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!

You either get on Shakespeare’s wavelength or you don’t. But maybe an extreme approach to The Bard’s stories can help? It’s likely Baz Luhrmann’s ROMEO + JULIET converted many romantics into fans of the play - even if they might not have stuck around for any other Shakespeare pieces. Did this rewatch work its magic on The Contrarians though? Find out in this Real Talk as we discuss the winner of the 1997 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance!

If you’ve ever wondered why 90s kids are SO dramatic about their love lives, you can put the blame on Baz Luhrmann’s ROMEO + JULIET. The overblown modernization of Willy Shakes’ teeny-bopper romance was a big hit with audiences and critics, with a fresh Tomatometer score of 74% - so that means Alex & Julio will take it down a few notches. Gorgeous people reciting antiquated dialogue? Shouldn’t be difficult to make fun of that!