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.122 – Wait, You Know Kung Fu Too? – A Review of The State of Martial Arts Films pt.2 – Tangential Giants Podcast

Kareem, Ken, Pat, and returning chaos agent JPG dive into the second half of their martial arts saga, tracing how the genre went from the clean, wide‑shot choreography of the 80s and 90s to the hyper‑edited, camera‑trick chaos that took over in the 2000s.They unpack how The Matrix rewired Hollywood’s brain, how 9‑11 reshaped action aesthetics, and how Jackie Chan’s beautifully reckless stunt work got replaced by gunkata, tactical reloads, and enough quick cuts to make a film editor sweat. Along the way, the crew debates whether modern action is evolution or just caffeine with a budget.If you enjoy martial arts history, pop culture detours, and a guest who refuses to stay on topic, this episode delivers.#tangentialgiants #martialartsmovies #actioncinema #Gunkata #jackiechan #thematrix #filmpodcast #popculturepodcast #moviediscussions