Podcasters Alex Mattis and Julio Olivera battle popular opinion by praising the movies you hate and trashing the movies you love.
Celebrating five years of Contrarian Podcasting! We have games, we have clips from past episodes and, of course, we have all the awards. The Embries, The Rouseys, The Ruffalo and The Gad. If you’ve been listening to us for a while, this will be a nice trip down memory lane. If this is your first episode of The Contrarians… You might be a little confused? But still have fun? No idea. Let us know.
Read MoreAmericans. We take care of business. We fix things. We get the rights to a milquetoast French comedy and give it some oomph, make it relevant to our social issues, throw Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston in there. We’ll even add some Australian spice by giving Nicole Kidman a role. Basically, what we are saying is that THE UPSIDE, maligned as it is by the Tomatometer, is the movie The Intouchables should’ve been. Listen to Alex and Julio as they grow even prouder to be citizens of the United States while listing all the ways in which Neil Burger outperformed his French counterparts.
Read MoreFrance: a land of almost utopian racial equality. A land that gave us THE INTOUCHABLES, a much beloved film that pretends to be about friendship but actually is about psychological mind games and the most toxic relationship on that side of the pond. So much for the American remake to fix! Listen to Alex and Julio as they try to figure out how the unemployment services work in Europe, how rich you need to be to qualify for smutty junk mail and whether Omar Sy has dethroned John Travolta as the best dancer in the world.
Read MoreLong-time listeners already know how we feel about the Walter Mitty remake (if you don’t, check episode 50) but the original SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, starring Danny Kaye - the John Travolta of The 40s - is a completely different beast. It’s such a weird, contrived “star vehicle”, Alex and Julio needed the help of Ryan and Bartek, from the SPIT & POLISH podcast to analyze it properly! Listen as we find it easy to resist Kaye’s charms and struggle to endure the random fantasy sequences. And all while Ryan humble-brags about his knowledge of classic cinema!
Read MoreAs we hit the first actual remake in The Autumn of the Remakes, it becomes painfully clear that film critics don’t know what they want. The year 2010 gave them a movie that improved on the deeply flawed original adventures of one Frederick Krueger and they rejected it. They wrinkled their noses at its deliciously appropriate darkness, at Jackie Earl Haley’s monstrous performance, at the nerve the story had to try to actually make sense. Listen to Alex and Julio try to vindicate the completely underrated return to Elm Street and let them convince you it’d be awesome if we actually got a sequel or two to THIS version.
Read MoreLet’s be honest: what self-respecting adult could possibly find Freddy Kruger (the 1984 version) scary? More importantly, what self-respecting movie watcher could argue A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (original recipe) is a good film? Alex and Julio start The Autumn of the Remakes by tackling a so-called classic, the horror flick that gave us a liquified Johnny Depp, a flaky Robert Englund, and a collection of genre clichés that somehow earned a 94% on the Tomatometer. It’s almost like its only merit is that it would eventually give us an awesome remake.
Read MoreMillennial Queen Drew Barrymore had some questionable adventures in the 90s, but her most controversial outing is probably the one where she pretends to be a teenager and an adult teacher falls for her. Adorable romance or disturbing lack of boundaries? It’s The Contrarians’ ninth Grey Area Episode, which means Alex and Julio will battle it out to decide what the Tomatometer couldn’t: Is NEVER BEEN KISSED good or bad?
Also: a lengthy spoilerific talk about ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD in the last 30 minutes of the episode. You’ve been warned!
Read MoreIt’s been a while since the show has tackled a love story as epic and inspirational as that of J-Law and C-Pratt in the holiday delight PASSENGERS. In this bonus episode, Alex and Julio are joined by first time guest Jordan Manse in order to unpack the twists and turns in this space adventure from the same guy who wrote PROMETHEUS! (not Lindelof, the one you didn’t hear about) How many genres can you jam-pack in one single film? How great does your movie have to be to warrant a 5-second cameo from Andy Garcia? And wouldn’t you forgive anything from someone who looks like Starlord, even if you looked like Katniss?
Read MoreWe end our Summer Road Trip by welcoming back the star of our last Summer adventure. In 2007, John Travolta recruited Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy for a cross-country motorcycle trip and all of America got to tag along in WILD HOGS! Listen to Alex and Julio admire the movie’s brave examination of emasculation, its ingenious pairing of Marissa Tomei with the least likely biker and its generous offering of a Hall of Fame Villain Role to Ray Liotta!
Read MoreOn our way to the fourth stop in The Contrarians Summer Road Trip, we picked up a hitchhiker. Kinsey Jones returns to the show and joins Alex and Julio in analyzing the blandest, least insightful rock ‘n roll movie of all time! Why do people love ALMOST FAMOUS? Why did Cameron Crowe put his sort-of biopic on the shoulders of the black hole of charisma that is Patrick Fugit? And who let Jimmy Fallon in? All this plus: Alex finally comes to terms with Kate Hudson’s Oscar nomination!
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