Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas going at it in an R-rated movie: waaaaaay too much for America’s puritanical film critics. ORIGINAL SIN scored a shocking 12% on the Tomatometer, as if it wasn’t a masterfully crafted adult thriller that also happened to feature some no-holds-barred lovemaking. Listen to Alex & Julio as they discuss the explosive lust triangle at the center of this movie (Thomas Jane is in there too!) and try to figure out the differences between the rated and unrated cuts of Michael Cristofer’s melodrama.

The Contrarians turn nine! Join our annual celebration of the good, the bad, the horny, and the super white films we covered over the past twelve months as we unleash THE EMBRIES - 2023 Edition on your podcatchers! This might even convince you to check out some of the movies you skipped the first time around!

As tempting as it is to spend all of Real Talk comparing and contrasting Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD and Snyder’s remake, don’t worry, we manage to take the conversation in other directions. For one, Alex’s surprising disinterest in the zombie genre. For another, Julio’s inability to stop referencing Dead Alive. Does it all add up to a positive score for the OG Zombies-in-a-Mall movie? Listen to find out!

(Btw: the zombie conversation Alex & Julio couldn’t recall was probably the Patreon episode about the Australian horror movie UNDEAD - sorry, Chas!)

Uhhhhh… What is this? Certainly not zombies, we can tell you that much. George Romero’s much-acclaimed undead monsters amount to little more than really disoriented bluish humans. Somehow, this is enough to terrorize people in a mall for over two hours - and also enough for critics to give DAWN OF THE DEAD a fresh 93% Tomatometer score. Listen to Alex & Julio as they yearn for the fast pacing and entertaining characters of the Zack Snyder remake and wonder why the world holds Romero’s creations in such high regard!

We are not quite John Singleton neophytes, but we are pretty close anyway. So how do we approach a Singleton flick that has been decried by many as an example of him selling out? How do we feel about the morality of FOUR BROTHERS and its celebration of vigilante justice? Are we overthinking this revenge tale or not giving it enough credit? There’s lots to chew on in this Real Talk segment, including a potential reevaluation of Mark Wahlberg as a leading man. Keyword: “potential”.

Few things are more spellbinding than seeing Mark Wahlberg on a warpath. And he’s only one of four equally badass brothers in this movie! John Singleton’s FOUR BROTHERS doesn’t get the respect it deserves on the critics side of the Tomatometer, so The Contrarians are going to set things right. Listen to Alex & Julio as they rejoice in recounting the adventures of the Mercer brothers in a world that may be colorblind but also far from just! Plus: another teary-eyed performance from Terrence Howard!

Contemporary Indian crowd-pleasing cinema finally makes it to our main feed after percolating in our Patreon channel for over a year! Alex & Julio have had their ups and downs with movies like Singham, Sooryavanshi and Minnal Murali, so what happens when they are tasked with giving critically maligned VIKRAM the Contrarians treatment? Is this the episode that gains us a legion of Indian fans or the one that makes them shun us forever? Listen and decide for yourself!

Modern Indian action cinema finally went full-Hollywood when RRR made a splash at the Oscars — but that doesn’t mean critics are ready to truly embrace the joyous lunacy that is exuded by movies like the spy thriller VIKRAM. The twisty-turny tale is considered rotten by Tomatometer standards, so it’s time for The Contrarians to set the record straight! Listen to Alex & Julio as they dive into the most exciting and stylized international black-ops adventure the West has ever seen!

We don’t often travel back to the early days of Hollywood here on The Contrarians - and we probably should, if only because so many revered classics are ripe for reevaluation. DOUBLE INDEMNITY is almost too obvious of an assignment: a celebrated entry in a genre that’s given us trouble from time to time. Can Barbara Stanwyck seduce Alex into agreeing with Rotten Tomatoes? Can Fred MacMurray talk his way out of Julio’s noir prejudices? Listen to this Real Talk segment to find out!

Billy Wilder, black and white cinematography, Raymond Chandler, film noir, kinky anklets. DOUBLE INDEMNITY is a collection of catnip keywords if you are a Rotten Tomatoes critic - which explains its towering 97% score on the Tomatometer. You know what that means: it’s time for Alex & Julio to dismantle a ridiculous murder plot while pointing out there’s nothing sexy about keeping sexy stuff off-screen!