The Contrarians

PJ Hogan hasn't made a movie since 2012. That's more than ten years ago, guys - and maybe it's because people barely acknowledged the release of MENTAL. Did PJ's luck run out? Does Hollywood no longer have time for his particular brand of quirk? Whatever the case, how do The Contrarians actually feel about this last PJ Party? All this and more as we close down our Summer Event! TIMELINE 00:01:26 D...

The moderate success of Confessions of a Shopaholic gave PJ Hogan enough creative wiggle room to go bananas again on his next movie. MENTAL is a clear return to form from a filmmaker who has decided he doesn't care to be embraced by the mainstream. Sadly, critics and audiences were happy to oblige, and this final PJ Party sits with a rotten 44% Tomatometer score, despite reuniting him with Toni Co...

It's been quite a ride, this journey through almost every Bogdanofilm, and SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY - a star-studded critical and financial failure - feels like a fitting conclusion to it. As mentioned during Contrarians Corner, it's difficult not to read this as P-Bog very consciously making a farewell movie. But did we like it? And is our opinion influenced by the other movies of his we've watched o...

We have reached the end of the road with Peter Bogdanovich. Our final Bogdanofilm is P-Bog's actual final film - and he probably didn't make any more because he got tired of the tepid critical reception to his best work. Listen to Alex & Julio defend the delightful SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY and bemoan the fact that we didn't get to see the filmmaker work with this generation of actors again. TIMELI...

Critics may not have cared for PJ Hogan's fifth movie, but it made enough money to be considered another commercial success under his belt - and all he had to do was sell his soul? Listen to Alex & Julio debate if Hogan's uncompromising style may have been lost in whatever compromises he made while helming CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC. Plus: did we miss out on more Isla Fisher leading roles due...

If the world was a fair place, the Shopaholic Cinematic Universe would be at least six movies deep by now - all helmed by PJ Hogan and starring Isla Fisher. As it is, however, we must be satisfied with Hogan's single adaptation of CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, which was a decent box office hit but was buried by critics. Listen to Alex & Julio argue against Shopaholic's 27% Tomatometer score dur...

Welcome to the aughts, P-Bog! Shame about that box office. But seriously, it’s impressive (and a similarity he shares with PJ Hogan) that people kept financing Peter Bogdanovich’s films despite so many of them being flops. But did THE CAT’S MEOW deserve its financial failure or was it worthy of its critical praise? This Real Talk segment tries to answer that question, as well as delving into the m...

Peter Bogdanovich stayed true to form as he entered the new millennium: by making a movie about stuff that happened almost a hundred years prior. THE CAT’S MEOW was a moderate hit with critics - so-called movie buffs who were happy P-Bog was just performing the same old tricks from earlier in his career. It takes more than a cast of fresh faces to wow The Contrarians, however! Listen to Alex &...

Maybe Peter Pan adaptations are not meant to be box office hits. Don’t think so? Listen to us go through an unsettling overview of Neverland disappointments as we circle PJ Hogan’s critically celebrated but financially underwhelming PETER PAN. But reviews and dollars aside, how do we feel about this fourth PJ Party? Is it a rebound for Hogan, getting him back on both our good graces after his divi...

Sometimes you can’t help but fail upwards. After the disastrous reception to Unconditional Love, PJ Hogan was somehow handed the keys to one of the most recognizable IPs in the world, and he was able to put his own quirky spin on the PETER PAN mythos. Critics gave it a fresh Tomatometer score, so that means The Contrarians need to give The Lost Boys a bit of a reality check. Listen to Alex & J...

Regardless of whether anyone considers NOISES OFF a good or bad Peter Bogdanovich movie, it’s ludicrous that it’s not spoken about more often - and don’t even get us started on the meager Rotten Tomatoes coverage. But then again, a movie adaptation about a play that is in itself about the staging of a play could be a little too meta for some audiences/critics. Still… Don’t we all love Michael Cain...

Welcome to The 90s, P-Bog style! After a tumultuous intermittent run during the previous decade, Peter Bogdanovich assembled another all-star cast and tried to make audiences laugh again with a film adaptation of the successful play NOISES OFF. If Rotten Tomatoes is to be believed, critics shrugged it off, if they even bothered to check it out. A shame, because this comedy has it all: Michael Cain...

