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 during The Contrarians' fifth PJ Party!

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 murkiness of accusing an actual real person of murder in your movie.

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 & Julio as they wonder if it’s a fool’s errand for anyone to play Charlie Chaplin, and if Kirsten Dunst is the only one who attended Charleston camp.

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 divisive previous movie? And what’s the deal with those people freaking out about the movie’s “adult” themes?

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 & Julio as they struggle to make sense of the absence of actual musical numbers in PJ’s Neverland!

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 Caine? Even though this Real Talk segment features dissent among The Contrarians, we can at least agree on that part!

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 Caine, Carol Burnett, Superman, John Ritter, sardines… Listen to Alex & Julio praise this play-within-a-play-within a movie and join our standing ovation!

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 of Kathy Bates’ adventures now that we are in the Real Talk part of the conversation?

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 succeeded. Listen to Alex & Julio try to shine a light on what’s very much a hidden gem of a PJ Party!

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 segment!