Podcasters Alex Mattis and Julio Olivera battle popular opinion by praising the movies you hate and trashing the movies you love.
Not everybody can be David Lynch and, arguably, most people shouldn’t even try. None of this stopped the improv troupe behind GREENER GRASS to follow their dreams and make a weird movie that makes fun of the shallowness of American suburbia… while being pretty shallow itself. Listen to Alex and Julio as they struggle to make sense of a film that almost proved to be Contrarian-proof!
Read MoreFew movies capture the irreverent “we’ll be young forever” attitude of America at the turn of the millennium like EUROTRIP does. These days, as the country struggles to recover from a pandemic and a divisive president, Scotty’s search for love overseas may feel like a relic of times long gone. But does that mean the film itself doesn’t hold any merit? Does it deserve to be Rotten? Listen to Alex and Julio argue about the good, the bad, the cringey and The Damon of the 2004 sex comedy that could have made “This is not where I parked my car” one of AIF’s top movie lines. If only critics had been fairer.
Read MoreIt’s only fitting to start the seventh year of The Contrarians by tackling a movie that features Josh Gad, the Patron Saint of the show. THE ROCKER is not a Gad vehicle, however, but rather a film designed to showcase the many comedic skills of Rainn Wilson, supported by an all-star cast that would go on to take over the world in the years to come. But back in 2008? This one bombed hard, the Tomatometer slapping it with a rotten 41% score. Listen to Alex and Julio celebrate a comedy that lacks modern day cynicism! Join them in lamenting the near-disappearance of old fashioned TV to Film actor transitions! And realize how old you are if you understand a Milli Vanilli reference!
Read MoreCelebrating six years of The Contrarians! And what a year it has been. We had our 100th episode, we had a two-parter tackling the entire TERMINATOR franchise, we had The Summer of Winona, we did Haddonfield Nights… And do you guys even remember when we covered stuff like CAMILLE and MUTE? (Let’s hope so, one of them is a favorite on this episode, while the other one has escaped Alex’s memory) Well, let’s gather ‘round and hand out some awards celebrating the best, the worst, the sexiest and The Gaddest in our annual Awards Show!
Also! Our long-awaited Patreon announcement!
Read MoreYou know you are through the looking glass when the latest installment of your horror franchise is written by Danny McBride. But that’s exactly where the final chapter in Haddonfield Nights takes us: HALLOWEEN (2018), yet another rewriting/erasing of Michael Myers’ rich backstory! Listen to Alex and Julio discuss what happens when a filmmaker tries too hard to imitate what made Halloween H20 so cool, wonder why is it that even a jaded, wiser Laurie Strode continues making rookie mistakes, and lament the fact that every single man in this movie is a dumbass.
Read MoreYou would think that the return of Jamie Lee Curtis to the Halloween franchise would be received with much more enthusiasm than a paltry 53% on the Tomatometer… and you’d be wrong. Audiences and critics were split, failing to rally together behind a film that boldly retconned Michael’s cosmic origin story and brought a much needed post-modern Scream vibe to the franchise 20 years after its debut. Listen to Alex and Julio discuss HALLOWEEN H20, a movie that may not have anything to do with water, but has everything to do with introducing Josh Hartnett! Plus: MIchelle Williams, LL Cool J, Adam Arkin… How could you resist???
Read MoreThroughout five movies, audiences demanded an explanation for Michael Myers’ behavior. In 1995, they finally got it with THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS, and it was an epic whopper of a backstory. Did anyone appreciate it? Of course not! Listen to Alex and Julio as they discuss Paul Rudd’s film debut, Donald Pleasence’s film exit, and The Shape’s… baby?!?! It’s the lowest ranked Halloween movie and the most recent installment of our HADDONFIELD NIGHTS!
Read MoreHow important is Michael Myers to the Halloween franchise? According to HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, not important at all - a bold stance that made it an unfairly maligned film. Listen to Alex and Julio as they take a minor Haddonfield Nights detour into the black sheep of the Halloween family, the one that replaced Dr. Loomis and Laurie Strode with younger, sexier counterparts! Share their awe at Tom Atkins’ sexual feats! And celebrate the pure insanity of the Silver Shamrock genocidal plan!
Read MoreRemember earlier this year, when Julio was over the moon about the MCU and Alex struggled to care? Well, the tables have turned, as The Contrarians finally cover Alex’s favorite movie ever, John Carpenter’s original HALLOWEEN! But before they can reconcile their differences regarding this so-called classic, they have to give it the Contrarians Corner treatment: how bad is Carpenter’s version of a Sorkin “Walk & Talk”? How can Laurie spend an entire night watching horror movies, then constantly fall into horror genre tropes? And how ridiculous is it to see Michael Myers drive all around Haddonfield? It’s the second installment of our HADDONFIELD NIGHTS!
Read MoreAnd now, for something completely different… We leave Winona Ryder behind and jump feet first into the world of Michael Myers! First stop? Rob Zombie’s controversial reimagining of the Halloween mythos! Listen to Alex and Julio as they revisit Roberto Zombirelli’s most mainstream movie and the Halloween franchise’s most brutal and excessive entry as The Contrarians start their HADDONFIELD NIGHTS!
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