93 - The Intouchables

France: a land of almost utopian racial equality. A land that gave us THE INTOUCHABLES, a much beloved film that pretends to be about friendship but actually is about psychological mind games and the most toxic relationship on that side of the pond. So much for the American remake to fix! Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to figure out how the unemployment services work in Europe, how rich you need to be to qualify for smutty junk mail and whether Omar Sy has dethroned John Travolta as the best dancer in the world.

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Bonus! - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

Long-time listeners already know how we feel about the Walter Mitty remake (if you don’t, check episode 50) but the original SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, starring Danny Kaye - the John Travolta of The 40s - is a completely different beast. It’s such a weird, contrived “star vehicle”, Alex and Julio needed the help of Ryan and Bartek, from the SPIT & POLISH podcast to analyze it properly! Listen as we find it easy to resist Kaye’s charms and struggle to endure the random fantasy sequences. And all while Ryan humble-brags about his knowledge of classic cinema!

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92 - A Nightmare on Elm St. (2010)

As we hit the first actual remake in The Autumn of the Remakes, it becomes painfully clear that film critics don’t know what they want. The year 2010 gave them a movie that improved on the deeply flawed original adventures of one Frederick Krueger and they rejected it. They wrinkled their noses at its deliciously appropriate darkness, at Jackie Earl Haley’s monstrous performance, at the nerve the story had to try to actually make sense. Listen to Alex and Julio try to vindicate the completely underrated return to Elm Street and let them convince you it’d be awesome if we actually got a sequel or two to THIS version.

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91 - A Nightmare on Elm St. (1984)

Let’s be honest: what self-respecting adult could possibly find Freddy Kruger (the 1984 version) scary? More importantly, what self-respecting movie watcher could argue A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (original recipe) is a good film? Alex and Julio start The Autumn of the Remakes by tackling a so-called classic, the horror flick that gave us a liquified Johnny Depp, a flaky Robert Englund, and a collection of genre clichés that somehow earned a 94% on the Tomatometer. It’s almost like its only merit is that it would eventually give us an awesome remake.

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90 - Never Been Kissed (and OUATIH)

Millennial Queen Drew Barrymore had some questionable adventures in the 90s, but her most controversial outing is probably the one where she pretends to be a teenager and an adult teacher falls for her. Adorable romance or disturbing lack of boundaries? It’s The Contrarians’ ninth Grey Area Episode, which means Alex and Julio will battle it out to decide what the Tomatometer couldn’t: Is NEVER BEEN KISSED good or bad?

Also: a lengthy spoilerific talk about ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD in the last 30 minutes of the episode. You’ve been warned!

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Bonus! - Passengers

It’s been a while since the show has tackled a love story as epic and inspirational as that of J-Law and C-Pratt in the holiday delight PASSENGERS. In this bonus episode, Alex and Julio are joined by first time guest Jordan Manse in order to unpack the twists and turns in this space adventure from the same guy who wrote PROMETHEUS! (not Lindelof, the one you didn’t hear about) How many genres can you jam-pack in one single film? How great does your movie have to be to warrant a 5-second cameo from Andy Garcia? And wouldn’t you forgive anything from someone who looks like Starlord, even if you looked like Katniss?

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89 - Wild Hogs

We end our Summer Road Trip by welcoming back the star of our last Summer adventure. In 2007, John Travolta recruited Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy for a cross-country motorcycle trip and all of America got to tag along in WILD HOGS! Listen to Alex and Julio admire the movie’s brave examination of emasculation, its ingenious pairing of Marissa Tomei with the least likely biker and its generous offering of a Hall of Fame Villain Role to Ray Liotta!

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88 - Almost Famous

On our way to the fourth stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip, we picked up a hitchhiker. Kinsey Jones returns to the show and joins Alex and Julio in analyzing the blandest, least insightful rock ‘n roll movie of all time! Why do people love ALMOST FAMOUS? Why did Cameron Crowe put his sort-of biopic on the shoulders of the black hole of charisma that is Patrick Fugit? And who let Jimmy Fallon in? All this plus: Alex finally comes to terms with Kate Hudson’s Oscar nomination!

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87 - Crossroads (2002)

The third stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip takes us back to that time critics prevented Britney Spears from becoming a bona fide movie star! Not even the combined powers of Shonda Rhimes, Gamora and Pensatucky could help Britney overcome The Patriarchy and we are all the poorer for it. Listen to Alex and Julio as they discuss Dan Ackroyd’s niche as a single parent, Captain Pike’s pre-Starfleet career as a hunk, and, of course, the awe-inspiring experience that is seeing The Queen of Pop perform. It’s Tamra Davis’ CROSSROADS!

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86 - Little Miss Sunshine

The second stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip is a movie that celebrates quite possibly the worst parenting in the world. Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to figure out what’s more harmful to Abigail Breslin in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: a creepy Child Beauty Pageant or her toxic family! Is it okay for Greg Kinnear to be absolved from his sins just for doing a silly dance at the end? Does anyone buy that Miss California actually eats ice cream? And why is Toni Collette still together with her monster of a husband?

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