87 - Crossroads (2002)

The third stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip takes us back to that time critics prevented Britney Spears from becoming a bona fide movie star! Not even the combined powers of Shonda Rhimes, Gamora and Pensatucky could help Britney overcome The Patriarchy and we are all the poorer for it. Listen to Alex and Julio as they discuss Dan Ackroyd’s niche as a single parent, Captain Pike’s pre-Starfleet career as a hunk, and, of course, the awe-inspiring experience that is seeing The Queen of Pop perform. It’s Tamra Davis’ CROSSROADS!

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86 - Little Miss Sunshine

The second stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip is a movie that celebrates quite possibly the worst parenting in the world. Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to figure out what’s more harmful to Abigail Breslin in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: a creepy Child Beauty Pageant or her toxic family! Is it okay for Greg Kinnear to be absolved from his sins just for doing a silly dance at the end? Does anyone buy that Miss California actually eats ice cream? And why is Toni Collette still together with her monster of a husband?

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Bonus! - Why Do I Own This?

Movie lovers know movie collections tend to grow out of control and sometimes you find yourself staring at your dvd/blu-ray shelves and wondering how some of that stuff got there. We interrupt The Contrarians Road Trip with a brief pit stop in which Alex and Julio pick the oddest movies in their respective collections and ask themselves “Why do I own this?” The answers will NOT shock you but they WILL entertain you!

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84 - Aladdin (1992)

Filled with more plotholes than a David Lynch movie and featuring a Robin Williams performance that’s so over the top your kids will be driving you crazy quoting it for months, Disney’s original ALADDIN fails at recognizing Jaffar as its true hero. If only that was its only problem. Listen to Alex and Julio deconstruct the flimsiest story ever released by That Company Which Owns Everything and cross your fingers that Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake finally gets it right!

Also: stick around after the end credits for an unexpected super long digression about the aforementioned remake, Alex’s feelings about the film industry, Julio’s feelings about Game of Thrones and online toxicity and my god, we went on for 18 minutes. That’s why it’s stuck at the very end of the episode.

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83 - Annie (2014)

It’s not just that the 2014 ANNIE remake provided the perfect showcase for Quvenzhané Wallis to take over America, but it’s also that it provided us with a warning of things to come. Jamie Foxx’s wealthy businessman runs for public office, uses social media to boost his numbers, and vows to “make this city great again”. He also wears fake hair. At any rate, it was too much for the general public. Listen to Alex and Julio rejoice with the remixed soundtrack, celebrate diversity and learn that “orphan” isn’t a PC word anymore!

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Road To The Livestream Part Two - London

Two men, one bathroom. That’s all you really need if the men are Jason Statham and Chris Evans and the filmmaker is some dude named Hunter Richards. Alex and Julio conclude their Livestream warm-up by discussing the barely known gem LONDON, a movie that accurately portrays how straight white men feel about hot women, drugs and genitalia. Tarantino who?

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Road To The Livestream Part One - The African Queen

A lonely sailor gets taken advantage of by a vengeful grief-stricken woman? Or is it that a confused grieving woman is preyed upon by a lecherous drunk? Doesn’t seem like anybody making THE AFRICAN QUEEN knew for sure, and it shows. Listen to Alex and Julio as they warm-up for their upcoming LIVESTREAM FOR THE CURE spot by trying to get this one down without editing and under an hour!

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Bonus! - Green Book

How do you make a racist violent white man look good? You pair him with an uptight pretentious unfriendly black man. And then you rake in the awards! Past guest Eddie Strait joins Alex and Julio to discuss the most recent Best Picture Oscar Winner, GREEN BOOK, and such conundrums as where Viggo Mortensen’s Italian accent came from, why comedians think fried chicken is funny, and how Mississippi feels about not being able to live down its racist past. It’s the unofficial finale to our Awards Arc and it gets HEATED during Real Talk!

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82 - Birdman

You know that awkward situation when you’re just making harmless small talk and suddenly the other person unloads years of emotional baggage on you? That’s what it’s like when you watch BIRDMAN and suddenly feel like you know waaaay too much about Michael Keaton. Listen to Alex and Julio discuss one more Best Picture Winner, one with gimmicks and pretension to spare!

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