Phil is going to be spending the week in Los Angeles, but first, while still in Turlock (get those “Lord Turlock” cocktails as the Chillpak Drinking Game is definitely ON!), he connects with Dean Haglund in Detroit to discuss militias, violence, terror, fascism, cats, Broadway, the deaths of Eddie Van Halen and Johnny Nash, the careers of Bea Arthur and Hal Linden, and the battle brewing between two actors unions! What other show tackles such a wide array of topics? Don’t answer. Just enjoy the fact that YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour DOES!

It’s all classic comedy, classic television and classic movies on this week’s show! The truly legendary Carl Reiner gets celebrated. Then, Dean and Phil compare the years in film 1982 and 1974 with 1962 to see which year they think was the best year ever for movies!

Wherever you are listening to this week’s show, we hope it finds you feeling healthy and safe. Your friends in podcasting briefly share their latest “lockdown” adventures, before sharing a tribute sent to them by a friend of the show about the SF Bay Area radio performer they discussed on last week’s episode. Then, Dean and Phil celebrate the lives and legacies of one of the biggest country music-pop music crossover artists of all time, of an an award-winning playwright, of an African soul icon, of a Swam Pop music legend, of a brilliant researcher, of a true showman on the basketball court, of a popular character actor of the 1980’s, of an influential horror director, and of one of the most prolific and influential drummers in rock. They discuss the joys of the Elton John musical biopic Rocketman, paying particular attention to the terrific performances by Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell and the inspiring friendship of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They discuss a new book that argues 1962 was the greatest year for movies. They discuss a great way for you in the USA to stream 15 classic movies and documentaries a month for free in the comfort of your own home. They begin to discuss the horrible battle between Goldie Hawn and Jonathan Demme over 1984’s Swing Shift, a movie that has been compared to The Magnificent Ambersons as lost cinematic classics, forever destroyed by those who didn’t know better. YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Covid-19 free since May of 2007!

In many ways, this week’s show is a sequel to last week’s episode #534, with the promised celebration of Jeanne Moreau’s life and career, an email from a listener about Tom Jones’ “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer” and more from the British Film Institute List of “the 50 films you should see by the age of 14”.

Unlike most sequels, however, this show is even more irreverent, insightful and informative than last week’s!

The festivities commence with a clip of Dean on Australian television telling a (bestiality?) joke, and then after a special opening (a tribute to Glen Campbell), Dean comes out guns blazing, ranting about the internet speeds of his adopted land. After Phil calms him down, they discuss the news of David Letterman’s new show, they urge people to save the Salem Cinema (a jewel of the Pacific Northwest), they talk about an interview they did with the late Jim Marrs and they continue their discussion about the “death of discernment”, this time focusing on an appalling memo crafted by a then member of the National Security Council.

 

From there, it’s onto “Celebrity Deaths”, where, in addition to the Femme Fatale of the French New Wave and Glen Campbell, your friends in podcasting remember a Tony-winning star of Broadway’s “The Music Man”, the star of an early television western series turned right-wing anti-government activist, and the man inside the Godzilla costume.

Finally, Dean and Phil discuss a 1982 Australian western, a 1954 western that influenced the likes of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, the original King Kong, and the Will Rogers comedy Life Begins at 40.

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!