Bonus! - Beasts of No Nation

We can pinpoint exactly when Netflix stopped being a cool indie start-up and became an awards-seeking sellout company. The year was 2005 and Netflix decided it wanted to play with the big boys by making an artsy movie! Listen to Alex and Julio try to keep things light while talking about the bleak, depressing Oscars-baity BEASTS OF NO NATION! Forget the Tomatometer, can anyone make a film about African child soldiers sound fun? Maybe if we focus on Idris Elba’s weird bald spot?

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124 - Jade

From the man who directed THE EXORCIST and the man who wrote BASIC INSTINCT, comes a movie that gives David Caruso the Chaz Palminteri role and gives Palminteri the Caruso role - all while Linda Fiorentino teases the audience with her 90s Sexy Bored ‘tude. Listen to Alex and Julio tackle JADE, the film that finally answered the question: what does it sound like when Chaz Palminteri has sex? Also: Michael Biehn sets up a parent trap and we find an early contender for the 2021 Support ing Actor Embry!

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123 - Titanic

Three hours and fifteen minutes of disaster porn was enough to get you a bunch of Oscars back in The 90s, so Jimmy Cameron abandoned sci-fi and decided to make a profit off one of the most well-known tragedies in the world. Listen to Alex and Julio take TITANIC to task! Can anybody truly fall in love in two days? Wouldn’t we all had been better off with a movie that focused on Bill Paxton’s treasure hunter? And why did everyone give up so quickly on that damned boat?

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Bonus! - Whiplash

Watching WHIPLASH, one gets the feeling Damien Chazelle blames his lack of success as a musician on his loving girlfriend and parents. What’s worse: the movie celebrates abusive behavior to the point of getting J.K. Simmons an Oscar. Listen to Alex and Julio discuss the film that made America fall in love with the word “tempo”! Wonder why people can’t just be nice to Paul Reiser! And be dismayed at the most ridiculous ending a jazz movie has ever had!

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122 - Howard The Duck

Inexplicably, the true origin of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone down in history as one of the biggest bombs ever produced by Hollywood. Thankfully, Alex and Julio are ready to defend HOWARD THE DUCK and they’ve enlisted Sam Hurley from Movie Reviews in 20 Qs to provide support the way only a true MCU super-fan can! Listen as The Contrarians celebrate the exciting inter-species relationship between Lea Thompson and a duck! Witness the unforgettably over the top near-debut of the one and only Tim Robbins! And share the regret over George Lucas’ worst investment!

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121 - Good Will Hunting

It’s a shame that Robin Williams’ only Oscar was awarded for his participation in a film that celebrates mediocrity while actively trying to sell us Matt Damon as the coolest man on planet Earth. Listen to Alex and Julio as they are joined by David Schmitzer from the Franchise Killer podcast to dissect GOOD WILL HUNTING - a movie that boasts outrageous Boston accents alongside whatever it is that Stellan Skarsgard is doing with his voice!

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Bonus! - Greener Grass

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!

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120 - Eurotrip

Few 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.

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119 - The Rocker

It’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!

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The Embries 2020

Celebrating 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!

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