76 - Gigli

Oh 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 More

75 - Speed

A 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 More

Christmas Bonus! - Fred Claus

The 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 More

74 - Johnny Mnemonic

Guys, 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 More

73 - The Fly (1986)

The 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 More

72 - The Boy Next Door

On 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 More

Bonus! - Our Fourth Anniversary!

Four 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.

Read More

71 - The Kids Are All Right (and Halloween 2018)

Sooner or later, somebody was going to try to demystify gay women in a mainstream movie. Sooner or later, straight white men were going to pay for all the stuff they’d gotten away with since the dawn of time. So 2010 saw the arrival of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, a movie that’s a little too overzealous in how it depicts that lesbians “can screw up too” and very overzealous in how it nails Mark Ruffalo to a cross. Listen to Alex and Julio as they navigate the dangerous waters of comedic #MenToo precursors and try to figure out what kind of person would name their kid “Laser”!

Also, a spoilerific discussion of the new HALLOWEEN movie (after the plugs section) because, well, you know the original HALLOWEEN is one of Alex’s favorites movies ever.

Read More

70 - The Mummy (1999)

How do you feel about a Mummy Movie that features The Sandman more than the expected “man wrapped in bandages”? Do you think Brendan Fraser was an Indiana Jones knock-off or a worthy heir to Harrison Ford’s adventuring roles? Is Stephen Sommers’ movie too dumb to be fun or too fun to be dumb? It’s our seventh Gray Area episode and just as 1999’s THE MUMMY split the Tomatometer, so it has split The Contrarians as well! Julio will be on the offensive and Alex on the defense as they discuss the depiction of Americans as a destructive force, Imhotep’s adorable fear of cats, the allure of sexy librarians and more!

Read More