Chillpak Hollywood Hour

Charlie Sheen reports his car as stolen hours AFTER it’s been found demolished at the bottom of Mulholland Drive … Phil worries about the budget cuts to state parks and facilities in Arizona … Tucson is apparently in dire need of toilet paper … The autopsy results in the death of actress Brittany Murphy rule that death accidental … Dean Haglund gets threatened with deportation in Texas … Dean and Phil visit the Benini Sculpture Ranch … The Oscar Nominations are announced … Dean Haglund makes a guest appearance on Alex Jones’ syndicated radio and internet show … Dean receives antagonistic emails as soon as he finishes his appearance on the Alex Jones’ syndicated radio and internet show …

Has the whole world gone insane? No, it’s just business as usual on the latest installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #143: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (51)

It’s time for Dean and Phil to count down their Top Ten Films of 2009. We fear it’s a show that inspires more questions than it answers, however. For example … Why did Phil even bother making a Top Ten list when he has yet to see The White Ribbon, In the Loop, or Broken Embraces? Can Dean even count to ten (you’ll hear what we mean by this!)? Is Avatar really a “game-changer”? If so, is this a good thing? Nevertheless, a more entertaining hour of free internet conversation you are unlikely to find. Trust us. This top ten show has some huge unexpected laughs.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #142: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (226)

Phil just got back from Park City, Utah, and he reports on all the Sundance and Slamdance activities. He and Dean also finish recapping their long voyage to the Pacific Northwest, with some particularly spooky stories about the area in and surrounding Yakima, Washington. This week, they’re on the road to Texas, but before they depart, they’ll be conducting an interview with the legendary Eric Roberts. They talk about this and weigh in on a wide variety of topics including Conan O’Brien’s last Tonight Show, the Producers Guild of America Awards, the Golden Globes, Avatar and what they’re reading … They even discuss complaints they’ve received about the audio quality of recent shows while actually having audio problems! It’s all this week on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #141: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (210)

On Sunday, Dean and Phil drove all the way from Calgary, Alberta to Spokane, Washington. As soon as they crossed the border into the states, they recorded this podcast while driving through the natural splendor of Idaho’s panhandle Pile into the backseat of their rented RAV 4 and listen as your friends in podcasting discuss their on-going search for the truth in a world of conspiracy and their HELL GIGS documentary they shot with Roman Danylo in various parts of Alberta and supernatural British Columbia. Other topics include the war that has broken out in late night television, Jesse Ventura’s conspiracy show and the disaster in Haiti. Deprived of their usual podcast equipment, bringing this show to you again involved a great deal of work on Dean’s part, which is no problem at all as it is a labor of love. This is YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, after all!

 

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Your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, are in Canada shooting footage for TWO projects: THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE (a documentary about the world of conspiracy) and HELL GIGS (about a return to Dean’s roots as a comic). While in Vancouver, they got together with Dean’s good friends Bruce Harwood and Tom Braidwood to record this week’s show. For those listeners who were not fans of The X-Files, Dean, Bruce and Tom played (respectively) Richard “Ringo” Langly, John Fitzgerald Byers and Melvin Frohike. Collectively, those characters are known to millions of fans the world over as “The Lone Gunmen”, conspiracy theorists, computer hackers, government watchdogs and publishers of The Magic Bullet newsletter, who aided agents Mulder and Scully through nine years of investigations and who were featured in their very own spin-off series. Oh, and because Dean and Phil are traveling without their producer (Lyle Skosey, who is back home in L.A. getting plenty of rest and regaining his strength – Thanks to so many of you who asked and sent your best wishes), they weren’t able to bring all their usual podcast gear. As a result, Dean pulled an ALL-NIGHTER figuring out how to get this show online and available. Why did he do this? Because he cares And because it is YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, after all!

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #139: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (338)

Happy New Decade! Welcome to a very special episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Every year, Dean and Phil have boldly proclaimed their New Year’s Resolutions. This year, they discuss the importance of resolutions before launching into a recap and appraisal of how they fared in living up to their resolutions for 2009. Finally, they state their goals for 2010, as well as the intent with which they intend to embody these resolutions.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #138: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (232)

Ten years in the making, this episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour is the last show of the year, the last show of the decade! And appropriately, Dean and Phil use the occasion to count down their Top Films of the past ten years. The countdown began over on their MySpace Blog where you can read their #’s 20 through 11 selections. Did your favorite film make their list? Did your LEAST favorite film make their list? Perhaps, you’ll discover a gem you’ve never before heard of, OR remember a film that somehow slipped away before you had the chance to view it. Enjoy! And from all of us here at Chillpak Hollywood Hour, have a safe and sane holiday season!

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #137: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (279)

As loyal listeners know, Dean and Phil have been in production (for six months now!) on a feature film that spans the globe, seeking to document the search for the truth in a world of conspiracy. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE producer Lyle Skosey has been deeply immersed in researching various conspiracies. He is on board this week’s episode, dropping by to discuss his experience thus far, to ask questions of Dean, and to reveal shadowy details about his own mysterious past. Finally, Lyle and Dean share one of Dean’s all-time favorite conspiracy theories, involving NASA, the Nazis and Jesus, just in time for Christmas! Have a very, merry merry, everybody (and we do mean “merry”)!

