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, Targets and The Last Picture Show? More pressingly, can we be okay with a story that praises Birth of a Nation so much?

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! Listen to Alex & Julio as they celebrate another Bogdanovich/O’Neals team-up and stare at Burt Reynolds’ clean-shaven face!

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?

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 clearly inspired Mamma Mia! - and isn’t that the worst sin of all?

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 this Real Talk segment!

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 tale is trying to say, and as they try to reconcile how young Jeff Bridges and today’s Jeff Bridges sound pretty much the same.

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 is!

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 make sense of Switzerland’s attempt to play with the big boys! Wonder aloud if Casper Van Dien is enough to make a movie watchable! Get real sick of cheese humor!

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 our cynical hearts? Do we find its end-of-the-millennium mannerisms charming or insufferable? The answers lie in this Real Talk segment!

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 redemption and acceptance of your inevitable doom. Boat drinks, on the house!