Tag: Superman

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 38

Posted on by PHIL19

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 22

Posted on by PHIL19

In what might be our longest episode ever, but is certainly an epic installment in any event, your friends in podcasting delve into the potential new relevancy of late night television, the frightening potential merger of Paramount/CBS/Skydance with Warner Bros/Discovery, and the power of TikTok (and other social media platforms) in turning this year’s Superman into a box office hit. Four of the all-time great films (Carl Thodore Dreyer’s 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc, Luis Bunuel’s 1961 Viridiana, Jean Vigo’s 1934 L’Atalante, and Charles Laughton’s 1955 The Night of the Hunter) receive deep-dive analyses. With pal of the show Jon Lawlor adding support, the influence of Robert Redford’s training as a painter on his work as an actor and filmmaker gets discussed as does Burt Bacharach’s (terrible) music score for (the great) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 21

Posted on by PHIL19

Because Phil is on the road, tending to family matters, this week’s show was pre-recorded last week and much of the episode is dedicated to discussing two icons: The historic landmarked Mayan Theatre in downtown Los Angeles closed its doors for good on September 14, and the great leading man, filmmaker, and supporter of the arts and the environment, Robert Redford, left the stage on September 16. Dean and Phil do a deep dive into Redford’s career and accomplishments and put his 1974 starring vehicle The Great Gatsby under the microscope. This leads to a discussion of lead characters, often seen as heroes, who suffer the delusions caused by their own fantasies. Such characters include Holly Martins in The Third Man and Rick in Casablanca. The dangers of fantasy prove the perfect segue way to Phil’s thoughts upon finally having watched James Gunn’s Superman. Then to wrap up this jumbo installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, the devilishly haunting, and rather delightfully macabre 1964 suspense picture from Japan, Onibaba gets celebrated.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 19

Posted on by PHIL19

In another episode featuring now regular contributor Jon Lawlor (longtime purveyor of excellent Chillpak Hollywood Hour theme songs), Dean tells stories of his ongoing trip back to his hometown of Winnipeg and the workshopping of a theatrical play that was the reason for his trip. He also reveals details of what may, or may not, be a Winnipeg-themed art collection he will be (or might not be) showing at a forthcoming Hamilton, Ontario, art show! Jon and Phil compare notes on the live stage show (“Viva Los Feliz”) in which they both performed last week. Then, the focus turns to Spike Lee’s latest “joint”, a remake of an Akira Kurosawa classic itself based on a novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter). Particular attention is paid to the cinematography and the music. Finally, it’s time for more Superman discussion, as a longtime, brilliant listener takes Dean and Jon to task for what they “missed” in their scathing reviews of one of this year’s most beloved, and most talked about movies. Oh, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes quite a few strays in the process!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 17

Posted on by PHIL19

It’s the symbolic final weekend of summer 2025 and your friends in podcasting commemorate in style with almost 70 minutes of rich podcasty goodness! They discuss how one of Dean’s all-time least favorite films might become a television series. They discuss how a Todd Haynes period detective film they would have loved to see might just be back from the dead. They discuss how and why Weapons has captured the cultural conversation in a way few movies do any more. They discuss how and why Netflix had the #1 film at the box office, why Netflix didn’t want you to know that, and what it might portend for the future. They discuss the merits of the new Netflix mystery The Thursday Murder Club. They discuss the 1987 classic River’s Edge and the 1949 all-time masterpiece The Third Man. In the return of the “Live Event of the Week”, Pink Martini performs under the stars at the Greek Theatre. In “Celebrity Deaths”, an Oscar-winning composer, a Tejano legend, a chart-topping flugelhorn player, a co-founder of “Derek and the Dominos”, and the jazz singer dubbed “the lady with the million-dollar ears” all get remembered. Finally, Dean and Phil pay tribute to the great Terence Stamp. Happy Labor Day, USA! Happy Monday, everyone else.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 16

Posted on by PHIL19

This was not the show we expected to be bringing you this week, but all of a sudden, during their “side project” (“The Art Life” with friend of show Jon Lawlor), Dean started holding court about the current box office smash Superman. Suffice it to say, Dean had THOUGHTS! So, we bring you what ensued, a free-wheeling discussion not only of the James Gunn-directed blockbuster, but a discussion of DC comics’ history, of the character’s history, and of the lost art of behind-the-scenes documentary looks at the making of movies as promotional materials. Somehow, the conversation turns to Rob Zombie and his House of 1000 Corpses, to a “holy grail” of cinema for Phil that proved to be a guilty non-pleasure, Ashanti, and to Noah Hawley’s new Alien: Earth television series. All that, plus the Stallone film Dean walked out of, the horrible movie Nic Cage’s son starred in, why Iron Man turned out to be so good, the problem with reboots, and more!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 14

Posted on by PHIL19

This week, Dean and Phil go deeper into the life and career of the brilliant Tom Lehrer before opening the Chillpak morgue and remembering astronaut Jim Lovell, actor Alfie Wise, WKRP star Loni Anderson, wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan, heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, and beloved “Cosby Show” star Malcolm-Jamar Warner, in “Celebrity Deaths”. These discussions lead to several unexpected and fascinating topics. After that, Phil describes how the 1980s are alive and well in Montecito, California, sharing stories about Dennis Miller, Christopher Lloyd and Kenny Loggins in the process. Finally, two superhero films receive analysis: Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 19 Episode 2

Posted on by PHIL19

If you are interested in movies, movie making, or the movie business, you are going to find this week’s show fascinating. Dean and Phil do deep dives into the cinematic delights brought to us by the Marx Brothers, the Canadian films produced under that country’s 100-percent Capital Cost Allowance tax shield for investors, Jon Voight’s plan to save Hollywood and the wildly different reactions to that plan within the industry, the ways the smash hit Sinners might change the economics of the biz, and the just-commenced 78th Cannes Film Festival (including one apparent all-time masterpiece that made its debut as well as a “secret” documentary about the Red Hot Chili Peppers). As if that weren’t enough, your friends in podcasting go overtime to remember two impactful filmmakers, an Oscar-winning makeup artist, a beloved big screen “tough guy”, and a prolific child star of the 1930s and 40s.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Year 18 Episode 51

Posted on by PHIL19

Our last show before our 18th Anniversary is also our last show to be recorded via Skype! It’s also an action-packed 72 minutes that boasts the return of “Lawsuit of the Week”, where Dean and Phil get down and dirty discussing the Paramount merger with Skydance, the fate of CBS’ long-running “60 Minutes”, DEI initiatives, the FCC and Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Several films get discussed in depth, including Easter Parade, Diary of a Mad Housewife and Meshes of the Afternoon – each of which leads to discussions about husband-wife creative teams. In “Live Event(s) of the Week”, the delightful TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and the super-talented “Medicine Woman” Veronica Osorio both get celebrated. “Celebrity Deaths” this week is a lightning round quiz edition featuring remembrances of a game show host, a child star, a TV cowboy, a Canadian movie director, an Emmy Award-winning dramatic actress who starred in and co-created one of the most legendary dramas of all time, a Tony-winning composer and lyricist, a rock drummer, and a neo-expressionist painter. Finally, Dean discusses the Seth Rogen-starring Apple TV+ series “The Studio”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour – Season 3 Episode 46

Posted on by PHIL19

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS