Podcasters Alex Mattis and Julio Olivera battle popular opinion by praising the movies you hate and trashing the movies you love.
Science versus religion! Spock versus his own brother! Shatner versus God!!!! How on Earth is this movie considered the worst Star Trek movie ever made??? Listen to Alex and Julio as they marvel at the talents of William Shatner behind and in front of the camera, the charisma of Laurence Luckinbill as an intergalactic preacher, and the dark disturbing undertones of what this film does to Bones’ soul! Plus: row row row your boat!
Read MoreOn today’s episode: a movie that celebrates an artist’s worst tendencies. Adultery, procrastination, irresponsibility, self-centeredness, and an overall lack of a moral center. In other words, Academy Awards catnip! Listen to Alex and Julio as they examine SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and discuss Gwyneth Paltrow’s coming out party! Joseph Fiennes’ three minutes of fame! And John Madden’s confusingly successful transition from football to filmmaking!
Read MoreJoin us for a very special mini live episode! Recorded during Julio’s birthday party, with a little bit of audience participation during Real Talk, listen to The Contrarians tackle the surprise Netflix critical darling CAM! What is the streaming behemoth telling our youth? Is it morally responsible to portray the cam girl industry as a glitzy fun community? And what are the true secret powers of The Vibratron?
Read MoreOh my god, you killed Martin Brest’s career!!! You bastards!!!! Awards Season is upon us and what better way to celebrate it than by rescuing an infamous “turkey” (yeah, yeah, we know) and telling the world about how awesome it actually is? Listen to Alex and Julio as they wonder if America simply couldn’t handle two extremely attractive people having frank conversations about sex! Learn just how much we’ve been wasting Justin Bartha’s talent over the past decade! And marvel at Ben Affleck’s unbeatable game when it comes to gay women! It’s a Razzie Winner that should’ve been an Oscar Winner!
Read MoreA room full of coked-up screenwriters and producers shouting WHAT IF over each other. That has to have been the genesis of the Keanu Reeves / Sandra Bullock vehicle SPEED, a movie where Keanu does things with a bus you didn’t think possible, all while Sandy shamelessly flirts with him despite being surrounded by tragedy and death. Why did critics love this film? Was it that it moved too fast for them to pick up on all the plot-holes? Listen to Alex and Julio slow things down in order to tear this thing apart and set the Tomatometer straight once again!
Read MoreThe Tomatometer score for FRED CLAUS is the perfect example of America not knowing how good something is until they lose it. Paul Giamatti as Santa Claus? That only happens once in a lifetime, if you are lucky. And to have him surrounded by a cast of comedic titans: Vince Vaughnn, Rachel Weisz, Christopher Plummer… We had paradise and we stamped a 20% Rotten Score on it. Listen to Alex and Julio give this holiday gem a second chance and rescue it from Rotten Tomatoes Hell!
Read MoreGuys, we are only three years away from the future portrayed in JOHNNY MNEMONIC, a Keanu Reeves cyber-punk vehicle that confused critics so much, they just had to slap a rotten 16% Tomatometer score on it. Listen to Alex and Julio as they marvel at upcoming technological breakthroughs such as laser whips, expanded storage for your brain and a resurgence in Henry Rollins’ acting career! Spend countless minutes wondering where you know Dina Meyer from! And be blown away by the most profound monologue Keanu has ever been asked to deliver! It’s all coming in three years, but you can enjoy it right this second!
Read MoreThe 80s: when the dumbest scientist in the universe could develop world-changing technology and the one female journalist in the US couldn’t see the flashing red flags all around him. Oh, and also when all David Cronenberg had to do to wow critics was zoom-in on gross stuff. Listen to Alex and Julio talk about THE FLY, a vehicle for Jeff Goldblum to show off his nerdy sex appeal and for Geena Davis to show off her tolerance for abuse! America has come a long way, hasn’t it?
Read MoreOn the surface: a slick attempt to bring back adult erotic thrillers to the mainstream. Deeper down: THE BOY NEXT DOOR actually tried to reinforce traditional family values by showing Jennifer Lopez she should forgive her cheating husband instead of hooking up with her psycho neighbor. As is usually the case, America wasn’t ready for this. Listen to Alex and Julio as they praise everything this sexy J-Lo vehicle gets right and easily forgive the few things it gets wrong - just like she should’ve done in the movie.
Read MoreFour years of doing this show. Holy cow. Join us in this birthday celebration as we hand out our annual awards: The Embries and The Rousies! Also, The Gad. And a new addition to the Contrarians Awards Family, The Ruffalo! Don’t worry, we explain it all in the episode. It’s a fun walk down memory lane, and the last year worth of Contrarians episodes!*
*The Summer of Travolta isn’t included in the festivities** because it had its own awards ceremony in the Travolties episode.
**That said, The Ruffalo does encompass our entire run, including The Summer of Travolta.
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