Not sure “Bruce Dern one-man show” was on our checklist for this Contrarians Year but that was the hand we were dealt on this episode. And yes, the drones are cute, but can we really sync with what SILENT RUNNING is trying to do, with its slow pace, and in-your-face ecological activism? Find out in this Real Talk segment!

It’s tough out there for old sci-fi movies, as their once-cutting-edge visuals can feel dated and even silly. And then, if you are SILENT RUNNING, you have to also deal with the uncanny-valley-esque experience of watching a young Bruce Dern mugging the camera non-stop. Critics - and the Tomatometer - didn’t care though, and Douglas Trumbull’s directorial debut got a suspiciously fresh score. Listen to Alex & Julio try to figure out why this 90-minute movie feels like it’s three hours long!

Who doesn’t love Italian food, even when it’s surrounded by petty, self-involved men? The case could be made that BIG NIGHT is worth watching just on the strength of how much fun it can be to see people enjoying a decadent feast. But is there more to Tucci and Scott’s comedy? Can we get in sync with the movie’s open ending? Find out in this Real Talk segment!

You can get away with making a lightweight movie if you appeal to critics’ base instincts - hunger in this case. That’s probably how BIG NIGHT scored a fresh 96% Tomatometer score despite featuring a problematic Italian impersonation from Brit granddaddy Ian Holm and lots and lots of food porn B-roll. Listen to Alex & Julio as they pick apart this overcooked timpano from co-directors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott?

The eighth installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists takes us to 1931 Germany, where a whole lot of people keep telling each other the rise of the Nazi party is not a big deal. Yes, old chums, we are going to the cabaret - Bob Fosse’s CABARET, specifically. It will be distressing, and eerily familiar, but at least we’ll have songs.

Thank you for checking this new project out, whether you are a long-time Contrarians fan or someone who’s just trying to listen to people talking positively about immigrants and negatively about fascism. If you have any recommendations for future entries in the series, let us know!

That William Goldman… what a tough writer to pin down, huh? MARATHON MAN never reached the popularity or garnered the reverence some of his other works have, but it’s still a well-respected 70s thriller. How did it play to a couple of present-day film fans, and were Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier able to steal the show back from a super-cool post-Jaws Roy Scheider? That and more in this Real Talk segment!

What do you know, Dustin Hoffman doesn’t run a single marathon in John Schlesinger’s MARATHON MAN. He does run from Nazis and corrupt American operatives a lot though. Was that enough to warrant a fresh 82% Tomatometer score? Listen to Alex & Julio as they lament that Roy Scheider is relegated to back-up status in this convoluted thriller - and wonder why bad dentistry was the worst Lawrence Olivier could come up with as an evil superpower.

All joking aside, it’s a bummer that a movie like DOGFIGHT is not better known and, once we get past our annoyance at younger reviewers engaging with the film on a superficial level, we do our best to celebrate Nancy Savoca’s bittersweet love story. So no point in even trying to be suspenseful about it: expect lots of appreciation for River Phoenix and Lily Taylor’s performances in this Real Talk segment… and a commitment to owning the Criterion release!

What if Dinner for Schmucks was an artsy love story? Yes, that change would suck the fun out of the film, but, in exchange, it would get it some cred with film critics. And that’s how DOGFIGHT ended up with a fresh 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes - and a pretty recent Criterion Collection induction to boot. Listen to Alex & Julio as they try to figure out if River Phoenix and Lili Taylor have any actual chemistry, and if tying stories into the JFK assassination will ever get old!

We were going to originally drop this on Valentine’s Day, but we figured the In the Heights conversation needed an extra holiday in the spotlight. Regardless, here we are, at the end of our Exorcist Franchise journey, as we chat our way through THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER - yet another failed attempt at making The Exorcist series a blockbuster-machine. But hey, we got Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn, and the team behind Alex’s beloved modern Halloween trilogy so… it can’t all be bad, can it?

Thank you for joining us in this project!