It was a rough weekend for Dean Haglund, whose beloved Doberman, Leeloo, is undergoing emergency spinal surgery as we publish this show. It has also been a rough week for the media business where fear over job loss is concerned. In the UK, ITV has been taken over by Sky and several more television mergers, and downsizings, seem to be in the offing. In the U.S. Netflix is mulling a major expansion, and distribution company NEON has sold a major stake to production company Department M in hopes of massively “scaling up” operations. Dean and Phil have all this “business of show” news covered. Then, they go into detail analyzing Disclosure Day as a definitively “American” movie, and Guy Maddin’s Careful as a definitively “Canadian” one. Then, their ongoing discussion of film noir and neo-noir continues, with some key questions being asked and at least one truly awful neo-noir getting discussed in depth.

It was a big weekend, and your friends in podcasting have a lot of big topics to discuss, from the World Cup to the art of Caravaggio, from a masterpiece of German literature to the creation of synthetic life that demonstrates most of the hallmarks of actual life, from the ten films that best define America to a couple of the all-time greatest film noirs. Finally, Dean and Phil go long singing the praises of, and asking questions about, the independent film dominating the global box office, Obsession.

Year 16 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour gets underway with a truly mind-blowing episode! It begins with a celebration of Kane Tanaka, who was, at the time of her death, the world’s oldest-living human! Phil then corrects Dean on an urban legend involving John F. Kennedy and a jelly donut. The Zen artistry of Bill Murray leads to an appreciation of The Man Who Knew Too Little. The inappropriate workplace behavior of Bill Murray leads to a discussion of the firing of Fred Savage from the reboot of “The Wonder Years” and the resignation of director Justin Lin from the 10th “Fast and the Furious” movie over “creative differences”. Meanwhile, movies about multi-verses are EVERYWHERE, not just in comic book movies. Dean and Phil have thoughts, including an analysis of both Everything Everywhere All at Once and Memoria. This discussion also inspires Phil to share with Dean some “otherworldly” thoughts about Will Smith’s violent outburst at the Oscars. These thoughts involve both the curse of The Scottish Play AND the briefcase from Pulp Fiction. The bridging of different universes, different realms, will continue in the return of the “Live Event of the Week”, focusing on a great new play at the Boston Court Pasadena – BOTH AND (a play about laughing while black). There is also a brand new exhibit in the Getty Gallery of the L.A. Public Library’s Central Library called “Something in Common” that all Angelenos should check out. And finally, Dean and Phil answer an email from longtime friend and loyal listener Takako Nagumo about a sitcom on Netflix starring the president of the Ukraine. This will lead to an appreciation of wit as a leadership quality, and to an analysis of what ails Netflix, and where the streaming giant will go from here!