Everybody’s gotta start somewhere, and that applies to Curtis Hanson as much as it applies to anyone else. Still, it’s weird to think of the man behind L.A. Confidential and 8 Mile as the director of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE - a movie that, to be charitable, is not quite on the same league as his other work. But can we at least agree that Rebecca De Mornay deserved her MTV Movie Award? Listen to this Real Talk segment to find out!

If you ever wondered what caused the Great Nanny Unemployment Crisis of the early 90s, wonder no more. THE HAND THAT ROCK THE CRADLE is the worst kind of schlock: schlock that uses shock-value to fool audiences and critics into thinking it’s profound cinema. Nannies were suddenly seen as Public Enemies #1 while Rebecca De Mornay laughed all the way to an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Listen to Alex & Julio set the record straight on this unlikely Curtis Hanson film!

Our Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists journey begins here: with a movie that earned Richard Jenkins his first Academy Awards nomination. THE VISITOR is a story set in the midst of post 9/11 paranoia, where a man befriends a couple of refugees whose future is about to be upended. Yes, the question “why is this better than Green Book” is addressed.

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!

Much like The Bodyguard, ARMAGEDDON’s primary legacy is its MTV-Movie-Award-Winning song, a little Aerosmith ditty called I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing. What does that say about the movie, and would it be different if Bay’s film didn’t live under the shadow of Independence Day? Could the Criterion Collection be wrong, or are they ahead of the curve on this one? All that and more in this Real Talk segment!

America to the rescue once again! Unfortunately, critics were a little harder to wow only two years after Independence Day had been the talk of the town and ARMAGEDDON got stamped with a 43% rotten Tomatometer score. But are we really so jaded that we can’t appreciate the awesomeness of Bruce Willis drilling into an asteroid? Listed to Alex & Julio defend Michael Bay’s first true masterpiece!

There’s a new Contrarians Series to be embedded within the main feed. This is us letting you know all about it!

Tough times for America as we publish this (at least if you care for your fellow men and women). Does that affect how you experience INDEPENDENCE DAY, a movie that was incredibly silly to begin with? A movie where The United States seems to have above-average leadership and countries all over the world look up to it? How much can nostalgia help or harm when watching Will Smith and the gang save the world? We talk about it all in this Real Talk segment!

There was a glorious time when you could watch The United States of America save the world in a movie without snickering. INDEPENDENCE DAY is a relic from America’s golden days as Earth’s protectors - a relic that, when inspected with modern eyes, falls ridiculously short of everything a sci-fi adventure should be. Perhaps that’s why it’s only MTV Movie Award in 1997 was for Best Kiss? Listen to Alex & Julio dissect Roland Emmerich’s love letter to The US and its 68% Tomatometer score!

Becoming an enduring part of pop culture doesn’t necessarily mean your movie is good. So what’s the verdict on THE BODYGUARD? Is there anything to it beyond that banger of a song and the undeniable chemistry between Costner and Houston? Did it get shortchanged when it only won one MTV Movie Award, or was it deserving of its multiple Razzie nominations? We hash it out in this Real Talk segment!

You know the song even if you haven’t seen the movie. You know the iconic image too: Kevin Costner carrying Whitney Houston to safety. But did you know THE BODYGUARD is 38% rotten on the Tomatometer? Did you know it was written by the same guy who wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark? Did you know it had six nominations at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards? Listen to Alex & Julio go over the ultimate love story for grown-ups!