Podcasters Alex Mattis and Julio Olivera battle popular opinion by praising the movies you hate and trashing the movies you love.
A few months ago, Alex and Julio took a look at the documentary GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Never one to miss a nostalgia bandwagon to jump on to, Netflix has developed a show based on that 80s property. And Rotten Tomatoes now also does TV. Combine all these elements and you get a bite-sized bonus episode tackling the pilot of this new GLOW TV show!
Read MoreBefore Patty Jenkins and WONDER WOMAN, there was Karyn Kusama and AEON FLUX. And people just didn't get it. 10% on Rotten Tomatoes! Alex and Julio kick off their Female Filmmakers Arc by digging up a skeleton from Charlize Theron's closet and giving it the kind of polish you can only get from professional contrarians. Not only did Theron set the template for badass superwomen (you're welcome, Scarlett), but Kusama and her team created the kind of world and mythology you can talk about for hours (and we did). Who said you need ten hours to tell a complex futuristic story?
Read MoreMen with guns on a mission. How could you make that boring? Well, let Sam Peckinpah show you. Alex, Julio and returning guest Brandon Curtis tackle a movie that seems intent on proving that THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN was a quick jog in the park. Rambling cowboys, sadistic children, Mexican tunes, and more squibs than you can shake a misogynist outlaw at - somehow none of it exciting. Maybe it's because we can't buy Ernest Borgnine as a badass. Maybe it's because we can't tell any of the bunchees apart. Maybe it's because it all goes on FOREVER.
Read More"This means war" cried Tom Hardy after his agent told him he didn't think The Future Bane was well-suited for a lead role in a romantic comedy. "This means war" declared McG when studios all over told him it was nonsense to break his streak of amazing action movies by directing a Reese Witherspoon vehicle. "This means war" decided critics everywhere when they saw McG and Hardy had ignored everyone's advice and had gone ahead and shot a fantastic action-rom-com... so they conspired to give it a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Join Alex and Julio as they fawn over Hardy's one and only foray into comedy and romance, McG's most complex and complete movie yet, and the fantastically good looks of Chris Pine and Ms. Whiterspoon.
(and then, at the 1 hour 15 minutes mark: some spoiler talk about LOGAN, because why not)
Read MoreQuirks do not a personality make. And yet, in 2007, JUNO was showered with Oscars nominations, glowing reviews and the kind of box office every indie movie dreams of. Join Alex, Julio and special guest Reid Lansford (from the Other Worlds Austin Sci-Fi Film Festival) as they wade through all the uniqueness and honest-to-blogness and try to debunk the myth that Juno McGuff is such a cool girl. Are Soupy Sales references too niche? Are Suspiria references not hip enough? And what drugs was Rainn Wilson on when they shot his scene?
Read MoreAlex and Julio are back on the Endings wagon! This time around there will be massive spoilerage of endings that affected them positively. You know, to balance the negativity from the other Bonus Endings Episode.
SO! You might want to avoid this one if you don't want to be spoiled about how the following movies end: INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL, WORLD WAR Z. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, THE MASTER, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, UNBREAKABLE, SPLIT, BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER, THE SIXTH SENSE, GLADIATOR, ANNIE HALL, DO THE RIGHT THING, CARRIE, BEFORE MIDNIGHT, THE DARK KNIGHT, TOY STORY 2 & 3, THE TERMINATOR, JUNO, BIG FISH, THE DEPARTED, ALMOST FAMOUS.
Read MoreThe fourth film by Judd Apatow split the Tomato-meter in half and it put Alex and Julio at odds once again. Is THIS IS 40 a shameless photo album from the Apatow family or is it a sly cry for help from a man who doesn't know how else to express himself? Is Alex wrong for being so intolerant regarding our flawed protagonists or is Julio being too patient with the worst parents in the world? And how exactly are we supposed to define the Knocked-Up multiverse this movie may or may not take place in?
Our fourth Gray Area episode is one we've been dreading for a long time and it yields some real soul searching during the Real Talk section of the podcast. DON'T MISS IT!!!!!
Read MoreAnother year, another Wrestlemania, another wrestling-related bonus episode! Alex and Julio tackle their first documentary: a baffling film that celebrates years of physical and psychological torture to a whole squad of women... as told by the women themselves! What's going on here? How far-reaching can the spell of televised pro-wrestling be? What was David McLane's secret? And how are we supposed to feel about all those musical numbers?
Read MoreInspired by the disappointing ending of Academy Award Winner MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, Alex and Julio discuss their least favorite movie wrap-ups. If you care about spoilers, here's a handy dandy list of films that get talked about in good detail:
WAR OF THE WORLDS, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, HIGH TENSION, JURASSIC PARK: THE LOST WORLD, SIGNS, BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, CRAZY STUPID LOVE, RETURN OF THE JEDI, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, THE ENTIRE ROCKY FRANCHISE, JERSEY GIRL, THE STRANGERS, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING and DEATH PROOF. And MANCHESTER, of course.
Don't worry, it's not all negativity! Coming soon we'll have part two of this bonus detour, in which The Contrarians will talk about their favorite endings!
Read MoreTrying to get a straight, honest answer out of an actor is as difficult as spending an entire musical without actually singing a song. Alex and Julio join Michael Douglas in a cruel, grueling, enlightening journey through an 80s Broadway rehearsal as The Contrarians finish their tour of showbiz! Critics might have scoffed at this adaptation of the hit show,"A Chorus Line", but that's probably only because they were intimidated by Douglas' overpowering manliness and charisma. That was their loss because this movie has it all: dancing, songs, heartbreak, cool flashbacks and, goddammit, more dancing.
Also, on Real Talk: The Contrarians ask for your suggestions for an upcoming "Female Filmmakers Multi-parter!"
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