Come on. It’s CASABLANCA. Who doesn’t love Casablanca? Not The Contrarians! But actually, there are people in the darkest corners of Letterboxd who find it boring and reprehensible. So you know this Real Talk segment will start with a bit of a rant before we give in to a full lovefest!

You know why, as of this recording, CASABLANCA still doesn’t have a Criterion edition? Probably because The Powers That Be know that 99% Tomatometer score is a hollow accolade. The Rick/Ilsa/Lazlo love triangle was captivating back when we were in the throes of WW2 but, watching it today, it’s a silly distraction from serious international issues. Listen to Alex & Julio as they do their best not to sing La Marseillaise on this episode!

Are we ending The Summer of the (MTV) Bangers with a bang or with a whimper? The only way to answer that is by having a real discussion about BIG DADDY and reckoning with the different types of movies Adam Sandler makes and why some work for us better than others. Plus: Alex tells a Scuba Steve story that instantly becomes a Top Tier Contrarians Classic.

What’s most irresistible than a 90s slacker finding his inner father figure and (sort of) adopting an orphan? Adam Sandler’s off-kilter take on Annie charmed audiences everywhere - even as it turned critics off. And so BIG DADDY’s 39% Tomatometer score is offset by Adam Sandler’s MTV Movie Awards win for Best Comedic Performance. Listen to Alex & Julio as they close The Summer of the (MTV) Bangers in style!

The second installment of Fresh Immigrants, Rotten Fascists focuses on Adenoid Hynkel - the familiar looking authoritarian played by Charlie Chaplin in THE GREAT DICTATOR. Of course, there’s more to Chaplin’s masterpiece than Hynkle’s fascist antics, including a showstopper of an ending that remains as relevant today as it was in the middle of World War II.

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!

We had our fun in Contrarians Corner, but anyone who has listened to the show for a while knows we hold The Matrix (and only The Matrix, no sequels) in high regard. So expect this Real Talk to be a bit of a lovefest, featuring personal stories while also failing to stop talking about where the franchise went and how it disappointed us. And yes, this movie did really well at the MTV Movie Awards!

It’s not that THE MATRIX wasn’t overrated back in 1999, but it’s more that its brand lost value with every sequel The Wachowskis threw at us over the following years. So it’s impossible to keep a straight face while experiencing Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus’ adventures today - despite what an 83% Tomatometer score may say. Listen to Alex & Julio as they battle nostalgia and roll their eyes at Hollywood’s idea of Artificial Intelligence at the turn of the millennium!

There’s an alternate timeline where Katie Holmes never meets Tom Cruise and then, decades later, her filmography rivals those of her old Dawson’s Creek co-stars - at least in quantity, and probably also in quality. As it is though, we live in the timeline where she’s still mainly known as Joey Potter, despite winning the MTV Movie Award for 1998 Breakthrough Performance. We talk about this, and other DISTURBING BEHAVIOR matters, in this Real Talk segment!

When it comes to the 1998 thriller DISTURBING BEHAVIOR, there’s no behavior more disturbing than that of critics stamping a 35% rotten Tomatometer score on it. Only the MTV Movie Awards recognized the brilliance of Scott Rosenberg’s screenplay, David Nutter’s direction, and, specifically, Katie Holmes’ breakthrough performance. Listen to Alex & Julio celebrate Joey Potter’s escape from The Creek!

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!