The guys (Kareem, Ken, and Pat) take an unconventional review at Hollywood and modern cinema. Tangents include the state of Margot Robbie’s career, Stephen Amell being an a**hole, the start of ‘Dream Crusher’s corner’, and more.

Show Notes

Will ‘Barbie’ end Margot Robbie’s streak of flops?

Johnny Oleksinski

Published May 4, 2023, 4:05 p.m. ET

Cue the Flop Parade. Her 2018 “Terminal,” a thriller starring Simon Pegg and Mike Myers, grossed an impossibly low $843,970. The true-life film “Bombshell” that she co-starred in with Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron in 2019 got mixed reviews and grossed only $62 million of a $32 million budget before marketing costs. And her 2018 go at playing Queen Elizabeth I, “Mary Queen of Scots,” made no waves either.

She also slumped in her more recent DC Comics as Harley Quinn.

“Birds of Prey,” which was released in February 2019, lost $50 to 100 million according to Variety. The female-led movie with a largely female cast might’ve been a turn-off for superhero-loving audiences (though that didn’t hurt DC’s “Wonder Woman”). Also, the film was just really odd.

“The Suicide Squad” fared even worse, taking in a measly $168.5 million after its Aug. 2021 release. Although brick-and-mortar theaters were having difficulty re-opening then, Disney’s “Free Guy” did double that business the very same month. Same goes for Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in September.

"Birds of Prey," the DC Comics movie in which Robbie was the lead, was a box office bomb. — “Birds of Prey,” the DC Comics movie in which Robbie was the lead, was a box office bomb.

But it was 2022 that was a real shocker. Robbie starred in two “disasters,” as one Hollywood source told The Post, that were primed to be major Oscars players and — due to star wattage — expected to do respectable business.

The first was “Amsterdam,” director David O. Russell’s unwieldy history piece about a little-known attempted coup against the US government. The October drama starred Christian Bale, Chris Rock, Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, John David Washington and a slew of other heavy hitters. But it was atrocious, grossed a paltry $32 million — losing an estimated $100 million for 20th Century Studios — and went totally un-nominated during award season.

A few months later came an even-surer thing — “Babylon.” Robbie’s co-star was Brad Pitt, one of the few remaining A-list actors who can still, occasionally, lure audiences to theaters on his fame alone. The director was Damien Chazelle, whose “La La Land” was a critical favorite ln 2016. And it was a lush, but seedy, backlot showbiz story (like Robbie’s one oasis of success, 2019’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”). It crashed and burned, losing an estimated $150 million.

The actress had two prestige "disasters" in 2022: "Amsterdam" and "Babylon," seen above. — The actress had two prestige “disasters” in 2022: “Amsterdam” and “Babylon,” seen above.

Can “Barbie” prevent Robbie from earning that dreaded old industry moniker “box office poison”?

EP.119 – Don't Trust Billionaires – A Review of James Gunn's Superman pt.3 – Tangential Giants Podcast

The Tangential Giants return for their third strike at reviewing the three-quarter mark of James Gunn’s Superman, and somehow, the chaos only gets more refined with age. Kareem, Ken, Pat, and guest Tim settle in to talk about the movie, but as always, tangents emerge like uninvited cousins who still somehow run the show.This time, the crew dives into how the fictional citizens of Metropolis and the very real citizens of the United States share a troubling weakness for any rich guy with a shiny suit and a PR team. From there, they spiral into a celebration of Guy Gardner’s comedic menace as Green Lantern, because apparently the universe needed a man who is equal parts hero and walking HR violation.Naturally, the group also questions the logistics of a pocket universe prison. Is it science, magic, or just James Gunn saying, " Trust me and hoping no one asks follow-up questions? The Giants ask them anyway. And that is only scratching the surface of the detours they take while trying to talk about Superman’s journey.If you enjoy passionate nonsense, comic book philosophy, and four grown adults trying to make sense of a movie that refuses to stay on the rails, this episode is your comfort food. Settle in and enjoy another round of heroic chaos.#tangentialgiants #superman #jamesgunn #dcu #dcuniverse #supermanmovie #dccomics #comicbookmovies #nerdpodcast #superherotalk #moviebreakdown #GuyGardner #greenlantern #metropolis #PocketUniverse #popculturepodcast #dcfans #supermananalysis #moviediscussions