This week’s show covers a lot of ground thematically AND geographically! The death of João Donato takes us to Brasil and the era of bossa nova. The death of Dianne Feinstein takes us back to San Francisco of 1978. The death of Jane Birkin inspires discussion of her daughters, fashion, Hercule Poirot, Dirk Bogarde, and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania! And the death of Sir Michael Gambon inspires Phil to get up on his soapbox railing against those who think of the great actor as “Dumbledore”! The charms of Savannah, Dean’s ongoing battle with Covid after-effects, the end of the Writer’s Strike, and murder mystery dinners are all on the menu as well!

A question about UFO Disclosure from a listener leads to a fascinating, hilarious and inspiring opening to this week’s show. Afterwards, Dean and Phil follow up on their (ongoing) discussion surrounding the Kirk Douglas-starring musical version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by appreciating the all-too overlooked actress Susan Hampshire and by revealing something Douglas’ co-star Donald Pleasance once revealed about the making of that film. After that, Dean and Phil follow up on last week’s discussion about the silent classic Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans by exploring the fascinating life story of that film’s star, Janet Gaynor. One new film and two Disney classics get appraised, and two Oscar-winning stars get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”!

Their cross-country holiday travels behind them, Dean is back in Michigan, Phil is back in Los Angeles, and they will regale you with stories of Hollywood parties, catch you up on awards season news, analyze the merits of two award hopefuls (the disastrous Babylon and the controversial The Whale) and one indie horror film franchise. They will also remember an award-winning cinematographer, an iconic journalist, a revolutionary fashion designer, and one of the most famous athletes of all time in “Celebrity Deaths”.

Is Dean Haglund embracing his madness with a new sleep schedule? And what is his favorite episode of “The X-Files”? These are but two of the questions asked and answered on this week’s show, which also features celebrations of the great comedian (and comedy writer) Paul Mooney and the great comic actor (and provocateur) Charles Grodin. Phil hates when old white guys (like himself) complain about “woke” culture so he gets out his soapbox to rant about it before shining a spotlight on the insidious global conspiracy to … convert people to Hinduism? Apparently in Alabama, elected officials think that’s a thing! After that journey down the rabbit hole, which includes discussion of yoga, meditation and desserts, Dean and Phil tackle three overlooked movies from 2020: Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, the documentary Dick Johnson is Dead, and the “weird western” from Brasil, Bacurau. Are movie theaters going to make a comeback? And if so, will projecting movies on FILM actually play a part in this comeback? Your friends in podcasting having thoughts about this!