This one’s for the fans. And for us, honestly. It’s been ten years since we sat down to record the first episode of The Contrarians, and the journey has been fun, rewarding, and well-worth celebrating. So allow us to be more than a little self-indulgent as we stroll down memory lane, go over some of the show’s milestones and listen to messages from…

In a Contrarians year dominated by Peter Bogdanovich and PJ Hogan, will their filmographies take over our annual awards ceremony? The only way for you to find out is to listen to The Embries 2024, as we celebrate the last twelve months of Contrarians awesomeness by giving away Embries, Hooeys, Ruffalos, Gads, and The Lancaster Dodd Grant! TIMELINE …

We dragged poor Paul from The Countdown, kicking and screaming, through a Contrarians Corner dedicated to one of his favorite movies. Now it's time for the all-out praise-fest to be unleashed... or is it? How do we truly feel about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and what do we make of that American flag waving us goodbye as the end credits get ready to roll?…

Oscars are like Pringles: you can't stop at just one. And that's why Steven Spielberg spent several years chasing the high of winning all those Academy Awards for Schindler's List - a journey that culminated in a Best Director Oscar for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The price? Sucking the fun out of the war movie genre forever. Listen to Alex & Julio - join…

Okay, level with us, Judge Dredd fans: is the hate mostly about the helmet? The Contrarians are barely familiar with the 2000 AD comics, so it's very likely this Real Talk segment won't reflect the feelings of the average Dredd fan. But surely we can find common ground? Surely we can agree that Stallone looks great? And can this movie be judged as …

Find us a more pitch-perfect casting than Sylvester Stallone's granite jaw as Judge Dredd. Find us a more delightful comic relief sidekick than pre-MAGA Rob Schneider. Find us a hotter cop/lawyer hybrid than Diane Lane. But the Tomatometer didn't care, and it stamped the 1995 JUDGE DREDD adaptation with a rotten 22% score. Listen to Alex & Julio as…

Michael Fassbender: videogame geek. Who would've thunk it? There is certainly passion and determination to be felt when watching ASSASSIN'S CREED, but is it in service of a movie worth watching? This Real Talk segment finds Alex, Julio, Nerdbomber, and Techtic trying to crack the code to a successful video game adaptation! TIMELINE 00:01:26 Murdere…

Oh, how the world changes. Back in 2016, the ASSASSIN'S CREED movie was ahead of the curve, taking its source material seriously before people were ready to give video game film adaptations the respect they deserve. Poor Michael Fassbender put in the work to set up an ambitious franchise, and the Tomatometer stamped an 18% score on it. Listen to Al…

Who said Tom Cruise has the monopoly on ridiculously over-the-top spy adventures? And what happens once you get past the Mission: Impossible comparisons when you are discussing PATHAAN? Neither Contrarian is familiar with the other movies in the YRF Spy Universe, but does that mean they can't fully enjoy Shah Rukh Khan's escapades? This and more in…

Once upon a time, Die Hard was the template for action movies. Die Hard On A Plane. Die Hard On A Train. But we are now in the era of Mission Impossible clones, so PATHAAN is the Hindi version of an Ethan Hunt adventure - a very popular one, at 82% on the Tomatometer. Is the Shah Rukh Khan vehicle worthy of all the praise? Listen to Alex & Julio as…

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 w…

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% Tom…

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 inf…

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 wor…

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 …

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 …

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 a…

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 …

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, getti…

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 Boy…

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 audien…

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 s…

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 a…

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 b…

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? Ou…

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 A…

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 bri…

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, ho…

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 Co…

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 ti…

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 unstoppabl…

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…

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 thi…

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 ou…

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. Li…

Apparently, at some point in the past few years, society decided it was okay to pick on lactose intolerant people. How else can you explain the unexpected success of MAD HEIDI, a Swiss schlockfest that spends its runtime making jokes about cheese and making fun of anyone who can’t drink a glass of whole milk? Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to m…

Not being a Quentin Tarantino movie isn’t a mortal sin, and there’s a wide range of quality when it comes to Tarantino wannabes anyway - not that we’re sure THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD is trying to be one. But if you remove the QT factor (or lack thereof), how does this Andy Garcia vehicle come across? Can 90s nostalgia work wonders in …

