CHILLPAK HOLLYWOOD HOUR

On this week's installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, remembrance of Al Jarreau leads to a discussion of artistic integrity vs. commercial success, and a discussion of the television "bubble" leads to a discussion of what the proliferation of quality episodic entertainment means for movies. In between, Dean and Phil will discuss such films as Cemetery of Splendour, Inferno, Passengers and Split as well as forthcoming remakes and adaptations of such classics as Network, Out of Africa, Bullitt, Every Which Way But Loose, as well as the impressive new career arc Keanu Reeves is carving out for himself.

After an opening segment where Phil discusses John Wick: Chapter 2 with Chad Osuna of Fanboy Nation and "The Popcorn Podcast", Dean joins the fun for a free-wheeling discussion of silent films, autism, Canadian animation, what actors should expect from directors, the Oscar nominations, female-driven films and more!

After discussing the new political feud between longtime friends and allies Australia and the USA, a feud that Phil feared might just prevent this episode from ever being recorded, and after dedicating this week's show to the non-victims of the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre, your friends in podcasting get into a really weird conversation about Frederick Douglass, sanitariums, the weather in Sydney and the 44th annual ANNIE Awards for the best in animation. Then, Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves and tackle more "Celebrity Deaths" than they have ever done before in a single episode! Musicians Geoff Nicholls, Sonny Geraci, John Wetton, director Robert Ellis Miller, sound engineer Richard Portman, and actors Bjorn Granath, Georgi Taratorkin, Lars-Erik Berenett, Gorden Kaye, Desmond Herbert Carrington, Bob Holiday, Frank Pellegrino, Emmanuelle Riva, Barbara Hale, Mike Connors, Sir John Hurt and Mary Tyler Moore are all remembered and celebrated. This week on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.

Founded in 1925 by business leaders, entertainment figures and politicians, the Los Angeles Breakfast Club is the weekly gathering place for those seeking camaraderie and those who love the history and culture of Los Angeles. A tribute to the days of yesteryear when the LABC was a fixture on radio, "ON THE AIR" will be a monthly review and preview of happenings at "the Democracy of Ham 'N Eggs" hosted by podcast veteran Phil Leirness (co-host and co-producer of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour and a weekly USA cultural correspondent to the UK's "Midweek Drive" program on Siren FM and Southside Broadcasting). Your friends in podcasting are proud to present this pilot episode and hope you will enjoy it as much as they do ...

Listeners new to the show might be surprised to learn that there was a time when Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness might go weeks without needing to discuss "celebrity deaths." Clearly, those days are long gone. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), beyond a cursory tribute, your friends in podcasting will have to wait at least a week to celebrate the lives of Mary Tyler Moore, Mike Connors, Gorden Kaye and John Hurt (are we forgetting anybody? No? Don't worry, by next week, there will no doubt be more!). THIS WEEK, Dean and Phil will celebrate the best in movies for the year that was as they count down their Top Ten Best Films of 2016.

Most of this week's show is comprised of the 5th Top Ten show of this, Year Ten of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. In it, Dean and Phil count down their Top Ten WORST films of 2016. First, however, your friends in podcasting celebrate the life and work of one of Phil's all-time favorite character actors in "Celebrity Deaths" and answer an email from a listener like you (yes, YOU) about using CGI to create perfromances from actors who are no longer living (a la Peter Cushing in "Rogue One"). Brace yourselves for a master class in filmmaking and acting!

Your friends in podcasting celebrate the life of the woman who broke the news about the start of World War II and the life of a man who redefined literary and cinematic terror (and turned a certain staircase in Georgetown into a major tourist attraction). Then, after sharing some thoughts about a childhood friend who died this past week, Phil follows up on last week's show by sharing with Dean some thoughts about "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" and sharing a story about how George Michael (and Wham!) helped inspire one of the most famous songs by The Smiths. There will also be much discussion of television, from the return of "Sherlock" and the news surrounding "The Man in the High Castle" to the Producers Guild Award nominations and a forthcoming show set backstage at "The Tonight Show" in the 1970's. Finally, Phil gets on his soapbox as he and Dean address the controversy surrounding Meryl Streep's speech at the Golden Globes and the overwhelming accolades being bestowed upon La La Land. All that, plus a frank discussion about "perceived vegetative states" AND a ton of laughs on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

This week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour begins with a special audio montage. After two weeks of “theme” episodes, your friends in podcasting would love to discuss TV and Movie news and reviews, however the bulk of this week’s show is spent celebrating the lives of such luminaries as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Richard Adams, George S. Irving, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and George Michael. Then, with what time is left, Dean and Phil reveal how they spent their respective New Years.

