said goodbye to “Season 3” by welcoming a special guest and discussing their creative intentions for the year. This weekend, Dean and Phil got together in the nation’s capital to get “Season 4” underway by swapping stories about art galleries, historic battlefields, historic D.C. clubs, the James Webb Space Telescope, New Jersey restaurants, Wim Wenders and his 3D documentary about the artist Anselm Kiefer, and a whole lot more. A whole lot of laughs ensue!

Years back, Dean & Phil used to start each year with a show where they revealed their New Year’s Resolutions. They stopped doing this because their perceived failures to fulfill their resolutions started to become depressing! Flash forward to present day and your friends in podcasting and broadcasting participate in a “side project” called The Art Life with good pal (and creator of many Chillpak Hollywood Hour theme songs) Jon Lawlor. Each week they hold each other’s feet to the fire as they try to free up their creativity, make it manifest in the world AND encourage each other to live more artful, authentic lives. This weekend, they discussed their intentions for 2024 and how they intend to set their compasses to their true North(s). We thought it might prove interesting, funny and maybe even inspiring, so we are sharing that conversation with you. Happy New Year, one and all!

This week’s show begins with a round of Dean and Phil’s vintage movie ad game before becoming a preview of April events to which Dean and Phil are looking forward. From there, the show seques into a discussion of the latest news surrounding the Rust on-set shooting trial as well as the latest news involving the ever-expanding on-screen universes of John Wick and Blade Runner, during which Phil questions whether the USA can ever rid itself of gun violence when we so profoundly enjoy fictional depictions of such violence. Two cinematic classics by the great French director René Clément get discussed (one a 1960 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley and the other a 1970 Lewis Carroll and Alfred Hitchcock-inspired film that turned Charles Bronson into the biggest global box office draw), and a circus film from Carol Reed gets celebrated, along with the body of work by its star, Burt Lancaster. In “Celebrity Deaths”, the original Wednesday Addams, the co-creator of “Sesame Street”, and the star of “James at 15” and “Salem’s Lot” all get remembered. Finally, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting commemorate the 12th anniversary of THE “comedy soundcast soundcast” Succotash!

Because Phil had to travel to Turlock, that means two things for this week’s show: 1) It features a cameo by Dean’s “Lord Turlock” character, and 2) The show was pre-recorded. And it’s a good one, wherein Dean and Phil drill down into the improv form known as “deconstruction” in “Live Event of the Week” and while posing the question “Why can’t we have nice things?” the bombing and destruction of the Georgia Guidestones gets discussed. In a “What We’re Reading” all about the FBI, the influence of “The X-Files” and misogyny, Dean provides a full book report on a terrific work in anticipation of its author being a guest on a future episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Instead of “Celebrity Deaths”, your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) celebrate the 100th birthday of Hollywood’s greatest icon, which leads to favorite stories about Kenny Rogers and Steve Martin. Finally, the Emmy Award nominations get unpacked, with Phil wagging a finger at the omissions of “Reservation Dogs” and Selena Gomez, and particular attention gets paid to “Abbott Elementary” and to the horse race for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

We hope this finds you having enjoyed a happy and healthy New Year. Twelfth Night is a festival that takes place on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany. Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (or “What You Will”), is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night’s entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. On this week’s brand new Season 2 Episode 109 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Dean and Phil celebrate both the holiday season AND the immortal Bard of Stratford on Avon by counting down each of their 12 all-time favorite cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare! Brevity might be the soul of wit, but your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) have an hour to fill!

Much of what we think we see in a movie is based on what we hear. To this day, much of what we expect of how a movie will sound is because of the indelible impacts made by such legendary composers as Max Steiner and Bernard Hermann. Steven Smith is a prolific documentary filmmaker, an historian, a lecturer and the author of books detailing the lives and careers of these two giants of motion picture music. Steven is also a good friend Phil Leirness AND he is the guest on this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

For many years, your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, would reveal their resolutions for the coming year and hold each other’s feet to the fire as they looked back to see how they had fared on the previous year’s resolutions. They are a bit too old, and wise, and honestly, have had too much milk punch to engage in an exercise in depressing humiliation. Instead, on this week’s show, they set their intentions for 2020 by comparing notes on what they are looking forward to in this brand new year. Adventures in travel, comedy, movies, art, health and self-exploration beckon …

Dean Haglund is down under, enjoying his new home in Sydney, Australia. And if this show is to be believed, Phil Leirness is on his way to visit Dean via “swim” (is that a new mobile app?). So, talented, funny, and razor sharp ladies Karen Forman and Lily Holleman step in to help your friends in podcasting change the way they “change the way you listen to the internet”!

There is the familiar – Live Events of the Week, movie reviews, the Bechdel test, appeals for racial and age diversity in mainstream media, and an appeal for more opportunity for women both in front of and behind the camera. Bottom line: “Shame on you, Hollywood!”

Karen and Lily also celebrate the Tony Awards, Lifetime Movies, and “Game of Thrones”.

All in all, it’s an “outward display of inner self-love” and it just might save Christmas!

One day late, but well worth the wait.

Am I right, ladies?

 

Dean Haglund is back from Australia where he was busy laying the groundwork for his full-time move down under in May. While he was there, he Skyped with Phil Leirness because, well, your friends in podcasting miss each other when they are apart AND because there was the big news about the return of “The X-Files” to discuss. Part of this week’s show will be that (recorded) conversation, wherein they also discuss Gillian Anderson’s “other” current series, the absolutely terrific “The Fall”.

Back in L.A. there’s plenty of TV news to discuss, including Emmy Awards rulings, a new host for “The Daily Show”, the return of “Coach”, the possible return of “Twin Peaks” and the “Sherlock” Christmas special. Before his trip, Dean performed and gave a fantastic presentation about Chaplin and City Lights at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club. This will get discussed as the “Live Event of the Week” before Dean and Phil launch into movie news featuring the latest on Eddie Murphy, Idris Elba, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bradley Cooper. All that, plus two puzzling emails from listeners.

This week on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Wherever good podcasts can be found!