Dean and Phil commiserate about power outages in Dean’s Michigan neighborhood and about snow in Los Angeles! More important than winter season weather, however, are which way the winds are blowing in Hollywood’s award season and they discuss the latest news and how it affects handicapping this year’s Best Picture Oscar race. Long before it was called “Best Picture”, the top Oscar was called “Best Production” and Phil analyzes one of its earliest recipients – Cimarron, one of the only westerns ever to win the top prize from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Another western also has Phil’s attention: Red Sun starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune and Alain Delon. Phil follows up on last week’s remembrance of Raquel Welch, by sharing thoughts on and stories about one of her earliest films, Lady in Cement starring Frank Sinatra. Finally, Phil saw a screening of the great Italian classic The Conformist and discussion of this leads to appreciations on the art of editing and some of its greatest practitioners, as well as an appreciation for the great production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti. Dean also saw a movie this week – the current (modest) box office hit 80 for Brady and Dean actually sings its praises! Dean also has two personal stories about the great stand-up comedian-turned-actor Richard Belzer (with whom he starred in and episode of “The X-Files” exploring the origin of the Lone Gunmen). Other notables remembered in “Celebrity Deaths” include a big screen star of the 60s and 70s, and a 6 time Emmy-nominated television actress of the 80’s and 90s.

Due to Phil’s teaching schedule, this week’s show was delayed by a half day. Once they made their trans-pacific, intercontinental connection, your friends in podcasting remembered a playwright, an actor from “The X-Files”, a beloved sitcom actor and a hip-hop star in “celebrity deaths”. They delved further into the topic of casting actors subsequent to a listener email they shared on last week’s show, which leads into a really deep analysis of diversity and cultural pendulum swings. Finally, they discussed such disparate movies as Clint Eastwood’s Sully, the recent drama about motherhood, Tully, the current inventive thriller Searching, as well as two legendary films, one about the concept of “celebrity” the other a romantic comedy about witches. YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Enjoy!

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!