Happy 2017, Everyone! Your friends in podcasting are prepared to get the New Year off to a great start with their traditional "New Year's Resolutions" show ... Every year, Dean and Phil provide episodes full of the insightful, the inspiring and the irreverent. Annually, one such episode you can count on for all of this is their traditional New Year’s Resolutions show. First, they hold their feet to the fire as they look back at the resolutions they made to start 2016 and then, they set their intentions for 2017. It’s bound to be a definite crowd-pleaser!

Let your friends in podcasting put a little Ho Ho Ho into your holidays (and honestly, we have no idea what this even means) with their fourth "Top Ten" show of this, year ten of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour ... This week, Dean and Phil count down their Top Ten (episodic) Television Shows of 2016, and this year their countdown comes replete with caveats! Who doesn't love a good caveat during the holiday season?

Following up on last week's milestone (and VERY bizarre) episode #500 (where Dean and Phil took a road trip to a cemetery) is no easy task, and this week's show proved to be torture in its production, so please forgive the (slight) delay in getting it to you and the (frequent) technical problems during it. This being 2016, there are, of course, new "Celebrity Deaths" to discuss. There is also an email from a listener like you (yes, YOU!). There is the return of "What We Are Reading", several "Live Events of the Week" and New Year's Eve plans get compared. Then, the subjects of year end critics' lists and award nominations get discussed and a handful of new and recent films get analyzed, including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Patriots Day, Lion, and Lights Out. Is it possible that the best film of the year is also one of the best TV shows of the year? Find out NOW on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour turns 500 episodes old this week and your friends in podcasting celebrate this august milestone with one of their most bizarre shows ever, and it's truly an episode where everyone is dying to get in ... You see, after meeting up at a certain historic building in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles to discuss such topics as a recent Guillermo del Toro exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Dean's art work AND Dean's long-awaited graphic novel, Dean and Phil go on a field trip to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, one of the most unusual cemeteries in all the world! Never mind their usual segment "Celebrity Deaths", in this episode your friends in podcasting celebrate death itself! Sound odd enough for you?

This week's show begins with Phil sharing a story about Sharon Jones (whose music is featured in our opening) before he offers a mea culpa about misinformation he relayed while discussing "La La Land" last week. Then, because a week seemingly can't go by in 2016 without a "celebrity death", Dean and Phil will remember a great character actress. They will then launch into the latest heartening and distressing news about the new CBS All Access/Netflix series "Star Trek: Discovery". As promised at the end of last week's show, your friends in podcasting will tackle the topic off diversity on the small screen before launching into extended analysis of the latest developments in the movie awards season. Finally, they will discuss the merits of such films as "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", "Fences", "Manchester by the Sea" and perhaps one or two more.

Dean Haglund is flying back to Australia right now, but before he left Los Angeles, he dropped by a certain historic building to visit Phil Leirness and to discuss the lives (and deaths) of Sharon Jones, Gwen Ifill, Florence Henderson, Ron Glass and Fidel Castro. Dean and Phil also compare notes on a great stand-up comedy performance they witnessed at The Los Angeles Breakfast Club. Speaking of stand-up, Dean performed stand-up at Big & Tall presents BARK, while Phil was attending a media preview of The Queen Mary's CHILL and all these events get described. A hilarious discussion of the new "4D" method of exhibiting films leads your friends in podcasting into a free-wheeling discussion of such movies as "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", "Jackie", "Hidden Figures", "Nocturnal Animals", "La La Land", and "Rules Don't Apply". We've received a lot of great feedback and messages from listeners of late, and one such message involves the topic of diversity on television, a question Dean and Phil tackle briefly before setting it on the agenda for next week's show ...

Dean is travelling, so he and Phil won't be able to celebrate the lives of a couple amazing women who died this past week until they get together in L.A. to record several shows this week. In the meantime, they pre-recorded this, their third "Top Ten" show of the ten they have planned to commemorate year ten of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. This week, in anticipation of La La Land opening, your friends in podcasting count down their Top Ten All-Time Favorite Movie Musicals! This episode has it all: Singing, dancing, comedy, romance AND the firestorm of a great debate as Dean and Phil get into a heated, and hilarious, argument over the merits of Baz Luhrman and his post-"Moulin Rouge" career. It's 80 minutes of podcasty goodness featuring some of the greatest talents to grace the silver screen!