A question from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) leads to a passionate and thoughtful discussion about what television and movies you should be watching while no new television and movies are being made due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Moreover, Dean and Phil will discuss the ways all of us can greatly improve the chances of an equitable outcome to the contractual impasses. In honor of the actors, four frequently overlooked films boasting excellent performances by major stars will get remembered. And two of the greatest films of all time will get analyzed. Plus, this week’s show includes more on Raging Bull, further insights into “wabi-sabi”, and the return of “The Live Event of the Week”.

We hope you enjoyed last week’s special episode celebrating the cinematic legacies of two of Hollywood’s greatest actor/producers – Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. This week is part 2 of that conversation, and covers the years 1960-1990. Some great movies, some horrible but (unintentionally) hilarious movies, and some fascinating stories of acting and filmmaking will get discussed.

Your friends in podcasting celebrate summer and the traditional “summer movie season” with a show full of great movie directors. First, Dean and Phil remember three groundbreaking directors in “Celebrity Deaths” – one of whom directed some of the best box office hits of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, one of whom was a key figure in underground cinema and one of whom directed one of the greatest American movies of all time! Such titans of international cinema as Francois Truffaut and Sweden’s Roy Andersson get their turns in the spotlight as well. Then, it turns out one of the greatest filmmakers of our era has purchased one of greatest movie theaters in the world. Dean and Phil discuss what this portends for the future of movie-going. Finally, one brand new movie release from Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh and one classic Australian film from Bruce Beresford get appraised, before a long-promised Aussie-themed edition of our Vintage Movie Ad game gets played!

After several weeks of special shows, your friends in podcasting are back to doing what they do best, providing irreverent, insightful and occasionally inspiring conversation on a wide array of entertainment topics … In “What We’re Reading”, Dean and Phil discuss Tintoretto and Hillbilly Elegy. In “Live Event of the Week” they discuss The Grammy Museum and a stirring concert featuring Bebe Rexha. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they pay tribute to five musical greats, a character actor, an Oscar-nominated writer, director and actor, the creator of “Ugly Betty”, a groundbreaking member of “Monty Python”, a TV star of the 50’s and 60’s, and an NYPD police detective. All that, plus they begin what will be an ongoing discussion about great monologues in movies delivered by women, AND they tackle the recent SAG Awards.

Your friends in podcasting have been teasing episode #568 for weeks! They had really been looking forward to counting down their all-time favorite Mystery films and the final results prove to be a lot of fun. So, get those Netflix queues handy, because Dean and Phil will hit you with more than two dozen movies they discuss at length with four films actually finding a place on both their Top Tens. There are comedy “whodunits” from the 1930’s, foreign language allegories from the 2000’s, independent films that launched careers, classics from international masters that launched entire sub-genres, mysteries based on books, mysteries based on plays, mysteries set in the farthest reaches of space, mysteries full of post-war romance and cold war anxiety. The biggest mystery of all is after almost eleven years, how do Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness keep managing to provide an hour (plus) of free audio entertainment each week?!

The great film theorist André Bazin described the genre of the movie western as “the American film par excellence.” Your friends in podcasting could not agree more! That’s why on this week’s show (their 2nd of 10 “Top Ten” shows commemorating this, the 10th year of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour), Dean and Phil count down their Top Ten All Time Westerns.

What films will make the list? What films won’t? Will Dean have difficulty numbering 10 to 1?

These questions and many more will be answered during the next 75 minutes. Enjoy!