The release and reception of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE was akin to diving off a cliff after impressively free-soloing said cliff. The movie has its passionate defenders, so could it be that its failure was simply a reflection of a studio’s botched handling of an unusual comedy? Or did PJ Hogan whiff after giving the world two home runs back to back? And are The Contrarians divided on their appreciation o...

It’s like PJ Hogan took all the complaints about him not being able to do anything but wedding-centric movies and set off to make his third film the most offbeat midlife crisis comedy of them all. As you would expect, change-averse critics and audiences turned their backs on this bold new direction in the filmmaker’s career and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE bombed as hard as My Best Friend’s Wedding succeede...

Our boy P-Bog took a hell of a tumble with this one. But you know what, you could say the same about Nickelodeon, and we disagreed with the Tomatometer on that one. So, is ILLEGALLY YOURS another instance of a good movie not getting a fair shake from critics and audiences? Can “Peter Bogdanovich does an 80s comedy” really be that bad of an idea? Our final verdict (and more!) is in this Real Talk s...

Rob Lowe and Peter Bogdanovich: The 80s team-up the world clearly was not ready for. Perhaps the most misunderstood movie in the acclaimed director’s filmography, ILLEGALLY YOURS barely has enough reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to even be acknowledged as rotten - a clear sign that more people need to watch this adorable jury duty adventure. Listen to Alex & Julio as they have a great time untangli...

Okay, let’s get serious about this. Whether you think it’s a little weird for PJ Hogan to follow his wedding-themed debut with another wedding movie, there’s a lot to chew on when it comes to MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING. How do we feel about the film’s moral stance? Does it embrace rom-com tropes more than it subverts them? Did Rupert Everett burn bright and fast while Dermot Mulroney played the long...

Wait a minute, didn’t we JUST do this? A wedding movie from Aussie director PJ Hogan? Perhaps the most shameless example of a filmmaker selling out as quickly as they could, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING was a massive box office and critical success, so in a way you can’t blame Hogan for going Hollywood. You can nitpick his sophomore effort to death, however, and that’s exactly what this episode is abo...

The fresher they are, the harder they rot… or something along those lines. Peter Bogdanovich’s amazing initial run of movies eventually had to hit a rough patch, and NICKELODEON is infamously known as the project that derailed his career almost for good. Were critics and audiences too tough on P-Bog’s love letter to silent filmmaking? How do The Contrarians feel this measures against Paper Moon, T...

Legend says the great Peter Bogdanovich once asked “Who would dare live in a pineapple under the sea?”. Unfortunately, studios were not interested in exploring the answer to that question just yet, so instead P-Bog made a comedy about the early days of filmmaking. NICKELODEON was a huge bomb and it’s branded with a 17% Tomatometer score, so it’s time for The Contrarians to come to its rescue! List...

Do you like ABBA? That could determine how you ultimately feel about MURIEL’S WEDDING. But there’s more to PJ Hogan’s feature film debut than its memorable soundtrack, and The Contrarians will get into it in this Real Talk segment. Does the comedy balance out the tragedy? Is the film too unfair toward some of its characters? And does the unstoppable talent of Toni Collette redeem it all? TIMELINE...

Welcome to our first PJ Party of the Summer: a wedding party! Aussie filmmaker PJ Hogan jumpstarted Toni Collette’s career (and his own) with a cringy, depressing so-called comedy full of despicable characters and ABBA songs. Should we ignore MURIEL’S WEDDINGS many failings just because it gave us one of the best actresses of our generation? Listen to Alex & Julio pick apart a movie that clear...

Friends, you better be ready for a major influx of Bogdaknowledge through your summer. THE LAST PICTURE SHOW was the obvious starting point for this journey, but did it wow The Contrarians as much as it seems to have done with pretty much the entire world? Can we relate to the struggles of the citizens of Anarene? Can we share the nostalgia for this bygone era of Americana? It’s all discussed in t...

Our summer event begins! “Bogdanofilms & PJ Parties” opens with a bang: a Peter Bogdanovich coming-of-age flick so revered, it could be argued the filmmaker was never able to top it - and it was right at the beginning of his career. But is the Tomatometer too easily impressed by THE LAST PICTURE SHOW? Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to figure out what this meandering black & white t...

MAD HEIDI is a crowdfunded indie production, so of course we are bound to support it on at least some level. But the question is, does it work for us as a movie? Or are we just more enamored with the idea of such a wacky film coming about from a grassroots effort? We’ll say this: one Contrarian is more in sync with Swissplotation than the other. Listen to this Real Talk segment to find out who it...