Because of some crazy travel plans (London! New York! Tokyo!), the next three episodes of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour promise to be unusual even by our standards! This week’s topics include a forthcoming Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross”, the crazy, big screen experience Megalopolis, the lineage of Longlegs director Oz Perkins (and a bit about one of the film’s stars), and a “smart house” thriller from Canada, Red Rooms. The North American tour of (“the Modfather”) Paul Weller becomes “The Live Event of the Week”. The deaths of master stone carver Simon Verity, best-selling mystery novelist Nelson DeMille, beloved actor James Earl Jones, and the utterly peerless legend of the stage and screen Maggie Smith all get discussed. Art, architecture, mythology, philosophy, movies, television, music and more on this week’s show – in other words, something for everyone, right?

On this week’s episode, Dean and Phil answer the following questions: 1) Was Vincent Van Gogh a mathematics genius? 2) What does a Frisbee have to do with airline aviation? 3) Does Phil’s hatred of The Fall Guy know no bounds? Then, a review of the neo-noir pastiche Love Lies Bleeding leads into a brief discussion about distributor A24’s output. The recent Chillpak discussion of Joaquin Phoenix bailing on his planned collaboration with Todd Haynes, caused Phil to revisit Todd Haynes’ 2002 almost-masterpiece Far From Heaven, and the death of the legendary leading man Alain Delon led Phil to watch three of the actor’s greatest successes on the big screen this week. The result is not only a discussion of Le Cercle Rouge, Purple Noon and La Piscine (aka The Swimming Pool), but a full deep dive into “heist” pictures, film critics, and more.

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.

 

This week’s show boasts several great stories, both about your friends in podcasting and about show business notables. Phil shares a touching tale of being reunited with a very famous old friend. He also shares personal memories about the late acting and singing star James Darren, and the NBA great Alvin Attles. And although he died almost two months ago, Dean and Phil finally take the time to offer a heartfelt remembrance of beloved fitness guru Richard Simmons. An email from friend of the show Maurice Terenzio leads to re-visiting the discussion Dean and Phil had a couple weeks back about game show icon Peter Marshall, (the email is a GOOD one!). Another email from a fan who hosts his very own medical show leads to a very thoughtful and interesting conversation as Dean and Phil consider an invitation to appear on this man’s show and discuss Dean’s ongoing interest in the paranormal. Finally, Phil brings back the “vintage movie ad” game, and quizzes Dean about three cinematic releases from September of 1987!

It’s a Labor Day edition of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour and Dean and Phil regale with tales of the labor they had to put into Labor Day Weekend, and discuss the history of the day itself. Phil rants about the truncating of summer before he and Dean revisit the following topics from last week: Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s 11th hour bid to take over Paramount, the cinematic legacy of the great leading man Alain Delon, and the nonlinear nature of Strange Darling. Many classic and recent films get appraised, including the Ryan Reynolds-starring If and the 2014 indie neo-noir Man From Reno. On the small screen, the new season of “Only Murders in the Building”, the third season of “Slow Horses” and the rookie season of “Bad Monkey” all get discussed, as does the literary voice of author Carl Hiaasen. All that plus, Phil reveals some very interesting tidbits about his essays and podcasts at “The Voice of Los Feliz”.

When does an hour turn into 80 minutes? When it’s this week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Dean is back in Michigan and has travel horror stories. Dean and Phil tackle the latest bizarre turn in the ongoing saga of Paramount changing ownership. An “all icons” edition of “Celebrity Deaths” involves the fascinating story behind the creator of Famous Amos, the hilarious reason Peter Marshall became the long-running host of “Hollywood Squares”, and appreciations of an 80’s music hitmaker, a groundbreaking and format-creating talk show host, and one of the greatest, most important leading men in movie history. Speaking of movies, Dean reviews the new Strange Darling, Phil tries to understand the failure of the recent Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and Dean and Phil close with an appreciation of the great Michael Powell. Then, before the show ends, Marc Hershon joins the festivities to celebrate what just might be the best show on television.

This weekend, your friends in podcasting got together on the pool deck of a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” and boy did they have a lot to discuss! The status of downtown, Dean’s travels AND his official “wedding engagement” get covered. The Olympics closing ceremony and Tom Cruise’s role in it get revisited. The “Live Event of the Week” is “Duo it Again” a brilliant and psychedelic game of telephone that is the hottest party you can find on a Tuesday night in Los Angeles. There is movie news involving Joaquin Phoenix doing one of our greatest filmmakers and a maverick indie producer “dirty” and Phil and Dean both have more thoughts about Wolfs losing its wide theatrical release. Casablanca on 4K and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix both get reviewed. A whole lot of reference to the great documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself gets made throughout the show. Finally, a groundbreaking comedy radio producer-turned television writer and the peerless Gena Rowlands both get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.

After a brief cold open where Phil and Dean discuss Dean’s trip to Los Angeles this week, your friends in podcasting get into a spirited and frequently hilarious discussion about the Olympics. Then Phil has notes for the brilliant Jon Batiste about his hot mess of a live show. A legendary agent and a trailblazing actress get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean plays “armchair executive” in analyzing the news surrounding the forthcoming George Clooney-Brad Pitt vehicle Wolfs. Phil re-watched Barry Lyndon and he and Dean take a deep dive into that film and analyze the way the film has been so dramatically reappraised in recent years.

Dean is back from his birthday break and reveals just how he celebrated. Phil went to Montecito to prepare for a big show and has tales of a spectacular venue on the water. Have Dean and Phil been watching the Olympics? We find out. Last week, one special guest, Marc Hershon spoke about all that is excellent in television right now and Phil follows up on that by singing the praises of Season 3 of HBO’s “Hacks”. The other guest last week was archivist and global cinema expert Jeff Briggs, and Phil follows up on their discussion of the legendary “Queen of Swords”, Cheng Pei-Pei, by describing two films of hers that he really wants to see. Dean reveals the film HAS seen, the current horror thriller Longlegs, while revealing all his thoughts about the top ten films at the box office. Phil discusses the new documentary starring Martin Scorsese about the greatest filmmaking team of all time, while also singing the praises of one of that team’s most romantic works. The show Phil hosted this past week serves as the “Live Event of the Week” and Dean and Phil end the show by remembering a French movie star, a brilliant sketch comedy and sitcom performer, and a British blues legend in “Celebrity Deaths”. And if you want to check out Phil’s “other” podcast – “The Voice of Los Feliz” – we hope you will! It’s part of his new free Substack that you can find HERE!

Birthday boy Dean Haglund has the week off, so Phil Leirness welcomes Marc Hershon to discuss the recent Emmy Awards nominations and all that is excellent right now in what we used to call “television”. Marc is a screenwriter, author, improv professor, comedy impresario, columnist, editorial cartoonist, and corporate branding expert. He is also responsible for Dean and Phil seeing many of the shows they have discussed over the past several years. Phil also welcomes Jeff Briggs to discuss China’s first female action star, “The Queen of Swords”, Cheng Pei-Pei, who died recently at the age of 78. Jeff is a lifelong archivist, a former magazine writer, and an expert on Asian Cinema. He is also Phil’s former college roommate! All in all, this week’s show is a globetrotting 73-minute epic!