 

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This week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour comes with the following warning to users: The phrase “free-balling it” gets used often, and always incorrectly, by Phil. And from that point on, everything from “stocking stuffers” to “short-handing it” to Dean’s reference to dwarfs, seems to carry dark euphemistic connotations. Forgive us, we’re drunk on the holiday spirit. And egg nog. Dean reveals some truly tantalizing tidbits about his role in the just wrapped science-fiction film ATLANTIS DOWN. Phil follows up on last week’s show with critic Luke Y. Thompson, to rail against a truly reprehensible review by a theater critic. Dean and Phil continue to examine the role of critics, the function and importance of criticism, and even mention some of the critics awards’ being handed out like candy. Finally, Phil shares a couple of inspirational stories about individuals he knows who are living proof that there is no expiration date on people’s dreams.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #135: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (408)

It’s an exciting time in the film business. The Award season is fast-approaching and critics are revealing their Top Ten Films of the year AND their Best of the Decade! So, Dean and Phil, who often talk about film critics and movie reviews, thought it was the perfect time to welcome an important critic onto the show. Luke Y. Thompson is an actor and a writer, a cultural observer, a contributor to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood, and a film critic for E! Online as well as film critic for such print sources as the L.A. Weekly. Some of the topics he discusses with your friends in podcasting are the purpose of film critics, the future of film criticism, the best (and worst) films of the decade, why the horror genre is so maligned/misunderstood, and what films that have come out this year really deserve your attention AND need your help. You can learn more about LYT (and read his writing) at www.lytrules.com, but first, enjoy an hour of truly spirited, irreverent conversation on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

 

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Phil Leirness is back from the east coast, and he brings with him a suitcase full of stories, ranging from the White House State Dinner crashers to Japanese “herbivores” to his own debut on the Broadway stage! Plus, he plugs the next production from Rational Exuberance and an interview he will be doing on Blog Talk Radio’s Good Karma Stories hosted by Ed Moy.

Dean Haglund is taking off for the east coast, for a starring role in a sci-fi horror adventure Atlantis Down. He previews that experience and discusses how his dance training has come in handy both as an actor and as a performer in action sequences.

Finally, ’tis the season for giving, so Dean and Phil leave you with a musical gift: A short snippet of the theme song from their forthcoming documentary The Truth Is Out There, written and performed by “The B-Film Extras.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #133: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (297)

A recurring theme on the show has been the way marketing departments have been strangling creativity in show business (in any business?). If the marketing department believes a particular story will sell, that story gets made into a movie. If the marketing department doesn’t like the demographics of a particular television show, that show gets canceled, regardless of how many total viewers it might have.

This week, Dean and Phil approach the discussion from a different perspective, revealing to you the all-time worst jobs of marketing films. Keep your pen and paper handy because your friends in podcasting might just hit you with some ideas for your Netflix queue … Films that either slipped under your radar because they were marketed so poorly, or films that were made to look like something you wouldn’t like because they were marketed so incorrectly.

We won’t promise it’s our best show, but Dean and Phil are certainly excited, believing it to be their most marketable episode yet of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #132: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (342)

From “light workers” transforming our DNA to the mystical wisdom of ancient Sufi Masters, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness have been leaving no stone unturned in their search for interesting, entertaining, amusing, thought-provoking and inspirational stories that they can bring onto YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. On this week’s show, “tone” seems to be the area of focus. From individuals telling the stories of their life and/or consciousness-altering experiences, to stand-up comedians trying to build up and release the audience’s tension, to television producers re-imagining classic series of yesteryear, to documentary filmmakers attempting to balance the reality of what is being kept from people with an optimistic appraisal of what can be done to improve our way of life, Dean and Phil find one very important recurring theme: The story you are telling isn’t nearly as important as how artfully you are telling it. And when it comes to inviting, intriguing, provoking, amusing or otherwise delighting an audience, TONE is the most ephemeral, delicate, and important weapon in a story-teller’s arsenal. It is also the most difficult aspect of a creative project to market!

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #131: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (314)

A new Chillpak Hollywood Hour with almost ten percent more hour! Dean reveals why his voice is an octave deeper than normal. Phil reveals he’s watched something from Robot Chicken on Adult Swim! The more things change, though, the more they stay the same … The way risk management is stifling creativity in show business, the latest on celebrity extraditions and the idiocy of Jay Leno are all discussed and dissected. So, too, does Dean talk about his experience shooting a guest-starring role on Bones. Then Dean and Phil weigh in on the latest discoveries and realizations they’ve uncovered during the process of making The Truth Is Out There (their feature documentary about searching for the truth in a world of conspiracy), before finally turning their attention to a marijuana-related question submitted by a listener. Dean and Phil answer these questions because it is YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, though they caution that each installment of the show is only to be used for medicinal purposes!

 

 Chillpak Hollywood Hour #130: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (347)

We have replaced the old audio mix of Chillpak Hollywood Hour #127 (Live in Berlin), with a new one that shifts the listener’s perspective from that of hearing what the show sounded like to Dean and Phil up on stage to hearing what it sounded like to be sitting in the audience. In addition, the audience questions and comments are now quite easy to hear.

If you’ve already listened to “Live in Berlin”, and enjoyed it, you might want to give this redux a try … And if you haven’t checked out episode #127 yet, what’s wrong with you?