Pity any gangster movie that came out in the post-Pulp-Fiction 90s. THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD couldn’t escape the comparisons to beloved Tarantino fare, and critics decided that was enough to turn their backs on Andy Garcia and his band of chatty criminals. Listen to Alex & Julio as they go to bat for Scott Rosenberg’s tale of redempt…

Okay, Ari Aster. This is where we give you a fair shake. It’s been established throughout the run of this show that neither Alex nor Julio care for Hereditary or Midsommar. But this Real Talk segment forces The Contrarians to articulate their feelings beyond snarky jokes, and consider that maybe they haven’t been giving Mr. Aster and his fans enoug…

To hear critics tell it, Ari Aster reimagined the horror genre with HEREDITARY, his Tomatometer fresh debut. It doesn’t matter that the movie abandons its exploration of grief halfway through its runtime, and it doesn’t matter that the third act requires a character to drop a phonebook’s worth of exposition for it to make sense. Sometimes, people j…

While Alex dropped little bits of pro wrestling trivia during Contrarians Corner, he saved all the heavy stuff for the second half of the episode. Is it possible to enjoy a mainstream biopic when you are quite familiar with the subject being explored? Is it a blessing in disguise to be ignorant of Saraya’s real life journey while watching Fighting …

Leave it to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to take Saraya “Paige” Bevis’ story and make it all about himself. FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY celebrates how cool The Rock thinks he is while also trying to portray pro wrestling as the most wholesome sport in the world. The problem? We’ve already watched movies like The Wrestler and The Iron Claw, which pulled ba…

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise that Quentin Tarantino was forced to split KILL BILL in two, since it’s hard to imagine both volumes holding together as a single movie - and some would argue they barely hold together as a two-parter. Is that an actual concern when it comes to appreciating Volume 2? Alex, Julio, and Chas have different experienc…

It took us almost ten years to make it to 200 (numbered) episodes. It feels like it took The Bride almost as long to finally get to Bill. KILL BILL VOLUME 2 presents Tarantino fans with a conundrum: if you liked Volume 1, you’re out of luck because this one is nothing like it. And if you liked Tarantino’s more “traditional” work, this isn’t as good…

It’s quite a different experience, appreciating KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 as the most recent Quentin Tarantino outing, versus watching it as the fourth of nine movies in his filmography. Has time and an expanded context softened Alex’s stance when it comes to The Bride’s adventures? Has Julio been overrating the first Kill Bill for almost twenty years? H…

The fourth film from Quentin Tarantino was a left turn in a career that so far had given us verbose bank robbers, verbose gangsters, and verbose, um, flight attendants turned money launderers? QT zigged by giving us wall-to-wall soulless Uma Thurman action in a homage to the kung-fu movies he watched instead of going to film school. Critics loved i…

Well, this episode features two hardcore FRIDAY THE 13TH fans and someone who doesn’t even care for horror movies most of the time. Get ready for some contention now that we are in the Real Talk part of the show! How does each of us react to the idea that maybe the 2009 Jason Voorhees adventure was aimed at potential new fans, so old fans need to c…

Can you believe it’s been 15 years since the last FRIDAY THE 13TH theatrical release? Apparently, critics and audiences had issues with an installment of the franchise that actually took itself seriously. Listen to Alex & Julio, joined by Stew from the Stew World Order podcast, as they re-evaluate the battle between Sam Winchester and Jason Voorhee…

Hey, we are both Seinfeld appreciators. So that should be a starting point with DUNSTON CHECKS IN, right? How do we truly feel about Jason Alexander’s leading man capabilities, especially in the context of a kids movie? And what’s our tolerance level when it comes to Dunston himself? Can our love for the 90s help us connect to this movie or is this…

As we race toward our 200th episode, it’s time to get into some monkey business. Some 90s Monkey Business even. How many Jason Alexander starring vehicles can you name? How many of them feature an adorable ape as his co-star? Listen to Alex & Julio as they scoff at DUNSTON CHECKS IN’s appalling 17% Tomatometer score! Marvel at Faye Danaway’s career…